Posted on 09/09/2015 10:00:46 AM PDT by MarvinStinson
dware has worked himself into such a tizzy that he’s now running to admin.
Why SO frantic, dware?
dware missed that one.
Investigated as a hate crime, but he has not BEEN CHARGED as such.
...
Somehow that got him upgraded from a misdemeanor to a felony.
If a mexican invader were to do this to a white family, he’d probably be given more benefits instead of an arrest.
The penalty is outrageous.
Attorney: Man accused of burning gay pride flag was pulling drunken prank, not committing hate crime
http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/attorney-man-accused-of-burning-gay-pride-flag-was-pulling/article_de5ad718-c283-11e4-a0f7-b3bdd29b9cb0.html
March 5, 2015 by Maggie O'Brien
The attorney for an Omaha man accused of stealing a lesbian couple’s gay pride flag, setting it on fire and waving it in front of their house said Wednesday that the act was a drunken prank, not the hate crime prosecutors depict.
Omaha attorney James Martin Davis said Cameron Mayfield, who lives about a block from the women, didn’t know they were gay when he burned the rainbow flag about 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
“If it were a Mexican flag or an Iranian flag, we wouldn’t even be here,” Davis said after Mayfield’s first court appearance Wednesday. “Just because the victims ... are gay doesn’t make it a hate crime.”
Mayfield, 23, is charged with third-degree arson and resisting arrest. Because the incident was investigated as a hate crime, the arson charge is being prosecuted as felony instead of a misdemeanor, prosecutors said.
In a statement Wednesday, the couple, Ariann Anderson and Jessica Meadows-Anderson, said Mayfield’s actions sent a obvious message.
“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 in the statement. “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. 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. It made it an attack as opposed to a prank.”
Douglas County Judge John Huber released Mayfield on his own recognizance because he has no criminal record. Davis told the judge that Mayfield is an aviation student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha who helps his mother take care of two siblings who have Down syndrome.
After Sunday’s incident, the Andersons filed a protection order request against Mayfield. Douglas County Judge Lawrence E. Barrett approved it Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Mayfield stole the rainbow flag that had been hung outside the Andersons’ home, which is south of Hanscom Park. He left but returned a few minutes later, and had set the flag on fire. Mayfield waved the burning flag in front of the house.
Police arrested Mayfield soon after.
Jessica and Ariann Anderson, who were married in Iowa in 2011, said that they had never met Mayfield before.
The Andersons have since replaced the flag; Davis called it a $15 windsock and said Mayfield plans to apologize to them and replace it.
Davis said he didn’t think the couple saw Mayfield’s actions, which they deny.
“There’s a political wind blowing here in Omaha,” Davis said, referring to Nebraska’s current gay marriage debate. “I want to make sure that my client doesn’t get caught up in the wind.”
The Andersons said that the flag wasn’t a windsock and that they saw the whole thing unfold.
“It was a display meant for us to see. That is frightening. ... We pray that (Mayfield) and his family find peace, but this was a hate crime, and we don’t have peace right now.”
Well then that settles it. I guess we all should just jump to his defense. Never mind that this stems from the fact that he is a simple minded criminal, nothing more. But I guess that's what we are reduced to here at FR, right? We support criminals! Just because, RAINBOW FLAG!!!! Lol.
The bottom line? I'd be real careful about rallying to this jackwagon's cause. He's a criminal. I'd bet that the charges will be reduced - the "hate crime" investigation does not mean he was CHARGED WITH A HATE CRIME - but the prosecutors office does have discretion on the charges. Again, expect to see those reduced. Hate crime or no, however, this IS NOT the cause to rally behind.
I did not say that. But likewise, there is no justification for using "hate crime" laws against him.
By the way, your reaction tells me and everyone else everything they need to know. You were wrong in your claims that he was not charged under hate crime laws, and you simply cannot bring yourself to admit it.
PS - I have already clearly stated that I think the young man should be charged with arson and theft.
So, trying to paint me as a supporter of him is both disingenuous and intellectually dishonest.
Someone questioned what would happen in this scenario.
Many guessed just exactly what happened.
Now we know for sure.
It will blow your client over. It was not that he burned a flag, it is that he burned an a queer flag. If he had burned an American Flag, he would have been a hero to the cop that arrested him. Instead of being arrested by the cop, he would have been adored by the cop. Now he has to go before an American hating judge that will make sure that he gets every second that the law says he can give [sentence] him to.
This is how come I hate laws where the punishment is bassed on what they are thinking. I could care less about motivation for what ever crime some one does. Murder is still murder regardless of some ones motivation. the burning of private property is the same thing. the most this guy should be charged wit is arson and if he burned the flag in a safe manner he is not even guilty of that
You want to rally behind a criminal, you go right ahead. To be entirely honest, I don't give a rat's behind about the "hate crime" status at this point - it'll likely end up being dropped under a plea deal anyhow. But the fact STILL remains, he STOLE THE PRIVATE PROPERTY AND TORCHED IT ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. Replace "rainbow flag" with "porch swing", "flamingo lawn ornament", "garden gnome", etc. He is a thief and an arsonist. Want to get behind that? Go right ahead.
And if a mexican invader were to do this to this white guy, there wouldn't be an invader left to get benefits.
There are MANY causes to rally behind. Regardless of extraneous circumstances, this IS NOT the cause to rally behind. He's a crook. He may be on the right side of the sodomy argument, but he's also a crook.
When I'm wrong, I'm happy to admit it. I very may well be wrong in the hate crime part, and if so, I'll admit it. That doesn;t change the fact that:
1. He's a criminal
2. You're obviously defending him, because rainbow flag
3. The posters on this blog clearly have no interest in presenting ALL OF THE FACTS (take a look at the beginning and see how many stated exactly what I've been stating - if it was his flag, the charges are wrong, if he STOLE THE FLAG, he's right to be charged with arson) and are only interested in further promoting the anti-homofascist agenda.
Standing in opposition to the deviants is one thing, and must be done. Doing it based on incomplete and possibly false info is just plain stupid, and I expect better of FR posters.
We must stand against the sodomites. That's a given. There's no question about it. But we don't do that by supporting simple minded criminals. If that is what you are willing to do, that is your business.
It was a GAY PRIDE FLAG!
For the umpteen hundredth time, WHAT HAVE THEY GOT TO BR PROUD OF?
They are PROUD that they are homosexuals.
The arresting cop is the one who should be in jail...I believe there was another crazy cop story on FR today...
And people wonder why cops are starting to get shot...They’re going off the deep end with their power...
Nah, the article said something about a charge of arson...That's prison time...
You know, if liberals really believe this country is so bad, they should stop appealing to its government to persecute the rest of us. Shouldn't they be asking for it to be disestablished???
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