You know what I mean? He didn't appear to be out looking for trouble. There are a ton of variables there to build up to the situation, and if you remove just one of them, this probably doesn't happen. I would like to point out that he clearly had some sort of altercation with lesbian strippers in the strip club (I'm sort of making a leap there, but from his actions afterwards, I refuse to believe a casual conversation arose about everyone's beliefs in homosexuality), and then got bounced while he was likely drunk. I could make the argument that any of the mugs hanging out a window and firing it at someone walking down a street will permanently be more of a threat to society than this goof. He took a flag off a building and burned it in the street.
They certainly meant to infer the time stems from the incident. That's why I said this probably stems from the habitual criminal line in the article, but if that's the case, the BBC (site I copied it from) is deceiving as **** for not including it.
If you're a career criminal, even if it's petty chit like shoplifting, and they find you with a gun two times or more, they can tag on that armed habitual criminal charge and ship you off for ten or more.
In Illinois, we have an "armed habitual criminal" law. What say you? Extreme sentence for vandalism and being an idiot outside of a strip club(a crime most of us are guilty of at some point in our were you personally offended by the flag burning? "And when that happens it's so important that as a society we stand up and people have severe consequences for those actions." "The hard reality is there are people who target individuals and commit crimes against individuals because of their race, gender, sexual orientation," she told the Ames Tribune. Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds said Martinez was the first person in the county's history to be convicted of a hate crime. "But 12 people that I don't know, who have no investment in me or this congregation, said this man committed a crime, and it was a crime borne of bigotry and hatred." "I often experienced Ames as not being as progressive as many people believe it is, and there still is a very large closeted **** community here," she told the Des Moines Register when he was convicted in November.
Iowa gay flag burning trial#
The interview was entered into the trial as evidence against him.Ĭhurch pastor Eileen Gebbie, who identifies as gay woman, says she agrees that Martinez' actions were motivated by hatred. "I burned down their pride, plain and simple," he told KCCI-TV. It's a blessing from the Lord," he said, explaining that he did it because he "opposed homosexuality". He was arrested later that day, and told local media in a jail house interview that he was "guilty as charged". He then returned to the strip club where he used lighter fluid to burn the flag in the street. By the time they arrived, he had already been kicked out by bar staff.Īfter leaving the club, Martinez then travelled to the church and ripped down its flag. Police say the crime spree began at Dangerous Curves, a strip club, when police were called because a man was making threats. The incident occurred around midnight on 11 June in downtown Ames, Iowa. He was found guilty last month of hate crime harassment, reckless use of fire and being a habitual offender. A US judge has handed down a sentence of at least 15 years to a man who stole an LGBT pride flag from a church and burned it outside a strip club.Īdolfo Martinez, 30, admitted to the media that he took the flag from Ames United Church of Christ due to his animosity towards homosexuals.