Quran-burning pastor accidentally fires gun on eve of Mich. anti-Muslim rally

Terry Jones, the Quran-burning pastor from Florida who is in Michigan to try to mount an anti-Muslim rally this evening, accidentally fired his .40-caliber handgun while leaving a TV studio parking lot Thursday night, the Detroit Free Press reports, quoting police.

The 59-year-old pastor of the Dove World Ootreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., is in court today to press his plans to rally today in front of the Islamic Center of America, in Dearborn, a heavily Muslim city.

Dearborn police insist that he pay security costs estimated at $46,000, the newspaper reports.

The shooting incident occurred in Southfield as Jones was getting in the passenger side of his car. The Taurus handgun went off, sending a bullet into the floorboard, Southfield Police Lt. Nick Loussia said today, according to the Free Press.

"Officers heard a gunshot, approached the vehicle, asked Mr. Jones if he was OK," Loussia said. "He was, and they also observed he had a gun in his hand."

Officers took the weapon, and also found another hand gun near the driver, a man from Florida traveling with Jones. Both men were carrying valid Florida concealed weapon licenses, which are recognized in Michigan, Loussia said. The men were allowed to leave without further action

Jones told reporters outside today outside the Dearborn courthouse that the firing was "an accident."

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Senators decry anti-Muslim violence

By Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois questions a witness at a hearing Tuesday on anti-Muslim discrimination.

EnlargeCloseBy Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois questions a witness at a hearing Tuesday on anti-Muslim discrimination.

"Those who use this type of rhetoric, who burn Qurans and who engage in other forms of bigotry and discrimination may be few in number, but their bigoted conduct and remarks violate the spirit of our Bill of Rights," said Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights.

While subcommittee Democrats said special attention should be paid to hate crimes committed against Muslims in the USA, Republicans argued that Muslim Americans have not done enough to fight radicalism in their own communities.

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