Tearing Mexican flag = hate crime.
My guess is that if he had stolen an American Flag he would also be in trouble with the police. And if he had brought a Mexican Flag that he owned to the ROTC office that he would not be sought by the police.
Thus, the issue is not that the American Flag is not protected while the Mexican Flag is but instead an issue of him taking property that does not belong to him.
It is a simple issue of Property Rights which I hope every Freeper would recognize and support.
The cost of that rag must make it the lowest misdemeanor possible. An over-reaction if it prompts anything beyond a citation and nominal fine.
Well I suppose if you want to view the sitution in such a narrow scope, yes it is true what you said. The situation though is that the student could not see it in such a narrow scope, and that the University won’t settle for it to seen in that same narrow scope! Mr. Lynch is going to get really smeared over this one!