Pastor Terry Jones' Holds Protest at Dearborn, Michigan City Hall

DEARBORN, Mich. (WJBK) - Before Pastor Terry Jones even made his much anticipated appearance, protesters started gathering along Michigan Avenue in front of the Arab-American Museum directly across from Dearborn City Hall.

The young, the old, Muslims and Christians stood shoulder-to-shoulder in solidarity against a man and what they believe is his message of hate.

"We don't condemn you for who you are. We're not here to protest against you. We're here to invite you to Islam," said Dearborn resident Monzer Jaber.

"Everybody's entitled to free speech, but it's just the fact that this isn't what I consider free speech," said Matty O'Dea.

"I think it's very important that we let people know that Dearborn is a united community. We care and we respect each other," said Dearborn resident Roxanne McDonald.

Lots of folks in Dearborn may frown upon what the Florida pastor has to say, but there was several people who had his back.

"Most people see that I was standing on the steps with him because it's one thing to be in the crowd. It's another thing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder," said one man.

The protest started off cool, even peaceful. Jones was at a podium at the top of the steps of city hall speaking out against radical Islam. Meanwhile, his protesters gave him a piece of their minds from across the street.

"This is America, and there was a beauty, even though it was controversial, in these people being able to voice their opinion. They can't do that in many countries," the aforementioned man said.

However, Pastor Jones pulled a fast one, grabbing the microphone and walking toward the crowd. That was when Dearborn Police could no longer control the mob. Dozens of people breached the barricades and rushed across the roadway yelling, screaming and throwing shoes and bottles at Jones and his supporters.

"He started approaching the crowd. He went from the podium to about 200 feet and that's like instigating," said Amer Jaafar.

He was in the crowd when things got a little tense.

"Unfortunately, it did, and it was an uneasy situation," Jaafar said.

Police in riot gear descended on the rowdy group. A couple of people were led away in handcuffs. Michigan State Police patrolled from the sky and within minutes with the help of community leaders, the crowd calmed.

"Our community leaders got between Mr. Jones and the crowd and backed the crowd up," said Dearborn Mayor John O'Reilly. "Said, no, this is not the right action, and they listened."

"Everything went fairly well. Our plan worked. We had a little snafu there in the middle. Some poor judgment was exercised by the speaker. Against our best advice, he went to street after we told him it was ill advised, and you saw what happened. But all things being fair and equal, not a bad afternoon," said Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad.

So, the Koran-burning pastor and his sidekick, Wayne Sapp, finally got their day in Dearborn. It took a whole lot of drama to get to this point. Was it worth it?

Some were saying what Pastor Jones spewed was hatred and that he incited the counter protestors' behavior. When asked for his response, he said, "I think that's pretty ridiculous. I think the people need to watch what I said. I believe they were pretty incited before we even got here."

"The police have been very good and very positive, but I don't think that was a very positive demonstration. I don't think what we said was really that bad, that awful, especially at the end with the Pledge of Allegiance," he added. "I think if we hadn't drawn back and we would've pushed it, probably some violence would've broken out."

"We're thrill that we came, and I'm sure we'll be back. We've got legal issues to take care of," said Sapp.

He was also asked about the counter protesters throwing bottles and shoes.

"I don't think they were throwing it at us. I think they were just throwing it trying to make a scene," Sapp said.

And when questioned about those who strongly dislike him, he responded, "I'm still praying for them. That's why we're saying what we're saying that hopefully they don't fall into a radical element that we're talking about."

"We're going to be back just as soon as possible. The next time we want to come back and demonstrate in front of the mosque," Jones told FOX 2.

All in all, only a couple of people were arrested. They may not even face charges.

As for the price tag of this protest, that's still unknown, but it's expected to run in the thousands of dollars.

All things considered, Pastor Jones said he was satisfied with how things turned out, despite the fact that he received yet another death threat. He said he will continue sharing his feelings about radical Islam and doesn't care whether anybody likes it or not.