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With the hate crime enhancement, he would ordinarily have faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison. If Martinez’ act of arson had not constituted a hate crime, he would have faced a maximum sentence of two years in prison. The aforementioned news articles told only part of the story of Martinez’ unusually long prison sentence, and none of them mentioned the key factor that resulted in his facing 15 years in prison for third-degree arson: that Martinez had two previous felony convictions, meaning that under Iowa law, he was sentenced as an “habitual offender.” It was this legal provision, triggered by the hate crime charge, that multiplied his prison sentence to 15 years. 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. "I'd much prefer not to be here today," he said, "but Waterford is a very warm inclusive place, it's a great place to be, it's a great place to live.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: Mayor of Waterford, councillor Damien Geoghegan said it was crucial that the flags be flown again.
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It's important for us to support all members of our community no matter what their background or whatever their views on the world might be." "For us one of our biggest months of the year, coming together as a community to support everybody. Inspector Gavin Hegarty, from Waterford Garda Station, said it was important for gardaí to show their support for the event. "We really think of the LGBT people across Waterford who wouldn't be able to stand here and be proud and we want this to be a really clear message that LGBT people are part of communities in Waterford." "Being able to be visible in the face of hate is a really important thing to do because we get knocked down but we stand back up," said Debbie O'Rourke, from the Pride of the Déise group. Meanwhile, people gathered today for the reraising of Pride flags outside Waterford City and County Council's buildings at the Mall, where activists, politicians, and gardaí saw the flag held aloft again. Pride flags fly at council building again The incident came at the end of Waterford's Pride of the Déise weekend for the LGBTQ+ community. Gardaí had been investigating the incident where a number of Pride flags were taken down and set alight at the Mall, Waterford City, in the early hours of Monday last.