Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Qur'an Burner Jesse Quinn Harrison Arrested for Hate Crime against Muslims

It seems that the anti-Muslim backlash that we've been hearing about constantly for the last decade has finally begun. Or has it? A young man named Jesse Quinn Harrison has been charged with a hate crime for "sending an intimidating letter" to an Islamic school and "posting a video" of a Qur'an desecration. Since we know that police sometimes go out of their way to protect Islam, we'll have to see where the evidence goes. I read some comments by Harrison on Facebook and YouTube, and he doesn't sound entirely competent, so it wouldn't surprise me to learn that he threatened Muslims. If he did threaten people, I hope he is prosecuted for doing so. However, there's nothing in his video that isn't protected by the First Amendment, so if his letter is more of the same, it seems Tulsa Police have overstepped their bounds.

A Tulsa man is charged with a hate crime for allegedly sending an intimidating letter to the Islamic Peace Academy and posting a video online showing him desecrating a Quran, court records show.

Jesse Quinn Harrison, 33, was charged Tuesday with one count each of transmitting a threatening letter and malicious intimidation or harassment - what Oklahoma statutes call a hate crime.

According to the charges, Harrison is accused of sending a nine-page letter to the Islamic Peace Academy in Tulsa "with the intent to intimidate."

He also made a video that shows him "smearing pork on the Quran and an Islamic religious figure and grilling those items," according to the charge.

The charge states that the video was made to "produce violence directed to others because of their religious beliefs."

A man with the same name and Tulsa address as those listed on the charges posted on Facebook a YouTube video that matches the one described in the charges.

The 5 1/2-minute video, posted to YouTube on Oct. 1, is attributed there to a "Rockwell Porter" - a name the charges list as an alias for Harrison. (Read more.)

Harrison's letter hasn't been released yet by the Prosecuting Attorney's Office. However, his video is available on YouTube:



Yes, the video is meant to be offensive. But being offensive is not against the law. Thus, any evidence of a crime will have to come from Harrison's letter. We'll see what further investigation brings to light.

For our official response to book-burning, see the following video:

13 comments:

Radical Moderate said...

Well there is something obviously wrong with this guy.

First he uses a gas grill. Second he is ruining those butterfly pork chops.

What a waist. He should be arrested just for that.

cmclvr said...

Burning Koran is an absolute waste and it gives a convenient excuse for the PC media and political elite to appease Muslims and to cover up the threats posed by the dangerous Islamic ideology. Sending hateful and threatening letters to Islamic organizations is even a bigger waste. One cannot extinguish hateful teachings in a book by burning it or change the understanding of the brainwashed by threatening or insulting. Truth and facts alone can win in a peaceful struggle. One must always try to expose the violent and hateful teachings of Islam strictly according to its original texts and commentaries. It will certainly help people of other religions to understand the real Islam and the threats posed by it. People have the right to know why Muslims (terrorists, protesters and constant complainers) behave exactly the same way world wide and what is the real danger posed by it in the long run. It may even help many Muslims who may be following the rituals and practices associated with Islam faithfully without being really aware of either the depravities of their Prophet or his venomous and hateful teachings that are in the book that are literally driving millions of devout to commit insane acts of violence.

It may be noted that majority of non-Arabic speaking Muslims will either retaliate with threats, choicest abuses and insults while defending Islam or repeatedly insist "read the Koran" thoroughly before making bad and ignorant comments. Why do they say so when deeper study of Islamic theology and its violent prescription to subjugate unbelievers is sure to send fear down the spines of those who read it thoroughly unless they believe that deeper study of Koran will change the perception? This is what happened to me when I got a deeper picture of Islam as exposed by the great efforts of David Wood, Sam Shamoun, Pastor Joseph and many others. Muslim scholars are becoming increasingly silent being unable to counter what is being exposed by these stalwarts must indicate that it is the correct way to tackle the root of the problem. Enraged people must stop behaving irrationally as it is counter productive.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the fat man many people are hungry he shouldn't have wasted food. Like I ask Muslims if the English Quran is corrupted and he burns one would he not be doing Muslims a favor by burning a corrupted Quran?

Haecceitas said...

"What a waist. He should be arrested just for that."

So you want to make it illegal to be a fat man? ;-)

Rafik Responde ao Isla said...

Hi David
I think you should also comment on this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344624/Islam-seen-threat-national-identity-half-French-Germans.html

Christie said...

Though I have not seen the letter (so I can't comment on that) burning a book of any kind is not a crime. Is it silly/stupid to do it--probably. Is it a crime--definitely not. Hopefully all this will come out in the wash. Why are we pandering to these people? Is there not enough real crime in the US that our detectives have to go making it up? Likely a politcal ploy, but this could ruin a man's life.

Radical Moderate said...

People the real crime is having a Gas Grill and waisting what looked like some good butterfly pork chops.

GreekAsianPanda said...

Even if desecrating a holy book isn't illegal, people still shouldn't do it.

David Wood said...

The question isn't whether he should or shouldn't do it. The question is whether he should be jailed for a hate crime for doing it.

I don't believe Muslims should build a mosque at Ground Zero. It's incredibly offensive. But this doesn't mean that Imam Rauf should be locked up for a hate crime.

Certain passages of the Qur'an are extremely offensive. But this doesn't mean that Muslims should be arrested for handing out copies of the Qur'an.

The government is supposed to protect our rights, not violate them. So, again, if Harrison threatened someone, he should go to jail. If he's just being offensive, then people are free to peacefully respond to him, but not to have him locked up.

goethechosemercy said...

Islamic Peace Academy?

Wow.
That's a good one.

goethechosemercy said...

No. He shouldn't be jailed at all.
But I'm sure the ACLU doesn't have the courage to take the case. If they take it, I'll be REALLY surprised.

donna60 said...

goethechosemercy, the ACLU has defended free speech over and over again, recently.

Anonymous said...

Um, guys, aren't you forgetting something? Less then 10% of Muslims are actually extremists, and less then 20% of them are actually terrorist. 1.7 million other Muslims are peaceful, kind-hearted people.