Posted on 12/08/2021 1:02:44 PM PST by Trillian
The 49-year-old 'arsonist' arrested for setting fire to the Fox News 50-foot Christmas tree could be back on the street in hours because of the city’s lenient bail reforms.
Craig Tamanaha, who is described as homeless and 'emotionally disturbed', faces six misdemeanor charges for torching the tree and under the 2020 criminal justice reforms that means judges are advised to release the accused.
Arson is only constituted as a felony in New York if the perpetrator harms or attempts to harm a person or if the act is considered a hate crime.
Fox News employees called police after watching Tamanaha climb the tree at 12.14am Wednesday and set it on fire. He tried to scramble away, but was taken into custody.
"There's no question that the legislature has got to reevaluate the nooks and crannies of the bail statute because it's leading to absurd outcomes,’ Mark Bederow, a former Manhattan prosecutor turned criminal defense lawyer, told Fox News.
In order for a judge to set bail, Tamanaha would have to have been charged with at least third-degree arson, which constitutes a hate crime.
"You'd have to intentionally damage a building or vehicle by starting a fire or explosion as a hate crime, which is an extraordinarily high bar for bail eligibility. Having a personal bias or animus toward Christmas doesn't legally cut it,’ Bederow added.
When a suspect is released on bail for a crime against another person, that person can be granted an order of protection to make sure the suspect stays away from them.
But there is no legal order a judge could give to prevent Tamanaha from approaching the Fox News tree again. "You can't give the Christmas tree an order of protection, so security will have to stand guard," Bederow told Fox News.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Aren’t Judges acting outside the law now?
He could set bail and dare them to call him out on it.
Where’s that “White Supremacist’s” MAGA hat?
Maybe he just go burn the entire plaza down - with Paul Ryan and the Murdochs inside.
The day is young. Cnn still has yet to add their white filter to the pic when they report on it.
It must suck to be cancelled by a homeless eskimo.
He’ll probably be on MSNBC tonight to brag about it.
So if it were a Kwanza tree, would that make it a hate crime?
Hey, NYC deserves this.
Let him go.
But, but, if he torched Anything associated with Christmas and any other religion, it Would Be a Hate Crime.
I want no part of this kind of tree vigilantism.
Try torching a George Floyd memorial.
Cant? NYC is emotionally disturbed
Japanese sneak attack!!
Six misdemeanor charges? I would think arson would be a felony.
Yeah, but if someone set fire to a Muslim decoration it would easily clear the bar for a hate crime.
“Having a personal bias or animus toward Christmas doesn’t legally cut it,’ Bederow added.”
Burn a mosque or torch a menorah and see if religious bias is legally cut.
They’ll do a little photoshopping to make him look like a “round eye” and their audiencwe will lap it up.
JAPANESE ARSONIST ON PEARL HARBOR DAY (DEC. 7TH) = HATE CRIME AGAINST WHITEY, 100%!!!
sneak attack!!
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