Notorious Islamophobe Terry Jones opens french-fry stand in Florida

The infamous American pastor who sparked outrage in the Muslim world for burning several copies of the Qur’an says he does not believe that burning the holy book is “radical.”

Jones, 63, who repeatedly burned copies of the Qur’an on the anniversaries of the 9/11 attacks since 2001, now has opened a french-fry stand in a Florida mall.

“Burning the Qur’an, that’s not radical,” Jones told The Washington Post. “I can understand if you don’t agree with so-called burning someone’s holy book. But I don’t know how you can agree with Sharia.”

The mall manager, Robert Tackett who said he was not aware of Jones’ past, said he had no problem with the pastor operating his business.

Local police also assured the public that there was no security threat to the mall due to Jones' presence.

“We're aware of Mr. Jones being in Manatee County, but were not aware of his restaurant in the mall you mentioned," said Dave Bristow from the local sheriff's office.

In 2013, the controversial pastor had planned to burn 2,998 copies of the Qur’an in the Florida town of Mulberry on Sept. 11.  However, he was arrested before he could carry out his plan.

The pastor received hundreds of threats and his actions sparked massive protests around the world. He later received calls from then Defense Secretary Robert Gates and General David Petraeus, who told him his actions were endangering the lives of US military personnel.

“They never once told me, ‘Don’t do it because it’s not true,’ ” Jones said about the calls.

The pastor was also featured on a "hit list" in an al-Qaeda magazine in 2013.

"We're not fearful, and we're not going to run and hide," Jones said, adding that "If they come, we're going to try to get them before they get us."



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