Is it still a fellony to burn the gay flag
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I won't put another one out because I don't know what they might do," Tuttle told WTOC over the phone.ĭue to a family emergency, Tuttle could not appear on camera to tell her story Tuesday night, but Lyons Police Chief Wesley Walker said he has assured Tuttle her safety, and has promised extra patrols if she asks for them. "I don't know if they targeted me or if they wanted to send a message about gay people, but I had to take extra security risks with my home because I don't know why anyone would burn the flag. She said police told her someone had to use a chemical to light the flag on fire. On May 4, Smith came home and found Tuttle's flag had been burnt, and a piece of it was on the ground. She saidTuttle has always been quiet and respectful and Smith supported her when Tuttle decided to fly the flag in her front yard to show her support of gay rights. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Smith said she has known Jennifer Tuttle for three years since Smith moved next door. Mayfield faces up to two years in prison.Ĭopyright 2016 The Associated Press. "His actions were too purposeful to not be targeting this couple and that item," Alagaban said. The prosecutor also pointed out all the steps 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. Red Stripe: Moving between male and female genders. Yellow Stripes: Genders outside of the male-female binary. Police said he stole a pride banner hanging at Ames United Church of Christ, 217. Flag burning is legal in the United States based on Supreme Court rulings that it is constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment. Especially when you consider burning an American flag is not considered a hate crime. Adolfo Martinez, 30, of Ames, last month was found guilty of a hate crime a class 'D' felony third-degree harassment and reckless use of fire. Regardless of the chosen sentence, 6 years, 15 years, or anything in between seems a bit much for burning a flag. White Stripe: The combination of all genders. An Ames man was sentenced Wednesday to about 16 years in prison after he set fire to a church LGBTQ flag in June. Its use of different colors represents the wide gender spectrum. Prosecutor John Alagaban was more than a bit skeptical. The Pangender Pride Flag is one of the most colorful flags of the LGBTQ+ community. Mayfield had testified that he thought the flag was a spring ornament, not a gay pride flag, and that he had no idea that the his neighbors were gay. "Just because the victims are gay doesn't make it a hate crime," Davis has said. James Martin Davis, who is Mayfield's attorney, argued the act was a drunken prank and not a hate crime. Mayfield was accused of taking the flag from the porch of a lesbian couple who lived near him, setting it on fire and waving it in the middle of the street in March 2015.
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Prosecutors said that the charge was prosecuted as a felony, not a misdemeanor, because the incident was investigated as a hate crime. Yes, Martinez told the judge, he was indeed trying to make a statement about gay people when he ripped down AUCC’s rainbow-striped pride flag on June 11 and set it on fire in a nearby strip club. The Omaha World-Herald ( ) reports that 24-year-old Cameron Mayfield was found guilty Wednesday of arson. Adolfo Martinez, 30, was found guilty of a. (AP) - An Omaha man accused of stealing a gay pride rainbow flag and burning it has been found guilty. An Iowa man was sentenced to serve 16 years behind bars after he tore down a rainbow flag symbolizing gay pride from the front of a church and burned it.