Mr. O'Reilly,This needs radio and t.v. attention:
Antiwar protesters trash 9/11 memorial
American flags burned and slashed
By Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff WriterAntiwar Protesters Trash 9/11 Memorial
My boyfriend, a County Sheriff Officer in central New York, states that in New York State this incident would have been an arrestable offense under Section 145.00 of the New York State Penal Law (criminal mischief in the 4th degree), a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a $1,000 fine, a year in jail, or both. He is hard pressed to believe that California Penal Law would not have a similar section for the intentional destruction of another's property, regardless of whether there was "ill-will intent." The fact remains that it was intentional destruction of property that did not belong to the protesters and is against the law in all 50 states. In fact, according to his perusal of California Penal Section 594 (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=594-625c), he believes they have violated subsection 2(a). Of course, Deputy Stevens is not a California Penal Law expert, but common sense would dictate that laws exist in California which prohibit vandalism/destruction of property belonging to another.
We regularly watch your program and are happy to see that you get results on important issues which you bring to the public's attention. We realize that freedom to express oneself is important; however, we do not believe that vandalism is freedom of _expression: the protesters could have burned their own flags and/or property, not a memorial to the victims of 9/11. Please do what you can to hold the La Habra Police Department accountable for their inaction.
Sincerely,