Updated 2:50 PM December 20, 2019: Other news outlets indicate the man’s prior offenses may have played a role in his enhanced sentence as well.
They also fail to guarantee everyone equal protection under the law.Īll of this simply goes to show why Arkansas does not need a hate crimes law. Forsyth County police are investigating an anti-gay hate crime that occurred Monday night. Hate crimes laws encourage courts to punish criminals for their beliefs rather than simply for their actions. The June burning of the flag came just weeks before the 50th anniversary of the. NEVADA The Story County Attorney’s Office is calling the conviction of a man who burned an LGBTQ flag in Ames historic. Stories like these underscore how hate crimes laws create unequal penalties for crimes. Ms Reynolds told USA Today that Martinez is the first person to be convicted of a hate crime in the county. The sentence for those crimes likely would be a year or two in jail - not 16. While you may think that the American flag is nothing but a piece of cloth which can be used as needed to make a point, it’s actually the single most prominent symbol of freedom and our very way of life. These Are the Trans People Lost to Violence in 2020 - We have to do better to protect our own. I know that burning the American flag or flying it upside down is easier, but getting involved is what causes change.
'I have gay friends and I apologize to my neighbors.
Burning the gay flag a hate crime trial#
He might have been charged with theft, reckless use of fire, or even harassment, but not a hate crime. LGBTQ Pride flag burning not a hate crime in SD - Well that sucks. An Omaha man accused of burning his neighbors gay pride flag last month will stand trial for arson aggravated by a hate crime. If this man had stolen and burned an American flag, he would not have been convicted of a hate crime, and he probably would not have been sentenced to 16 years in jail. The Washington Times reports that an Iowa man who stole an LGBT flag from a church and set the flag on fire has been sentenced to 16 years in jail.įifteen years of that sentence are due to the fact that prosecutors deemed stealing and burning a gay pride flag as a hate crime.