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Terry Jones
The controversial pastor planning to hold a Quran-burning ceremony on Sept. 11 says he has received over 100 death threats.
Terry Jones, leader of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Fla., also admitted his plan could put Americans in danger.
Jones was speaking in a radio interview yesterday with WND's Aaron Klein, who hosts an investigative program on New York's WABC Radio.
Asked by Klein whether he believes the "Burn a Quran Day" ceremonies will put Americans in danger of Muslim retaliation, Jones replied, "Yes, of course that is possible. That is definitely not what we want. We realized whenever we did this, it could cause some sort of retaliation."
Jones said he received over 100 death threats, some of which were "pretty graphic."
"We received letters, emails, phone calls saying they were going go kill us, when they were going to kill us, how they were going to kill us," he said.
One threat, Jones said, warned that "three people were on their way here, they were armed with explosives and automatic weapons and they were going to blow up the church."
"They were going to burn me alive," Jones added.
Audio of the interview can be heard below:
Jones said he brought the threats to local police officials as well as to the FBI and Justice Department.
"They will try to do their best to protest us," he said.
Yesterday, about 3,000 members of a hard-line Islamic group marched to the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, waving banners and posting Jones' Quran-burning plan.
Last week, the city of Gainesville denied a burn permit to Jones' Dove center. Gene Prince, the interim chief of Gainesville Fire Rescue, told the Gainsville Sun that under the city's fire prevention ordinance an open burning of books is not allowed. The church will be fined if it forges ahead with its plan, Prince said.
Jones told Klein his church will still attempt to destroy Qurans on Sept. 11.
"If they put it out, then we will have an alternative plan, and we will burn the Qurans in an incinerator," he said.
Jones said while there was "no doubt" his plans were offensive to Muslims, "We tried to make it very clear our action is not against the moderate Muslims. Our message is strictly geared toward the radical Muslims."
The National Association of Evangelicals, the nation's largest umbrella evangelical group, meanwhile, issued a statement urging the church to cancel the event, warning it could cause worldwide tension between the two religions.
"The NAE calls on its members to cultivate relationships of trust and respect with our neighbors of other faiths," the statement reads. "God created human beings in his image, and therefore all should be treated with dignity and respect."
Responding to the statement, Jones told Klein, he had "no intention" of cancelling the event.
Jones continued: "We think those type of statements actually to a certain extent prove our point that the American church has become very weak, very cowardly. [They] are not ready to stand up [for the] principles of the Bible."
