Man sentenced to 16 years in prison for burning stolen LGBT flag outside of a strip club

Unless he threatened a person, person's or property "I'm going to burn this place down and everybody in it" his conviction will be reversed. This is a no brainer. It is no more illegal to burn an LGBTQ flag as a symbol of hating people with "fluid identities" as burning an American flag is a symbol of hating Americans. The SC has said you have the right to burn the American flag, period.



You can't be prosecuted for merely burning a flag no matter what it represents without speech or other action attached.

i would love to see the hate crime laws get challenged...

Unless he threatened a person, person's or property "I'm going to burn this place down and everybody in it" his conviction will be reversed. This is a no brainer. It is no more illegal to burn an LGBTQ flag as a symbol of hating people with "fluid identities" as burning an American flag is a symbol of hating Americans. The SC has said you have the right to burn the American flag, period.



You can't be prosecuted for merely burning a flag no matter what it represents without speech or other action attached. Originally Posted by HedonistForever

He STOLE the flag he burned.

Had he bought a gay fag flag and burnt it, he would not have been charged is my understanding of the law.

I'm not for enhanced hate crimes.

Murder is murder.

If I murder out of hate love or jealousy is all the same.

Hate laws are stupid in my opinion.

But please quit thinking you can burn an American Flag but not a Gay Flag.

That is not true.

You can buy and burn any flag you want. It is illegal to steal a flag. That is wtf he did....if he had prior convictions that enhanced this sentence...shame on him.

But I do not agree with the "hate" enhancement element in this case...or any case.

ftw doth protest too much - the PC Police will come for you if you do not toe the DPST narrative line, ftw!!

He STOLE the flag he burned.

Had he bought a gay fag flag and burnt it, he would not have been charged is my understanding of the law.

I'm not for enhanced hate crimes.

Murder is murder.

If I murder out of hate love or jealousy is all the same.

Hate laws are stupid in my opinion.

But please quit thinking you can burn an American Flag but not a Gay Flag.

That is not true.

You can buy and burn any flag you want. It is illegal to steal a flag. That is wtf he did....if he had prior convictions that enhanced this sentence...shame on him.

But I do not agree with the "hate" enhancement element in this case...or any case. Originally Posted by WTF

I agree largely with what you said. But there is something more to this case obviously than meets the eye.

None of the listed convictions against him were for theft of property. And it's varied from being referred to as a banner or a flag. I don't know what it actually looked like prior to being burned.

As for the convictions.

I'll buy the 30 days for harrassment(this could include essentially the petty theft and destruction of property)

I can also be stretched(but I think it is a stretch) to tack on the year for reckless use of explosive devices of fire. But depending on exactly how he started the fire outside the Gentlemen's club, he could have been reckless.

But the "hate crime" of arson is truly ridiculous. I have to believe an appeal is going to stand up.

Unless he threatened a person, person's or property "I'm going to burn this place down and everybody in it" his conviction will be reversed. This is a no brainer. It is no more illegal to burn an LGBTQ flag as a symbol of hating people with "fluid identities" as burning an American flag is a symbol of hating Americans. The SC has said you have the right to burn the American flag, period.



You can't be prosecuted for merely burning a flag no matter what it represents without speech or other action attached. Originally Posted by HedonistForever

Have you read any of this? He stole the flag. Then burned it outside a strip club. That's theft, destruction of property, and maybe a weak attempted arson (how close was the burning flag to the club?)


Funny how we don't mention that he tried to burn down (intimidate) a strip club. Is that hate too? It's all about the rainbow.

I stand by what I said though my explanation was not complete I admit. It is not illegal to burn any flag for any reason. It is illegal to steal property that is not yours. I should have said that. I also said if threats were made other than simply burning a flag, that can be a crime.


Burning a flag is not arson. Making a threat if that is what happened, is a crime. 16 years seems like over kill and "should" be over turned.

I stand by what I said though my explanation was not complete I admit. It is not illegal to burn any flag for any reason. It is illegal to steal property that is not yours. I should have said that. I also said if threats were made other than simply burning a flag, that can be a crime.


Burning a flag is not arson. Making a threat if that is what happened, is a crime. 16 years seems like over kill and "should" be over turned. Originally Posted by HedonistForever

Using a burning flag to burn down a strip club is attempted arson (granted, that's a stretch, but that's on the DA). Burning the flag is destruction of property.


Once again, the target was the strip club. He just used a flag from a homosexual church. He could've stolen a flag from anywhere, or used other materials. But he targeted/threatened a strip club.

