Posted on 09/09/2010 8:05:16 AM PDT by kristinn
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.
Blackburn declined to say how much he anticipates the event will cost the city, but he said it will be substantial because of the personnel and equipment it will take to patrol the area in case anything happens.
And after a number of death threats against Jones have been made, law enforcement officials say they are preparing for anything.
"We have to plan for the worst," Blackburn said.
While law enforcement is not saying how many officers will be policing the area around Dove World or the area around Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for Saturday's Florida-USF football game, they do say they are developing a plan that they believe will provide enough manpower to ensure the public's safety.
Blackburn said he wasn't sure what authority the city had to compel Jones to pay.
Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell said she would also consider billing Dove World for the expenses her agency will incur.
"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.
(Excerpt) Read more at gainesville.com ...
Its real simple. Don’t provide security.
Can NY synagogues bill the mosques for the security they need on the High Holy Days?
The threat is coming from organizations like CAIR et al, why not bill them directly?
I hadn’t heard the chuch’s name before. “ World Outreach Center”! Talk about irony, whew!
...that works....
That’s what he gets for turning this into a spectacle.
Ahhh, the City of Gainsville, run by Public Masters, rather than public servants.
I wonder how come this is never tried when assorted left wing groups protest, oh I don’t know, ANYTHING.
Be sure to send bills for illegal immigration amnesty marches too,
My attitude has gone from “it’s a free country” to “good idea!”.
It's much like the Victory Mosque at G0 is a bridge to the community.
This event is a teaching opportunity to show the supremecy of the 1st Amendment, and of the US Constitution in general, to those who think Sharia Law is supreme.
lol
Seriously, I was thinking there were First Amendment issues with charging groups for security.
If the city can do it I would imagine they would have to had the policy and fees in place BEFORE they got this request.
This is official thuggery, pure and simple.
That would seem to be illegal as he didn’t ask for that security and as a atxpayer he is provided equal protection under the law. If someone is threatening violence then arrest the perps.
Yes and no. No in the sense that the Koran burners are not aligned with any group that killed approximately 3,000 innocent Americans or more the last ten years.
This is pure bluff: It’s called a “heckler’s veto” and it won’t stand up in court. The threat of violence by opponents can not be used as an excuse to block free speech, which is what charging the charging the church thousands of dollars would amount to. (Of course in this case the free publicity is worth vastly more than the threatened charges, and the church could easily raise the money by asking for donations if it had to.)
When the Pope went to Washington DC years back, I remember specifically that he didn’t pay for any beefed up security.
Personally I don’t like it and don’t see the point but I do understand the first amendment and he has the right to do as he pleases.
Personally I think he should offer a deal to the mosque builders. If they don’t build the mosque, he won’t burn their book.
The “world” part of the title seems a little grandiose for a church with just 50 congregants.
WOW
Abd all the protest marches etc ???
Do the illegal aliens get a bill on May 1st ???
What about the war protestors ???
Maybe he can get in under the Freedom of Religion Amendment, say that he is just practicing like St. Paula Acts 19 v. 19.
Hey Gainesville, everyone has paid the taxes for you to provide security, he is doing nothing wrong!!! Just treat it like another day and if fanatic butthole muslims show up with threats, they will call you or if things get too hot,if the scumbags get violent maybe they willpop a few of them and leave a better pic than just the Korans burning. Gainesville has no right to decide he should not be provided with normal security.
Gainesville is a wonderful small town, no time to start playing dem politics now, man up..
Maybe some rotten liberal judge will decide differently, but IMHO there is NO WAY they can bill anyone for police protection unless they specifically request it.
Unfortunately, you never know what kind of totalitarian, unconstitutional decision our activist judges will come up with next.
Still, good luck collecting the money, Russ.
Yes, don’t provide security unless you can guarantee it, which you can’t.
If something bad happened and the local security forces did not or could not prevent it, could they be sued? No.
Is this a case of a govt pre-empting free speech? You bet it is!
Dove “acre” just doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
First Amendment?
This is a clear FIFTH Amendment violation. Where is the due process of law before the state levies this FINE?
I am sure that a large group of Gun toting Red Necks would protect them for free.
As far as I’m concerned this is a private matter that the media has made into a circus, they should pay for security.
“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.”
hmmmm..the guy only has about 50 parishoners...how can it be a ‘large’ event? I guess the Muslims and their media co-horts are the ones going in mass. What a ridiculous circus. This is the media’s fault for giving this preacher so much attention. It should have been ignored like the one that Phelps did awhile back.
first they were not going to issue a permit.
second they will try and tax him to death
Gainsvill should send a bill to the MSM.
Hey, what a CONCEPT!! Big Brother can just send bills to anyone he wishes, for any amount he desires! This is even better than TAXES!!!
No, Jewish sensibilities don't count any more than Christian sensibilities. Call for the murder of all Jews, submerge a crucifix in a glass of Andres Serrano's urine (and call it ART), marry off 9 year old girls, behead American soldiers, kill thousands in New York on 9/11, burn Bibles - burn American flags? NO PROBLEM. GET OVER IT. Consider burning a Koran? NOW, THAT'S a problem.
Why not bill the muslims since they are the ones who will comprise the security risk? Another question: If islam is so frickin’ peaceful then why is there any need to worry about violence simply because a few korans will be burned?
I don’t think this has been posted: their insurance carrier has cancelled coverage on the church and their mortgage holder is calling the church’s loan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100908/us_time/08599201680400
Don’t think they ever requested anything. They are conducting the protest on private property and as far as I know they never asked for anything from government.
Great part of FL is CCW is easy and citizens can protect themselves.
Good point.
Why bill the potential victim? If a bunch of leftists decided to burn an American flag ( as legal as burning a koran) and a conservative group threatened them - the city wouldn't bill the leftist... they'd go after the group making the threat.
It's the old double standard in action...
Popcorn, I’m going to need lot’s and lot’s of popcorn.... and butter and some salt and something cold to drink.
I’m beginning to think that moderate mussies are the same as the extreme version only they keep their mouths shut. I’d love to see Islam exposed as the hate filled religion that it truly is. Islam is nothing but a F’d up cult that is striving for world domination and control.
“This is a nice church you have here. It would be a shame if something happened to it. What you need is protection.”
I wonder if NYC billed the mosque for the security at the anti-mosque rally.
How come there is no need to create the phrase “Moderate Catholic”?
3 FBI agents headed to the Pastor’s church according to a news report
The city should save itself the postage. That bill isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. One, I doubt the World Outreach Center has any tangible assets to speak of (aside from some damaged korans). And two, the “protection” the city is providing is at THEIR insistence, not the “pastor’s.”. He owes them nothing.
And then there’s that First Amendment question ...
Gainesville, Florida is the leftest community on the continent.
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