A Tulsa man who is charged with making threats against a local mosque and is being held in a mental health facility said he is not a violent person and that his message has been misinterpreted.
Jesse Quinn Harrison, 33, was charged Dec. 28 with transmitting a threatening letter and with malicious intimidation or harassment under Oklahoma’s hate-crimes statute. The charges allege that Harrison sent a letter to the Islamic Peace Academy “with the intent to intimidate.”
The charges also allege that a video showing Harrison “smearing pork on the Quran and (on a picture of) an Islamic religious figure and grilling those items” was posted online by Harrison with the intent of producing “violence directed to others because of their religious belief.”
But Harrison told the Tulsa World that although he recognizes that the video could be offensive to many, it was not his intent to harass Muslims. He said his goal was to “shine a light on the hypocrisy and fear that drives so much hate” and that the video is an exercise of his First Amendment right to free speech.
Harrison said he voluntarily admitted himself to the Tulsa Center for Behavioral Health on Dec. 18 but has been held there against his will since the charges were filed Dec. 28. He is scheduled for a mental-health hearing Monday in Tulsa County District Court.
According to a court affidavit filed Monday by Tulsa Police Cpl. Brian Blair, Harrison sent a packet containing a DVD and nine pages to the Peace Academy on Oct. 22.
The
DVD contains images of family photos, business and personal records, and several videos and photos related to Harrison’s Quran burning and target practice with handguns, according to both the affidavit and Harrison.
The packet included Harrison’s resume, a letter outlining a domestic assault witnessed by Harrison, a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller and “a message” to the people of Islam asking “Who am I?” and “Who are you?”
Harrison posted on his Facebook page that he intended to “march on the Tulsa Islamic Mosque” on Dec. 31 and “will await Islam’s Fatwa. Lastly, I will impart my message.”
Harrison confirmed for the Tulsa World that he wrote the post and that before he was held against his will in the Tulsa Center for Behavioral Health, he had intended to go to the mosque on New Year’s Eve, but he would not say what message he would have delivered there.
Although the affidavit states that the individual actions “fall short of the description of a threatening or intimidating letter” as described in statutes, “the totality of circumstances and actions by Jesse Quinn Harrison would lead the average person to believe that he does possess animosity toward the Islamic Society of Tulsa.”
The affidavit continues that “with a prior incident of violence ..., he has the capacity to carry out his threats whether they be clearly stated or implied. He has given a specific date of (11 p.m. Dec. 31) and should not be allowed to freely carry out such claims.”
The affidavit states that Harrison blew up his high school locker in California with a pipe bomb, but Harrison said that was done by his friends while he was driving his friends and others around when he was 16.
Harrison said he has no animosity toward Muslims or any religious or political group.
“I believe the majority of any religion or people are good,” he said.
He said his issues are with what he believes are the government’s attempts to stifle free speech.
Although that message could have been expressed in any number of ways, he said, “it was concerning to me to see the reaction” in the media to a Florida pastor’s statement last summer that he was going to burn a Quran on Sept. 11.
Harrison said he believes that the burning - which did not occur - would have been protected as free speech.
He said he was concerned with how the incident played out, especially when the pastor, Terry Jones, received a phone call from high-level government officials asking him not to burn the Quran.
“That’s when lightning struck,” Harrison said. “I’m just a common person who sees something that’s wrong and is trying to do something about it.”
He also said that by posting the offensive statements, making his personal information public by sending it to the Islamic Peace Academy and posting it on Facebook and still not having any threats made against him by Muslims, he could dispel the perception by some that Islam is a violent religion.
“All this time that I’ve had my public information on display, there’s been no threat,” Harrison said. “If Islam can forgive me for (the video), I hope it will help.”
Muneer Awad, executive director of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he has seen the video sent by Harrison and knew that authorities were keeping an eye on him before he was charged. But he said he acknowledges Harrison’s right to post such materials despite their offensive nature.
“We understand and believe it’s important to respect the First Amendment rights of every person,” Awad said. “The concern was the fact that there was a specific date that he was going to do a certain something.”
Harrison is originally from California and moved from Arizona to Tulsa about a year and a half ago to help with his brother’s new business, but he since has resigned, he said.
He does not claim any political affiliation and said that “I see hypocrisy on both sides of the aisle.”
Harrison said he welcomes the opportunity to meet with Muslim leaders to explain his views.
Awad said such a meeting could be productive for both parties, adding, “The way to beat the expression of intolerance is through outreach.”
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2010/crimesite/article.aspx?subjectid=450&articleid=20110108_11_A13_CUTLIN784593