Quran-Burning Apostle Terry Jones Running for President
Anti-Islam pastor Terry Jones made international headlines for burning the Quran in 2012. Now, he’s running for president.
“I believe most all the politicians are politicians. They’re not telling the American people the truth,” Jones told WWSB in a video interview. “I spent 30 years in Europe as a missionary and when I came back to America I was horrified by the conditions of America. Lets say the moral, spiritual, and let’s say the financial conditions.”
Jones, author of Islam Is of the Devil, first came to public attention in September 2010 when he threatened to burn a Quran. He eventually withdrew his threat, but staged an online mock trial on Islam and burned a copy of the Quran in April 2011.
Within days, 22 United Nations workers and nine protesters were killed in Afghanistan, two were dead in Pakistan. And churches were attacked and Bibles were burned in Hyderabad.
“We have hundreds of death threats,” Jones said. “We’re on the al-Qaida hit list. There is also a reward on my life for $6 million, so the threats are to be taken very serious, but I think it’s very important to exercise our First Amendment Rights.”
Operating under Stand Up America Now, an organization whose purpose, according to its website, is “is to encourage Americans and the church to stand up,” Jones in 2013 threatened to burn nearly 3,000 copies of the Quran on a barbeque grill, according to a Reuters report, and was swiftly arrested.
“I’m running for president,” Jones said. “Vote for me.”