Actually, snopes I think details what really happened best.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/io...ars-lgbt-flag/

Crime and Charges
Ames, Iowa, police arrested Martinez in the early hours of June 11, after police said he had caused a disturbance at a local bar and threatened to burn down the establishment, before returning with an LGBT rainbow flag he stole from the Ames United Church of Christ, and setting fire to it outside the bar. Martinez admitted to his crimes in an interview with KCCI, saying he was motivated by an antipathy towards homosexuality and that he had “burned down their pride, plain and simple.”
Despite his on-screen confession, Martinez pleaded not guilty to three charges, the Story County Attorney’s Office told Snopes: Third-degree arson, an aggravated misdemeanor which typically carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison; third-degree harassment, a simple misdemeanor; and reckless use of fire or explosives, a serious misdemeanor that typically carries a maximum prison sentence of one year.
On Nov. 6, a jury in Story County convicted Martinez on all three charges. The County Attorney’s Office confirmed to Snopes that Martinez was given a 30-day prison sentence for the charge of third-degree harassment, and a one-year sentence for reckless use of fire or explosives.


In the normal course of events, a conviction for third-degree arson would yield a maximum sentence of two years in prison. However, because the flag burned by Martinez was an LGBT symbol, and because Martinez himself said this was his motivation for setting fire to it, prosecutors added a hate crime enhancement to the arson charge.
Iowa law requires that certain offenses, if prosecuted as a hate crime, must be “classified and punished as an offense one degree higher than the underlying offense.” Thus, Martinez’s conviction for third-degree arson was elevated from an aggravated misdemeanor to a Class D felony.
In Iowa, a Class D felony is typically subject to a maximum prison sentence of five years. However, Martinez had two previous felonies, details of which were not immediately available. Iowa law designates as an “habitual offender” anyone “convicted of a class ‘C’ or a class ‘D’ felony, who has twice before been convicted of any felony in a court of this or any other state, or of the United States.” Therefore, Martinez was sentenced as an habitual offender.
Iowa law states that the maximum sentence for an habitual offender is 15 years in prison. In this case, prosecutors recommended that maximum sentence, on the basis that they believed Martinez to be “very dangerous” and because of his lack of remorse. Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds told KCCI that Martinez “stated that there was nothing the judge could do to stop him from continuing this behavior, and that he would continue to do this, no matter what.”

On Dec. 18, the judge imposed that maximum sentence, to be served consecutively with the one-year sentence for reckless use of fire and 30-day sentence for third-degree harassment, yielding a total prison sentence of 16 years. Due to his status as an habitual offender, Martinez will not be eligible for parole until he has served a minimum of three years.

Its pretty good bet that this guy is going to challenge the hate crimes law. He must've done this on purpose.

Actually, snopes I think details what really happened best.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/io...ars-lgbt-flag/ Originally Posted by eccielover

Thanks for the info. I'm still trying to understand how the DA tied the theft of the flag to a hate crime in front of a bar/strip club. It doesn't seem the LGBT community was the target of his hate, although he admitted antipathy towards them. Guess it's better to not try to understand his mind.

Thanks for the info. I'm still trying to understand how the DA tied the theft of the flag to a hate crime in front of a bar/strip club. It doesn't seem the LGBT community was the target of his hate, although he admitted antipathy towards them. Guess it's better to not try to understand his mind. Originally Posted by papadee

Yeah, it was his own statements that led to the final decision from what I see.

I agree largely with what you said. But there is something more to this case obviously than meets the eye.

None of the listed convictions against him were for theft of property. And it's varied from being referred to as a banner or a flag. I don't know what it actually looked like prior to being burned.

As for the convictions.

I'll buy the 30 days for harrassment(this could include essentially the petty theft and destruction of property)

I can also be stretched(but I think it is a stretch) to tack on the year for reckless use of explosive devices of fire. But depending on exactly how he started the fire outside the Gentlemen's club, he could have been reckless.

But the "hate crime" of arson is truly ridiculous. I have to believe an appeal is going to stand up. Originally Posted by eccielover

I 100% agree

Yeah, it was his own statements that led to the final decision from what I see. Originally Posted by eccielover

Ok...after reading the snopes article...I see he got 15 years for being a dumbass

Ok...after reading the snopes article...I see he got 15 years for being a dumbass Originally Posted by WTF

You shouldn't call one of your fellow Mexicans a dumbass!