Quran Shredding Planned for Memorial Day in Boca Raton

A South Florida man's plan to shred a copy of the Quran at a Boca Raton park is drawing fire from a local minister who has also spoken out against Muslim extremism.

Mark Dixon Rowley informed the city that he will desecrate a copy of the Islamic holy book at Sanborn Square on Memorial Day. His request for a permit was neither approved nor denied by the city, which informed Rowley in writing on Wednesday that an "'event conducted for the primary purpose of First Amendment speech or assembly' is excluded from permit requirements."

But Deputy City Manager George Brown concluded in his letter to Rowley: "On behalf of the mayor and city council and city administration, we find the prospect of the deliberate desecration of a sacred text to be abhorrently offensive. We request that you not proceed with this act."

Rowley, who requested the use of Sanborn Square from noon to 6 p.m. Monday, told Sunshine State News on Thursday that he will "probably" proceed with the event, though he would have preferred to have an actual city permit in hand..

"I wanted to put City Hall in the middle, and a permit would allow me protection," he said.

Posing with a sign, "Disrespect Rape: Shred a Koran," Rowley maintains that the Islamic prophet Mohammed "approved of rape, pregnancy by rape as a blessing ordained by Allah, and the practice of extorting money or property to secure the release of the rape victim."

Pastor Mark Boykin, pastor of the Church of All Nations in Boca Raton, has also railed against Muslim extremism, but condemned Rowley's protest.

He does possess the full expression of hisFirst Amendment rights. Desecrating the Quran, however, is bad form, Boykin said.

The two men have a history, with Rowley pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of spray-painting "666" on Boykin's church and four other houses of worship, including a synagogue and a mosque in 2006.

I have nothing against Mr. Dixon Rowley," Boykin said. "I recall that he came to our church and asked for forgiveness after the [spray-painting] incident took place," Boykin said.

Last month, Boykin participated in a protest at Florida Atlantic University over the employment of professor Bessem Alhalabi. Alleging connections to Muslim terrorists through the Islamic Center of Boca Raton, the protesters called for Alhalabi's firing.

After previously threatening to torch a Quran, Gainesville pastor Terry Jones carried out a little-noticed burning at his Dove Outreach Center on March 20. Two weeks later, Muslim mobs killed 11 workers at a U.N. compound in Afghanistan. News accounts at the time blamed Jones' action for the deadly rampage.