Posted on 09/20/2007 8:15:13 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
Student tears Mexican flag; suspect remains at large
9/19/07
by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
A student took down a Mexican flag from a flagpole outside Scholes Hall Monday, tore it and took it to the Air Force ROTC office, police said.
A summons was issued for Peter Lynch, 30, by the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court for criminal damage to property, said Lt. Pat Davis, spokesman for UNM Police.
Davis said Lynch is not a member of ROTC, and it is unclear why he took the flag to that office.
Lynch has not been charged because UNMPD cannot find him, Davis said.
UNMPD investigated the vandalism as a potential hate crime, but witnesses from the ROTC office told police it was not a racially motivated crime, Davis said.
"He was frustrated a foreign flag was flown without an American flag nearby," he said. "We're basically investigating it on witness statements."
The Mexican Student Association raised the flag outside Scholes Hall on Friday for Mexican Independence Day, said Cheo Torres, vice president for academic affairs.
Mabel Gonzales, president of the Mexican Student Association, declined to comment.
Torres and interim vice president for institutional diversity Rita Martinez-Purson issued an apology Tuesday from the University for the incident.
"This sort of incident hurts everyone," Torres said. "It's something that you don't expect to see at a place like the University of New Mexico where we celebrate diversity."
Martinez-Purson said the incident caught her off-guard, as well.
"I don't think anything really prepares you for this type of vindictive behavior," she said. "Obviously, we need to have strong dialog across campus about respect for other people and their cultures."
Whether the vandalism was racially motivated or not, it was offensive, especially to the Hispanic community, Martinez-Purson said.
"There's still an impact that has to be dealt with," she said. "He did insult them. His thoughtless behavior had consequences."
The University won't tolerate that kind of behavior, President David Schmidly said.
"It's inexcusable to desecrate a flag," he said. "I'm not going to be very pleasant to deal with on this issue."
What makes the situation worse is that it was a Mexican flag, Schmidly said.
"For God's sake, New Mexico was part of Mexico at one time," he said. "There's tremendous ties, and we have a large population of Hispanics that live in our state and many of them have relatives and connections to Mexico."
Hero alert....
Bad news: It will only cover the Mexican flag
I support his act. He is a patriot.
Burning or tearing American flag = constitutionally protected right.
Tearing Mexican flag = hate crime.
—The PC Police.
What a bunch of idiots (the guys who say things like New Mexico was a part of Mexico, and they want to arrest the kid etc). An American flag, by LAW should have been flying AS WELL.
"I'm not going to be very pleasant to deal with on this issue."
What makes the situation worse is that it was a Mexican flag, Schmidly said.
The education Taliban strikes again.
Oh, yeah, have a strong dialog about RESPECTING AMERICAN CULTURE YOU TWIT!
How can you possibly call this kid a hero based upon this disgusting behaviour? Clearly the flag should have been tread upon and buried in an unmarked grave in TJ.
“It’s inexcusable to desecrate a flag”
Unless of course it’s an American flag.
But apparently not to our court system who said that desecrating a flag (or at least the US flag) is free speech.
What makes the situation worse is that it was a Mexican flag, Schmidly said.
Thus the offense taken by foreign nationals trumps the court given free speech "rights" to descecrate a flag.
No doubt the school will bend over backwards to grant him “amnesty” from prosecution.... Hey right
I agree. The man did good.
Some parts of that description apply to NM, too, unfortunately. Most notably the corrupt parties and the socialism.
Free speech should not be to plant a Mexican flag and live as a Mexican in America illegally. True Americans wave an American flag on our soil. Your neighbor isn’t a true American. He should go home to Mexico.
I suppose it would be to much to expect that the apology was for not flying the American Flag
I have a Vatican flag. Should I go home to the Vatican?
Daniel Pipes notes today that academics are more sheltered from the consequences of their choices than any other occupation. This is the fruit of that.
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