Iowa religious activist pleads not guilty to book burning

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – A trial has been scheduled for an Iowa religious activist who’s accused of burning four LGBTQ children’s books he’d checked out of a local library.

Sioux County District Court records show that 62-year-old Paul Dorr has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanour criminal mischief. His nonjury trial is set to begin March 26.

Dorr released a nearly 30-minute video on Facebook Live in which he denounced the Orange City library for having the LGBTQ books and threw them into a burning barrel. The video was made Oct. 19, the first day of the city’s gay pride festival.

Dorr had said he would not pay to replace the books, but hundreds of dollars’ worth of donations poured into the library in the aftermath of the video.

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Information from: Sioux City Journal, http://www.siouxcityjournal.com