NYC mayor: Fla. minister’s plan to burn Quran on 9/11 is ‘distasteful’ but a protected right

NYC mayor defends minister’s right to burn Quran

NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg says a minister’s plan to burn the Muslim holy book on Sept. 11 is “distasteful” but says the minister has a right to do it.

Bloomberg was asked Tuesday about Pastor Terry Jones’ announced plan to burn the Quran on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the terror attacks, amid a national debate about a planned Islamic center near ground zero. The mayor is one of the center’s strongest supporters.

The mayor says that he doesn’t think Jones would like it if someone burned a book that Jones thinks is holy.

But he says Jones’ planned act is protected by free speech rights, and “we can’t say that we’re going to apply the First Amendment to only those cases where we are in agreement.”