People took to social media to voice their concerns. Martinez said he tore down the flag that had been hanging from the United Church of Christ in Ames and burned it because he opposes homosexuality.”Īs already stated, Martinez clearly committed a crime when he stole the rainbow flag from the Ames United Church of Christ and set fire to it outside the Dangerous Curves Gentleman’s Club, but the sentencing of 15 years has sparked a broader debate on whether or not the government overreached, especially in light of the fact that burning the American flag is now considered protected speech. “The sentences are to be served consecutively, Story County court records show,” continued the Associated Press.
BURNING THE GAY FLAG A HATE CRIME FULL
For the hate crime of burning an LGBT rainbow pride flag, Martinez received a full 15 years. For the crime of harassment, he received just 30 days.
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“A man has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for burning an LGBTQ flag that was flying at a church in central Iowa,” reports the Associated Press.įor the crime of reckless use of explosives or fire, 30-year-old Adolfo Martinez received one year in prison. We've discontinued our Patreon paywall since forcing people to commit to recurring donations just didn't feel right.Anybody who steals someone else’s private property and then burns it to smoldering ash deserves some kind of punishment under the law, but do they deserve a full 16 years in prison if this act of vandalism is charged as a “hate crime?” One Iowa man now finds himself at the center of that controversial question.
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If you do donate, send us a message through our Contact Us page or via social media so we can thank you! We do, however, need caffeine to keep going some days! It's not much, but we don't do this for the money. We hope you enjoyed reading this article! If you would like to support our ongoing work, please consider buying us a cup of coffee. Nebraska Man Charged With Burning Lesbian Neighbors’ Pride Flag: “I Have Gay Friends”.Nebraska Man Steals & Burns Lesbian Neighbors’ Pride Flag.Sentencing is set to occur this August where Mayfield faces up to two years in prison or five years of probation. It made it an attack as opposed to a prank.” Seeing him waving that burning symbol of a controversial, and inherent part of our being(s) as a minority, in front of our house as a clear message, made it scary. “We wouldn’t have wondered ‘what’s next?’ What became so clear to us after Saturday night, is that the intent really does make a difference. “Had the man who burned our gay pride flag burned our Husker flag, we would have still called the police - but we wouldn’t have felt as threatened,” they said. He could face charges including making criminal threats, along with. Sonoma County authorities say Vincent O'Sullivan was taken into custody Saturday in Guerneville.
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In a statement the couple commented on Mayfield’s disingenuous defense statements. (AP) Investigators say a 55-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of stealing rainbow flags and threatening bomb attacks against gay people and sheriff's deputies in a Northern California resort town. Since the rainbow flag was but one of the two flags on their property the targeting of their home and children seemed obvious…and Douglas County District Judge Duane Dougherty agreed. The attack shook the couple to their core as they weren’t sure if the flag burning was the onset of a home invasion. He stood in the middle of the street, waving it. He got a gas can out of his garage, drenched the flag, set it on fire, then walked 300 yards back to the couple’s home. He hopped a front-yard fence, jumped up to yank down the flag, hopped back over the fence and rushed home. He walked 300 yards from his house to the couple’s home. The prosecutor also pointed out all the steps that Mayfield took to steal the rainbow flag. He pointed out that Mayfield passed three or four neighbors’ homes - and all the flags hanging on their homes.
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Prosecutor John Alagaban was more than a bit skeptical. No one in the courtroom believed this excuse. Davis went on to argue that Mayfield had no idea what the flag stood for and thought it was a “spring ornament” and not a gay pride flag. “Just because the victims are gay doesn’t make it a hate crime,” he said. In court Mayfield’s attorney James Martin Davis portrayed Mayfield as the victim of circumstances saying he had no malicious intentions in lighting their flag on fire and parading it in front of the house in the middle of the night. Though he attempted to argue in court that it was a misunderstanding stemming from a drunken prank, evidence showed otherwise. A judge just found Omaha, Nebraska resident Cameron Mayfield guilty of a hate crime in the burning his lesbian neighbors’ pride flag last year.