MULBERRY, Fla. — Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested the Rev. Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Center — which left Gainesville this summer — on Wednesday afternoon after they found a smoker full of kerosene-soaked Qurans attached to the car he was riding in.
At about 5 p.m., deputies arrested 61-year-old Jones about 35 miles east of Tampa on one count of unlawful conveyance of fuel, according to a Polk County Sheriff’s Office news release. His organization had planned to burn 2,998 copies of the Quran in a park, according to its website.
Jones will additionally face a charge of unlawful open carry of a firearm because some deputies said they saw him carrying a handgun in a Mulberry McDonald’s parking lot, according to the release.
Deputies also arrested the driver, 44-year-old Dove World Outreach Pastor Marvin Wayne Sapp Jr., on charges of unlawful conveyance of fuel and invalid registration for the smoker attached to his car.
Deputies seized Sapp’s 1998 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck as well as the smoker containing the Qurans, according to the release.
Sapp will receive citations for improper lighting on the smoker as well.
As of press time, officials said Jones and Sapp were in the process of getting booked into the Polk County Jail.
Jones, whose ministry was based in Gainesville until July, sparked controversy after threatening to burn Qurans on Sept. 11, 2010. Later, church members did burn copies on site.
Geoffrey Panjeton, 22, a second-year UF medical student and president of the Muslim Medical Students Association, said he’s disappointed Jones hasn’t taken the time to understand the Quran and its similarities to other faiths.
“As a Christian priest, you would expect him to read it and see the way in which the Quran is calling to the same God,” he said. “Faiths are more similar than they are different.”
However, Panjeton said he hopes that, like the first Quran burning attempt, this incident will spark interfaith conversation.
“The hope would be that as more people access the Quran and see the Quran,” he said, “it becomes less exotic and different and strange and becomes more familiar.”
The 20-acre Gainesville property that Jones’ ministry vacated in the spring is now owned by another church, Spirit of Faith ministries.
In April, when Jones announced he would move his ministry south, he told the Alligator his goals wouldn’t change with his location.
He said he considered raising awareness about the moral, spiritual and financial condition of America his mission and that he would keep holding rallies, conferences and demonstrations.
“We will continue with the same things we have done here in Gainesville,” he said.
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 9/12/2013 under the headline "Terry Jones arrested, found with gas-soaked Qurans"
