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(photo: marhoons on Flickr)
The Gainesville Sun is reporting that the City of Gainesville intends to charge Dove World Outreach Center for the increased security costs relating to the church’s plans to burn copies of the Quran on church property on September 11:
The city of Gainesville’s top administrator said Wednesday that he will send Terry Jones, the senior pastor at the Dove World Outreach Center, a bill for the estimated tens of thousands of dollars it will cost to police the area if the church goes through with its plan to burn the Quran on Saturday.
"We definitely plan on sending him a bill," City Manager Russ Blackburn said at City Hall.
Alachua County Sherrif Sadie Darnell also is considering billing Dove World for her department’s expenses:
"The way that it is evolving, it definitely looks like it is going to be a large-scale event for Saturday, and it looks like there will be some costs as a result of him initiating and causing this to happen, so I think it is reasonable for him to pay for the cost," Darnell said.
Since it has been widely reported that Jones has placed the Dove World site up for sale, it seems to me that the city and county should take steps to place a lien on the property so that they can collect when the property sells.
There will be pre-scheduled drills by Florida National Guard troops very close to the Dove World site, but they are not currently scheduled to be part of the security arrangements. Here is a clarification provided by email from Lt. Col. Ron Tittle, Chief of Public Affairs, Florida National Guard. I had emailed Tittle after I heard only snippets of an interview with him on the Gainesville NPR station about their plans for the weekend, since I had mistakenly gotten the impression that the troops would be involved in security:
Thanks for getting back with me for clarification. I hope the radio
interview was not interpreted this way by the populace. What I wanted to let
the public know is we have a unit on NW 53rd Avenue that will have its
pre-scheduled training this weekend (their drill). Our Florida Army National
Guard’s Company A, 146th Signal Battalion, will be performing its
pre-scheduled unit training (drill) this weekend at its facility on NW 53rd
Avenue in Gainesville. That’s the message I intended for the public.The public should not interpret these Soldiers reporting for duty as being a
part of or responding to the church’s event. The situation will be handled
by appropriate law enforcement agencies. The National Guard will be called
to support the law enforcement effort only if the governor orders the Guard,
as appropriate.The Florida National Guard is not supportive of the proposed event in
Gainesville, Florida to burn the Quran. We agree with Gen. Petreaus that
actions like this could endanger troops and the overall effort. We currently
have nearly 3,000 Soldiers and Airmen supporting overseas contingency
operations.I hope this helps. Thanks for helping me clarify the message.
I thank Lt. Col. Tittle for his rapid response to my request for information.
13 Comments
Glad to see the city fathers and mothers are working to make sure the Rev. Jones isn’t insulated from the consequences of pulling this stunt.
Indeed. If he is pulling this stunt just to make money, this move changes the playing field entirely.
Good. No one should have to pay for this hate-fest, other than the nasty lowly bigoted haters, themselves. Hope they charge them up the ying-yang where the sun don’t shine – you know: where these people have firmly placed their heads.
Cool. Slap a lien on the snake handler’s “compound”. It does seem like the locals are doing their best to cope with this ass hole. If he actually has “followers” they must be feeling some heat at the barber shop.
I think this is a disturbing example of the state chilling unpopular speech. Would you be ok with the state charging, say, FDL for ‘security costs’ as a result of the Just Say Now campaign? I mean, a lot of the people who attend any future rallies on the subject MUST be potheads so it makes sense to have a few hundred cops and drug dogs to search them, and of course those costs should be borne by the people who arranged the event. It’s just common sense, and all the cops are doing is recouping their expenses. No one in law enforcement would EVER think to abuse this billing power to stifle unpopular speakers, and we all know that all liberal causes enjoy a very broad range of support in this country so we’re sure to never face this type of retribution ourselves for speaking out.
*rolls eyes*
It’s not quite that simple…
this brouhaha has the potential to harm troops overseas, as well as those working in embassies in the diplomatic corps, i.e, people who would not have the resources to fight back (the diplomatic corps, that is). Whether you agree with our so-called “defense” mission or not, it hardly seems fair that the troops should have to take the brunt of any whiplash that results from this event.
A bunch of potheads are not likely to hurt anyone; they might just be too stoned.
Oh really?
Given that marijuana funds 60% of the Mexican cartel’s profits and that thousands, literally thousands of people are brutally murdered a year by the cartels, and that we’re now militarizing the border in response, I think it’s a VERY apt comparison. It’s not that the potheads themselves are hurting anyone, NOR that the religious whackos in Florida are. All they intend to do is burn some books, which the last time I checked had no feelings and didn’t scream when set aflame, unlike human beings. It’s that somehow, when you offend someone on religious grounds, it’s your fault that they react irrationally or violently.
I’m so sick of hearing about how free speech here at home somehow endangers our troops occupying countries in the middle east. You know what really endangers them?
Being there, *occupying someone else’s country*!
Yeesh.
The effort to legalize pot is a direct attempt to BREAK the control the cartels have over the product at hand.
Your ballyhoo falls apart on this singular premise and reality.
When I see cops and dogs busting people for possession at a Just Say Now rally, I’ll be amazed.
There is just no correlation of any sensible means between Jones book burnings and Just Say Now rallies.
Spurious, egregious. Not to belittle two of the FINE people who comment at FDL/Seminal.,
You got nuttin. But you have yer right to spout yer nuttin, I’ll grant ya that.
Mr. White, delighted to learn of the city folks of Gainesville looking to bill Jones et al for the security!
Also, interesting that Jones’ property is up for sale, and yeah, a lien on that property would be a good thing to get, ASAP.
Love the response and stance by the National Guard rep too.
They’ll just be there, by happenstance, if something DOES happen and they are called to action.
Now if only we could get these kinds of successes against Fred Phelps and Westboro’s horrid doings.
BTW, for readers who might be behind on Seminal Diaries, the ACLU has posted today! And they are spot on, too.
The Constitution
Show them some love, drop by and comment folks . . . they spell it out simply and rightfully so by letter of enforced law. Bless them and for all they have done and continue to do.
I agree with legalization. I’m not saying that the argument against it is worthwhile. I was positing an argument that has every bit as much legitimacy as the argument that someone burning a book they legally own, on their own property, is somehow to blame for someone else’s violent extremism.
You might want to re-read my comment, as I thought that it was fairly obvious that I wasn’t arguing in favor of suppressing speech, and instead was warning the people cheerleading this latest attempt to shut up someone with whom they disagree that the same abusive powers can, and most likely would, be turned on them in the future.
Yes, by all means. Let’s start seizing the property of anyone with an unpopular opinion preemptively, without so much as a court ruling, on the say-so of law enforcement alone. There’s no way THAT could backfire.
Oh Jones could speak/burn. But there are consequences, and one isn’t free from them.
It cost the Dixie Chicks a lot.
no no no no and a thousand more times no.