Student Tears (Down) Mexican Flag; Suspect Remains At Large

New Mexico Daily Lobo ^ | September 19, 2007 | Jeremy Hunt

[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."

[ßuddaßudd]

That has crossed my mind but I thought otherwise....

[RockinRight]

"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."

So? Let them fly a flag there then. This is the USA.

[sappy]

IMHO, no other country’s flag should fly in this country, except at the UN or that country’s embassy.

[1rudeboy]

Actually, Vatican City is. This guy should've lowered the Mexican flag, attached the Star & Stripes over it, and hoisted both. Then, the ball would've been back in the court of this Hispanic group. And if they chose to act, we'd be discussing their patriotism instead of trying to justify his.

[ßuddaßudd]

This is a more rational approach for now. I better check and see if this would be a crime or not for me to do first,,, lol

[Secret Agent Man]

I don’t know anything else about this kid, but it’s wrong to fly a foreign flag on American soil without the American flag around, on a higher pole.

I don’t feel what he did is a big deal.

[tioga]

The Vatican is attempting to win souls for Christ, the Mexicans are invading to take our country over and harvest all the freebies they can. Big difference.

I do like your thoughts on placing a flag above the Mexican flag - but it should the the U.S. flag not a state flag.

[trumandogz]

IMHO, no other country’s flag should fly in this country, except at the UN or that country’s embassy.

A lot of Good Ole' Boys down in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia would disagree with you.

[tioga]

Your opinion has merit.

[tailgunner]

Right on, Marcus!

I remember demonstrating in Gainsville, Fla. when the city flew the UN flag out front, with no American flag in site.

The cops were all over us, protecting the UN flag.

Fortunately, we were no arrested for bearing the Confederate colours.

["no arrested" is Scottish for 'not arrested.']

[squarebarb]

Fly a Mexican flag upside -down at your own house.

[1rudeboy]

There was a guy down the street from my parent’s cottage (in Michigan) who always flew the Stars & Bars. I asked him once, “it’s 4th of July, can’t you fly the American flag?” He replied, “no.” We had a good laugh about it.

[azhenfud]

"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."

Either you're American or you're not.

[trumandogz]

If we are going to start banning other nation’s flags or battle flags in the United States the Stars & Bars will also have to be banned.

[ßuddaßudd]

I wont try that around here.

[monkeycard]

"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."

Providing that the celebration of said diversity is in your favor.

[azhenfud]

"...but it’s wrong to fly a foreign flag on American soil without the American flag around, on a higher pole."

Actually, all national flags should be flown at the same height, no matter the soil.