DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) – A Dearborn, Michigan jury will consider on Friday whether a controversial Florida pastor will have to post a "peace bond" before a planned demonstration in front of the largest mosque in the United States.

District Court Judge Mark Somers issued a preliminary ruling on Thursday in favor of prosecutors who have sought the bond on the grounds that the appearance by Terry Jones would require heavy police protection to prevent violence.

A six-person jury will hear the case on Friday morning.

Dearborn, which includes one of the largest Muslim American communities in the United States, has denied Jones and a handful of his supporters a permit to protest outside the Islamic Center of America.

Detroit area clergy and community activists have rallied against the planned protest by Jones in recent days, calling him a divisive figure who practices hate speech.

Other commentators have argued that police and prosecutors have overstepped by trying to block Jones and violate the constitutional protection of free speech.

Jones, 59, is the leader of a fringe, fundamentalist church in Gainesville, Florida, who was unknown until his announced plans to burn a Koran catapulted him into headlines last year.

Jones, who represented himself in court on Thursday, said he would attempt to protest outside the mosque with a handful of supporters even if he is barred.

"We have already, I think, made it very clear that our intentions are to continue to go on to protest in front of the Islamic Center," Jones told reporters after an afternoon hearing on his planned protest.

A handful of protesters heckled Jones outside the Dearborn court and carried signs that read "Racist Terry Jones Get Out of Town" and "Stop Racist Muslim Attacks."

Meanwhile, several hundred community activists and Christian clergy rallied at the nearby mosque to show their support for the local Muslim community.

"Terry Jones does not represent the Christian community. He represents himself and only himself. What we see today is the real America," Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini, the mosque's spiritual leader, told reporters.

Jones has outraged the Muslim world with his publicity-grabbing protests against "radical Islam."

In a move that prompted riots in Afghanistan, Jones' tiny church in northern Florida burned a Koran last month following a mock "trial" of the text.

Jones says he is not against all Muslims but believes their religion can lead to violence and terrorism.

His Dove World Outreach Center, a single-storey church backed by woods on the outskirts of Gainesville, reportedly has a congregation of only a few dozen adherents, including Jones family members and supporters, some of whom also wear guns.

The church's website has been offering for sale a book written by Jones entitled "Islam is of the Devil", and also T-shirts, baseball caps and mugs emblazoned with the words.

Jones is a former hotel manager who was previously ejected from a church he headed in Germany by his own followers there.

(Additional reporting by Ruchi Naresh.)

(Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Peter Bohan)

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – Montana authorities are examining the remains of a bison from Yellowstone National Park found dead from suspicious circumstances on Thursday after at least two other buffalo were illegally shot to death in the area.

The killings come just over a week after the state and federal agencies that oversee the nation's last pure-bred herd of wild buffalo struck a deal to allow the animals to roam into some parts of Montana without facing capture or slaughter.

The buffalo, or bison, have for decades been barred from making their historic winter migration into Montana when food is scarce in the park's snow-covered high country.

Ranchers are outraged by the free-roaming plan because some Yellowstone bison carry brucellosis, a bacterial infection that can cause pregnant cows to spontaneously abort. Wildlife advocates have hailed the agreement for ushering in a new era of tolerance for the famed herd.

In recent days, tensions over the agreement have escalated in Gardiner, the Montana town near Yellowstone's north entrance, where some have taken exception to the roaming bison.

Last Friday, state game wardens were called to the area to investigate a mass shooting of a group of bison bulls that ultimately left two of the animals dead.

Some of the animals were struck by dozens of gunshots from a small-caliber firearm not intended for large game.

On Thursday, the investigation took a new twist when the carcass of another bison was uncovered by officers for Montana's wildlife agency in what wardens said appears to be unrelated to the shootings last Friday.

Sam Sheppard, state warden captain, said the killings are all but unprecedented, adding: "This is not something we want to see happen."

It is unlawful to shoot Yellowstone bison in the park and illegal to shoot them in Montana outside of a licensed hunt.

Findings from the probe of the first incident were expected to be delivered next week to a local prosecutor, who ultimately must decide if poaching or other charges will be brought.

Wildlife advocates said the crimes underscore the need to protect Yellowstone's bison.

"These animals were shot numerous times with a small gun, which prolonged their pain and terror," said Buffalo Field Campaign head Dan Brister.

Roughly 700 of the 3,700 Yellowstone bison herd have been captured and corralled this winter for migrating into Montana.

A legal furor that erupted over plans to slaughter those bison that tested positive for brucellosis ended when Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer in February granting the captured animals a stay of execution.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman)

SEATTLE (Reuters) – A reputed neo-Nazi accused of planting a backpack bomb along the parade route of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration was newly charged on Thursday with committing federal hate crimes.

The latest charges against Kevin Harpham, 36, were added to a federal indictment originally returned last month in an alleged bombing attempt in Spokane, Washington, on January 17, a national holiday celebrating the birth of the slain civil rights leader.

The three-page superseding indictment charges that Harpham tried to use the backpack bomb to injure individuals attending the parade because of their "actual or perceived race, color and national origin."

It also accuses him of seeking to use a destructive device in the furtherance of a hate crime.

Harpham faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.

He was arrested at his home in Colville, Washington, on March 9, about seven weeks after the bomb was discovered along the parade route. The device was neutralized by bomb technicians after it was found, and no one was hurt.

About 1,500 people attended the parade, which was rerouted when the bomb was discovered.

Harpham pleaded not guilty in March to charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and possessing an improvised explosive device.

Officials from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights group, said Harpham was a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance in 2004.

U.S. officials have said little about the findings of the investigation that led to Harpham's arrest.

His lawyer, Roger Peven, a federal public defender, was not immediately available for comment on the latest charges.

(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Bohan)