Lock Him Up: Why Terry Jones Needs Permanent Lodging at Guantanamo Bay

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Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me four times and it’s time for you to get a healthy dose of what you deserve.

This past Wednesday, as our nation reflected on the 12th anniversary of 9/11, there existed a wide range of emotions and actions in our country. Many people reflected on the incident via social media and where they were when the towers fell. Many schools had moments of silence and in-depth discussions about how our world has changed and what the future might hold. Many military servicemen and women did their best to call home and tell their loved ones how much they missed them. Their messages were returned by those at home telling them how proud they were of them for serving our country.

Despite all the good that came out of the day, there was, of course, those that chose to use the day for their own personal gain. There were the 9/11 truthers who became especially loud in their calls for what they believe is a massive government cover-up. There was Fox News who used a large portion of its daily “news” coverage to remind all about Benghazi again because that was clearly the more significant 9/11 event. There were also our friends at AT&T who did their best to exploit a national tragedy in an attempt to sell its brand new smartphone.

And yet, the worst atrocity of the day was committed by a man in Mulberry, Florida who wanted to show everyone what he really thinks about the world’s one billion Muslims.

On Wednesday, Florida pastor Terry Jones and his associate pastor were arrested while transporting a large barbecue grill that just happened to house 2,998 kerosene-soaked Qur’ans to a public park with the intent of lighting them all on fire as a symbolic “tribute” to the fallen victims of 9/11. He was arrested on felony charges of unlawful conveyance of fuel and unlawful open-carry of a firearm while his bosom buddy was arrested for having no valid registration on the trailer. They both were booked into a Polk County jail.

The name Terry Jones should be familiar to most of us around September 11th. For those that don’t remember, Jones also wanted to burn Qur’ans on September 11th, 2010 and had to be called out by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as well as President Barack Obama before he cancelled his planned burning. In March of 2011, Jones decided to go through with his Qur’an burning and this action caused protests throughout Muslim lands and led to the death of seven foreigners at a UN compound in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. In September of 2012, Jones expressed support for the film, Innocence of Muslims, which eventually would lead to protests outside the consulate in Benghazi, Libya. In November of 2012, Jones was convicted in absentia and sentenced to death by an Egyptian court for his role in the promotion of the film.

Despite this history, as of forty-eight hours ago Terry Jones was not only a free man, but was also a free man with access to kerosene as well as nearly three-thousand copies of the Muslim holy book. Had sheriff’s deputies not caught Jones before another one of his heinous and deplorable acts, then there is no doubt that other innocent people would have been killed and that our servicemen and women as well as our diplomats overseas would have been put in danger. Terry Jones has proven time and time again that he will stop at nothing to spread his vile hatred of the Muslim people as long as he is a free man.

Terry Jones. A man who uses his distorted religious worldview to justify his actions that cause the death and suffering of innocent men, women, and children. Sounds like a terrorist to me.

Which is exactly why Terry Jones needs to find a permanent home at Guantanamo Bay. If we are going to keep the facility open, we may as well have those that have committed actual terrorist acts being housed there. Terry Jones fits this description to a T. If he is allowed to eventually make bail in Mulberry, then there’s a one-hundred percent chance he will again attempt something next year on September 11th. In fact, he will probably attempt something on every September 11th from now until his death.

If we, as a nation, are begrudgingly going to keep Guantanamo open, then let’s use it for people like Terry Jones. People who are in open rebellion against the rule of law here in the United States. People that use their own distorted religious dogma to advance their own cause of hate and ignorance toward an entire group of people. People who knowingly and willingly put the lives of Americans overseas in jeopardy including our diplomats and servicemen and women. People who repeatedly use a day of national mourning to cause additional pain and suffering throughout the globe.

Cuba is a short plane ride from Florida. There is no reason that Terry Jones shouldn’t be on the next flight out.