The website Disrn wrote that: “Martinez’s lengthy sentence stemmed from the state’s successful prosecution of a ‘hate crime.’ The prosecution believed that Martinez had burned the flag due to its LGBT connotations.”įurther reports were published by Metro UK, the LGBT interest website The Advocate, and the pro-life, right-leaning website LifeSiteNews. For this he received a hefty 16 year prison sentence which far exceeds the average sentence for rape in the United States, which is about 10 years.” Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds said Martinez was the first person in the county’s history to be convicted of a hate crime. Adolfo Martinez, 30, stole the flag from United Church of Christ in Ames, Iowa, because he hated gay people before burning it outside Dangerous Curves lap dancing club … Martinez was found guilty last month of third-degree arson in violation of individual rights, third-degree harassment, and reckless use of fire. “A homophobe who wanted to ‘punish’ gays has been jailed for 16 years for burning a LGBT pride flag - a tougher sentence than for rape. In addition to spending a decade and a half in prison for burning the LGBT flag, the 30-year-old Martinez also will be serving an additional year for his use of fire and 30 days for harassment.”įor its part, the UK tabloid newspaper the Sun compared Martinez’ punishment to what it claimed was the average sentence in rape convictions in the United States: Adolfo Martinez of Ames was sentenced Wednesday to a whopping 15 years in prison for the hate crime of arson, according to The Associated Press. flags across the nation, an Iowa man is paying a heavy price for burning a rainbow LGBT pride flag.
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The total of reported hate crimes were listed at 184 on June 2, when the city released its most-recent monthly crime report.In December 2019, we received multiple inquiries from readers about news reports that claimed an Iowa man, 30-year-old Adolfo Martinez, had been given a 16-year prison sentence for burning an LGBT rainbow flag.įor example, the right-leaning Western Journal website reported that: A 48% increase from the same period last year, as overall crime decreases.
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The department said it had recorded 220 reported hate crimes year-to-date. Hate crime is on the rise in the cityįurthermore, the incident comes as the city battles with a spike in hate crimes.Anti-LGBTI crimes jumped 20% from a year ago as of 2 June, the NYPD said at a press conference earlier this week. On 31 May, the suspect leant down and lit the flag – which was acting as a red carpet rope – to the dismay of bar owners and locals. Moreover, the incident came just five weeks after surveillance cameras caught a man lighting two rainbow flags on fire at the club. ‘Your calls to and the efforts of our detectives have led to the identification and apprehension of the individual who burned the pride flag,’ Shea tweeted on Tuesday.Īlthough he did not release any details about the suspect in custody, he did tweet a screenshot image of the suspect.įew minutes ago, someone set our rainbow flags on fire! To the homophobic coward, we will make our mission to find you! It’s #pridemonth motherfucker! #pride #lgbtpride #gaybar #gaybarnyc #Harlem #gayharlem #gayinstagram ?️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??️??☠️Ī post shared by Alibi Lounge on at 9:50pm PDT
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Your calls to and the efforts of our detectives have led to the identification and apprehension of the individual who burned the pride flag. With Minko documenting the two incidents on the club’s Instagram and CCTV catching the suspect, New York governor Andrew Cuomo quickly assigned the Hate Crime task force to investigate.īut just a day after this, NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said officers made the arrest thanks to tips from the community. One has to wonder if there’s a kind of message they’re trying to send.’ ‘One was at the beginning of Pride and one was right at the end. ‘I have to say that what I find odd was the timing of both events,’ he told NBC. Sad to report that few weeks after the first incident, someone has once again set our pride flags on fire! We simply have no words! #Harlem #gaybar #pride #gaypride #nycpride #worldpride ?️??️??️????Ī post shared by Alibi Lounge on at 10:15pm PDT