Free Speech Costs Money

There was a pivotal moment in free speech yesterday in the 19th Circuit Court in Dearborn, Michigan. I was blessed by the Lord to play a small part in this large battle for our constitutional rights. I was also blessed to witness it unfold in its entirety.

Dr Terry Jones of Gainesville Florida invited us in Repent Amarillo to participate in a small rally in front of the largest Islamic mosque in North America. There were only going to be six of us participating. That was the plan. But the will of God is what happens when men are busy planning other things.

The message in front of the mosque was only going to be about opposing radical Islam, Jihad, and Sharia law in America. Apparently, that message is too radical to speak in front of a mosque.

The six person jury was to determine if that message was a deliberate attempt to incite violence and breach the peace. The prosecutor argued three main points;

1. That this speech was a deliberate attempt to incite violence.
2. That this was going to cost the city money for security. And
3. The rally would create a traffic hazard around the mosque.

The defense argued well ,without attorneys, that they had vigorously denied they were going to burn a Quran or do anything else that would be provacative. Pastor Wayne Sapp pointed out that Police Chief Haddad had put in the original complaint (page 4 part 11) that his investigation had determined that Dr. Jones intended to burn a Quran in front of the mosque. When questioned about where this information originated that he had “uncovered”in his investigation, he admitted under oath that it only came from his imagination. No evidence was ever presented to the court that indicated there would ever be a breach of the peace on the part of the defendants. The prosecution had to rely on the speculation that there would be a breach of the peace by the unknown number of counter-protesters that would show up (or might not show up) Counter protests had already been set up at several other locations around the city. The rally was scheduled to happen between 5 PM and 8PM local time. Friday prayers at the mosque ended at 3 PM, two hours before the rally was scheduled. This was pre-arranged to prevent the traffic congestion.

So, with no evidence to prove an attempt to breach of the peace on the part of the defendants and the mosque being closed and there being no risk to a disruption to their services, that left only one issue on the table. Money. The city of Dearborn estimated it would cost them $46,000 for security for six people to stand in front of a closed mosque.

My testimony for the defense was to affirm that nothing was ever communicated to me that anything provacative would be done. After I testified, a Rabbi from Los Angeles also testified to the same thing.

The prosecution made a disturbing claim regarding the Quran. The lead prosecutor made more than one reference to the Quran stating that burning it was so offensive because that book “was worth a thousand lives”. He repeated that about three times during the course of the trial. It was one of the most anti-constitutional statements I have ever heard uttered from a supposed American.

One woman was ejected from the courtroom for vocalizing her disgust at Dr. Jones calling terrorists killing UN workers in Afghanistan, “idiots”. Several warnings were given by the judge for minor things like laughter from the audience. He did a fine job of keeping order.

In the end, the jurors found against Dr. Jones and Pastor Sapp. The prosecution asked for $25,000 each for bond and a five year restriction from the mosque. The judge ordered $1 each and three years resriction from the mosque and any adjacent property. Violation of this could result in the bond being raised up to $50,000 each and 93 days in jail.

In essence, Dr. Jones and Pastor Sapp were brought by police car from the airport and straight to court where they were found guilty of inciting a breach of the peace at a closed mosque that they never even had the chance to look at, much less stand in front of. They were convicted and ultimately jailed for doing nothing.

I was standing right next to them when the ACLU handed them a brief supporting their fight for free speech. This will be appealed. Lawsuits will be filed. But this was a pivotal moment in free speech. Could anyone, just a few years ago, have ever concieved that you could get off an airplane here in America and be taken straight to trial, convicted, and jailed without ever doing anything actually illegal?

After Dr. Jones and Pastor Sapp were taken to jail I was mobbed by dozens of reporters and several protestors. Those protestors were absolute hypocrites. They were using their free speech to protest us using ours. Is this what our country is coming to? We are worse off than I thought.

On Good Friday 2000 years ago Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins. On Good Friday in 2011 two Americans were crucified for sins they had not even yet committed. And the Constitution was crucified with them.

May God have mercy on us all.

Pastor David Grisham