The man who thought it was a good idea to set a Koran on fire near the proposed Lower Manhattan mosque on September 11 has been fired from his New Jersey Transit job. From the Daily News:
Derek Fenton’s 11-year career at the agency came to an abrupt halt Monday after photographs of him ripping pages from the Muslim holy book and setting them ablaze appeared in newspapers.
Fenton, 39, of Bloomingdale, N.J., burned the book during a protest on the ninth anniversary of Sept. 11 outside Park51, the controversial mosque slated to be built near Ground Zero.
He was apparently inspired by Pastor Terry Jones, the Florida clergyman who threatened to burn the Koran that day but later changed his mind.
The Daily News seems to think Fenton may have had second thoughts about the merits of his decision after being arrested. In the meantime NJTransit wouldn’t go into details about his firing except to say his “public actions violated New Jersey Transit’s code of ethics.” Indeed.