Jihad Watch reader Abdul Ameer sent me this email regarding this story, about the $10,000 reward the East Lansing Police Department is offering for information on the recent burning of a Qur’an there:
Dear Mr. Spencer,
After reading your posting about the $10,000 reward being offered in the investigation by the EWast Lansing Police Department of a Koran burning, I called the East Lansing Police Department. I spoke with three people and asked each one which American law was being violated. The first person didn’t know and passed me to another officer in the department. The second officer did not know, either, and passed me to a third officer. The third officer did not know either, and then just hung up on me.
Abdul Ameer
I don’t support Qur’an-burning. I don’t approve of book-burning in general. I believe that bad ideas should be met with better ideas, not with violent suppression. But the freedom of expression is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Neither the Qur’an nor any other book is protected from burning under American law. So why the huge reward from the East Lansing PD? And why is no one there prepared to answer any questions about their apparent attempt to enforce a Sharia provision rather than American law?
Abdul Ameer adds in a later message:
Call the East Lansing Police Department at (517) 319-6825. Ask them to explain to you exactly which American law was violated by someone having left a burnt Koran on the front doorstep of the East Lansing Islamic Center. Ask for an explanation of why this incident is so important that it is worth $10,000 of the taxpayers’ money and many hours of police time.
Please use this as an opportunity to help educate the East Lansing Police Department.