Pastor Terry Jones, leader of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., returned to Dearborn last week to demonstrate on the steps of City Hall. Above, Jones (left) stands in front of City Hall next to Dove Associate Pastor Wayne Sapp during the demonstration Friday afternoon. Jones spoke out against Sharia law, President Barack Obama and to reaffirm their First Amendment rights. Below, members of the group By Any Means Necessary protest the appearance of Jones and his handful of supporters. Standing at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Neckel, they voiced their displeasure at Jones, booing and chanting, “Terry Jones has got to go.” Some 200 demonstrators gathered on sidewalks on both sides of Michigan Avenue opposing and supporting Jones.
By DANIEL HERATY
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Terry Jones, the pastor who planned to protest in front of the Islamic Center of America April 22, returned to Dearborn to speak at 5 p.m. Friday in front of City Hall.
He said after the protest he plans to return to Dearborn in the future, but did not elaborate on when or where.
The protest, which lasted about an hour, included Jones reading the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem, which also drew chants of “U.S.A.” from the counterproesters.
Jones said he wanted to return the country to where it should be.
The United States “is to be a beacon in this world,” he said.
Marty Prehn, a member of the Tea Party in Michigan, also addressed the crowd during the protest, saying that he would like to see the United States return to “our roots.”
People in the crowd grew unruly at times, with Jones walking up the barricades in front of him, despite the requests of police officers. The counterprotesers grew agitated, and tried to approach the barricade where Jones stood, but police held them back.
Jones said that was unfortunate, adding that the thought that he was trying to incite something was “ridiculous.”
“I wanted (the crowd) to join together with us in the Pledge of Allegiance,” he said. “That seemed to be very difficult to do.”
Mayor John O’Reilly Jr. said Jones had other intentions.
“He was hoping something would go wrong because that would give him better news, a better platform for his message, which is a message of hate.”
O’Reilly said he believes Jones is simply pandering for money.
“He lost his congregation – he admits that – he’s losing his church,” O’Reilly said. “He needs to have a way to support himself.”
Jeff Derost, a Clarkston resident, said he was not expecting to see the crowd he saw.
“I expected it to be a little bit bigger,” Jones said of the crowd, estimated to be between 200 and 300. “It’s definitely more unruly that I thought.
“(Jones) is just out to get some infamy any way possible. He’s doing it right now.”
A Dearborn resident who only identified himself as Joe, said he thought the police and the city could have done a better job with the security, and that the situation could have been a lot worse.
“I would advise Dearborn authorities not to have this again because next time, I really believe there’s going to be a bloodbath,” he said.
(Daniel Heraty can be reached at [email protected])