The Gainesville Sun: Officials, Experts Fret Over Violence that Quran Burning Could Incite

| Print | E-mail

Written by Administrator Wednesday, 25 August 2010 12:05

And while Mayor Craig Lowe and city religious leaders have said they hope to calm the situation by showing the world Gainesville doesn't support Dove World, threats are pouring in. Evan Kohlmann, who tracks militant websites for the New York-based firm Flashpoint Global Partners, said a suicide bomber has threatened to drive a truck into the church and that others have talked about burning down the building. "It's hard to tell how serious the discussions are, but they're talking about it," Kohlmann said....Kohlmann said the anti-Islam rhetoric in the debate over the so-called "ground zero mosque" and Jones' Quran burning is being used as propaganda for al-Qaida and other extremists, and he urged Jones to back off. "If drawing a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad was enough to generate suicide bombings and an offer by al-Qaida to give money to go assassinate these people, what do you think burning a Quran is going to do?" Kohlmann said. "It may not be in Gainesville. It may not be in Tallahassee. It may not be in Florida. But a price will be a paid for this."