Still, his crime was aggravated since it was a hate crime, and as the law is written, this label seems credible. He was charged with arson, but of course it was only misdemeanor arson since the burned property was just a flag. The statement itself is not the crime, but stealing and burning someone else’s property is. He was clearly making a statement that was doubtless obnoxious to everyone in the courtroom. Martinez stole and burned a symbolic piece of cloth. Let me spend some time explaining why it is not, in fact, quite as clear cut as it might appear at first.
“Surely it’s not so clear-cut.” That is true.
“But given the threatening things he has said, why think so?” you might ask. My view is that this sentence is an official state repudiation of that religious view, and so it violates Martinez’ First Amendment freedoms of speech and religion. It was a blessing from the Lord,” Martinez declared to a KCCI reporter on camera. Martinez is shamelessly outspoken against the pieties of the Ames United Church of Christ. Reynolds, the prosecuting attorney, also claimed, “The defendant stated that there was nothing the judge could to stop him from continuing this behavior and that he would continue to do this no matter what.” Not Actually a Nice Guy, But… According to Iowa court records, the worst he has done in the last four years in Iowa is one count of drunk driving. Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds said Judge Steve Van Marel “agreed to the 17-year sentence because Martinez has a long history of harassment and is a habitual offender and never showed any remorse.” Maybe he has a long history of serious crime elsewhere, but not in Iowa. The case files 1 indicate that the charges against Martinez were: arson in the third degree (by itself, in Iowa, an aggravated misdemeanor), considered by the court a hate crime harassment in the third degree (a simple misdemeanor) and reckless use of fire. He came back at some point and told the bar, the people in the bar, that he was going to burn the place down, and at that point made a reference to burning “their flag.” Martinez was a “regular patron” of the bar-where he had been kicked out, after causing a disturbance-in front of which he burned the flag: Martinez is not a pleasant character, to hear Cmdr. That was the whole extent of the crime.Īggravating circumstances made it worse than just that. "I thought well if they're gonna burn one of them, I'll put up two, and if they burn these two, I'll put up three,” said Wilson.By his own admission, as you can see in a video, Martinez tore down the flag from the church, took it in front of a local dive, and burned it. Wilson says for him, hiding wasn’t an option. "You're burning something that represents our ability to be open and out in the community without having to live in fear and that kind of thing makes it feel like we have to go back into hiding.” “A flag represents a lot for the gay community,” said Wilson. Wilson says it’s so offensive because the pride flag is very symbolic to the LGBTQ+ community. “I don't want to ruin someone's life over something like this, but I want them to be aware that that's not okay," said Wilson. Wilson says he just wants the people responsible to know why what they did was wrong. Lexington police are investigating the incident as a hate crime and looking for the people responsible. “It's kinda unbelievable that they were that brazen.” "You can see 'em walking up and that one's holding the phone while both of them are lighting it," said Wilson. Looking at the video, Wilson was stunned. “It's a pretty big shock because we're not used to that here ,” said Wilson. James Grant Wilson’s security camera video shows the pride flag once hoisted in front of his home being burned by two unidentified suspects early Monday morning on Laredo drive. (LEX 18) - A gay man in Lexington is speaking out after being a victim of a hate crime.