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Under Iowa's "habitual offenders" guidelines, Martinez will not be eligible for parole for three years. But 12 people that I don't know, who have no investment in me or this congregation, said this man committed a crime and it was crime born of bigotry and hatred." This pleased the church's pastor, Eileen Gibbie, who told the Des Moines Register, "I often experienced Ames as not being as progressive as many people believe it is, and there still is a very large closeted queer community here. No violent or serious felonies showed up in the state's records system.ĭespite confessing to the crime on camera, Martinez pleaded not guilty and took the case to trial, where a jury convicted him.
#GAY FLAG BURNING NYC HATE LICENSE#
A search through Iowa's court records shows that Martinez had previously been charged with driving without a license (which was dismissed), that he pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended license, and that in 2015 he pleaded guilty to dual charges of driving under the influence and possession of marijuana. Reports of Martinez's sentencing do not, unfortunately, explain what those convictions were for. So Martinez faced not just arson and harassment charges but a hate crime enhancement, which pushes the potential sentence higher, putting him at a potential maximum sentence of five years for just the arson.Īnd Martinez also had two prior felonies, meaning he qualified as a "habitual offender" under Iowa's three-strikes law. Though the 30-year-old did threaten to burn the bar down. And in an interview with Des Moines CBS affiliate KCCI he even confessed to the crime, making it clear (sort of we'll get to that) that it was motivated by disapproval of LGBT people. No, Adolfo Martinez did not actually hurt or assault anybody in the process of stealing the flag off the front of the United Church of Christ in Ames and burning it in front of a bar he had been kicked out of last June. Anyone with information is being asked to call 911.An Iowa man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for stealing and burning a church's rainbow LGBT pride flag. Police also say they are working in conjunction with the Gay Alliance on these two incidents. Police are working with the Rochester Fire Department to investigate the incidents as arson. “That’s the message that’s being spread now, and I know a lot of people that are scared.” Ventura’s flag was set on fire while still attached to his house – and fire officials told him that because of the flammable vinyl siding on his porch, the fire could have easily been worse. “As soon as the word hate crime was used, I realized the severity of the message behind the burning of my flag.” “They sent out police and firemen to investigate,” said Ventura. The victims, Greg Ventura and Lois Graham, say that they are shocked and believe that this was a hate crime. The other was on Atlantic Avenue – just a few blocks away from each other. One of the homes that was targeted was on Marion Street.
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News 8 spoke with two people, locally, who had flags that were burned.
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There have been reports of rainbow pride flags being burned outside homes in Rochester.
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A possible attack against the local LGBTQ community happened this week – less than 24 hours after Election Day.