"Hmm, makes sense then, and thanks for the heads up. Sadly I may have to agree with the charges then since it was not his flag."
The fellow who owned the flag ran it up a flagpole that wasn't his. Twice. It's not like it was torn out of his hands. It was removed from the flagpole and burned.
One could argue it was abandoned.
Courts have ruled for example that taking someone elses trash, even from their can at the street, isn't stealing.
"One could argue it was abandoned. "
From what i read and understood on this thread that was not the case:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1606949/posts
"Tensions over immigration reform heightened in the Phoenix area's East Valley Thursday when students raised a Mexican flag over Apache Junction High School — and then other students yanked it down and burned it."
Actually, I believe there are federal statutes that prevent the Mexican flag from being flown over govt property. Someone posted them on another thread tonight. If I were the kid's family, I would be making sure that the original flag thugs had appropriate charges filed against them.