Florida Pastor Terry Jones Burns Korans In Protest [Video]

Terry Jones, a controversial pastor in Florida, has burned a depiction of the prophet Mohammed and the Koran in protest of the imprisonment of Youcef Nadarkhani in Iran.

Nadarkhani is a a Christian clergyman who was arrested back in October of 2009 and condemned to death under Islamic sharia law for has having converted from the Muslim religion to Christianity.

The burning was streamed live over the internet. Twenty people were in attendance at the burning which occurred at pastor Jones’ church in Gainesville, F.L., on Saturday, The Gainesville Sun reported. Stand Up America Now uploaded a video of the Koran burning to YouTube.

The Pentagon previously urged the pastor to reconsider, citing their concern for the well being of U.S. soldiers overseas in places such as Afghanistan, however, Jones insisted on continuing with the burning.

Back in March of 2011, Jones’ assistant burned a copy of the Koran and broadcast the intolerant ceremony over the world wide web. As a result of the ceremony’s broadcast, twelve people were killed in Afghanistan as the video and images incited a violent reaction.

Just moments after Saturday’s burning, the Gainesville Fire Department Rescue Department issued a Jones’ church a citation after he allegedly violated the city’s ordinances pertaining to fire.

The man arrested for converting to Christianity, Nadarkhani, is 34-years-old and converted to Christianity when he was 19-years-old. He works as the pastor of a small evangelical community known as the Church of Iran. Iran’s supreme court overturned his death sentence in July of 2011 and sent the case back to his hometown of Rasht. The retrial occurred back in September of 2011, but the verdict has yet to be made public, Y! News reported.

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Terry Jones Koran Burning Video: