Burn an American flag and you’re a leftist hero, expressing your free speech rights. Burn an LGBT rainbow flag and you’re going to the slammer for a decade and a half. A man was convicted of burning a rainbow flag in Iowa and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. 2nd degree murderers do less time so we now know that opposing homosexuality is a crime worse than shooting a random stranger in the back of the head.
The Des Moines Register reports that 30-year-old Adolfo Martinez stole an LGBT rainbow flag that was flying in front the United Church of Christ in Ames, Iowa on July 11 of this year. He took the flag to a strip club called Dangerous Curves and lit it on fire in front of the establishment. He was arrested and admitted that he burned the flag because he is against homosexuality.
Martinez was charged and convicted of third-degree arson in violation of individual rights — hate crime, third-degree harassment, and reckless use of fire as a habitual offender. According to the paper, he was facing a maximum of 6 years in jail, but for some reason he was handed a 16-year sentence.
Let’s review some facts here: Martinez stole the flag and then burned it in front of a strip club. He never threatened or harassed any gay people; he put on a show for guys who like boobies. He didn’t burn it at the church nor did he burn it in front of anyone from the LGBT community. The only actual crimes he committed were stealing something worth about 12 bucks and then starting a small fire in public that probably lasted less than a minute. These are 2 misdemeanor offenses that shouldn’t come with any jail time at all.
But this was a gay pride flag and they are extra-protected so he got 16 years.
To put that in perspective:
Illegal alien José Inez García Zárate was sentence to no jail time for shooting Kate Steinle to death in San Francisco.
Du Pont fortune heir Robert H. Richards IV got an 8-year suspended sentence for raping his 5-year-old daughter.
Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger got ten years for shooting a man to death when she mistakenly entered his apartment.
Michael Torres, of the violent Sex Money Murda gang, plead guilty to first-degree murder and only got 15 years in prison.
I was going to compare Martinez’s rainbow flag burning sentence to those convicted of hate crime hoaxes, but I couldn’t find any examples of convictions for faking a hate crime. Jussie Smollett faked a hate crime and all charges were dropped against him.
If burning an American flag is free expression, why isn’t burning a rainbow flag? Freedom of religion guarantees people the right to find homosexuality morally reprehensible. Where’s the ACLU on this one?
