Wednesday, November 11, 2009
News Man Arrested for Attempting to Burn Gay Pride Flag
Posted by Bianca Phillips on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Memphis Police arrested 23-year-old Ross Burton early Wednesday morning after he attempted to burn the gay pride flag at the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center (MGLCC) at 892 S. Cooper.
- Thomas Simmons
- Partially burned flag pole rope
Plainclothes officers observed Burton and another man — who fled the scene and remains at large — attempting to set fire to the rope that runs up the flag pole in front of the MGLCC. When police officers approached the men, an altercation ensued, and one suspect attempted to disarm an officer. Additional police were dispatched and some reportedly received lacerations and abrasions from the struggle. The suspects fled, but Burton was located and arrested.
- Ross Burton
Burton is being charged with aggravated assault and vandalism under $500.
This event marks the second act of vandalism against the MGLCC in two months. In September, an MGLCC National Coming Out Day billboard at Poplar and High was destroyed. No word on whether the two crimes were related.
Said MGLCC director Will Batts: "Public incidents such as this shed light on the larger issue of intolerance and hatred that our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens face every day. Once again, attempts to silence or frighten our community will not succeed, but will make us more determined to fight for equality. We appreciate the support of the community in this struggle."
Comments (19)
Showing 1-19 of 19
Luckily these fellas were armed with 2 sticks, some flint, and a total IQ of 12.
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Maybe they were even more illiterate than the "tea party" slogans I observed such as "amesty" and "don't let government ruin my medicare." Lord!
I'm glad you all and the liberal government can read minds and motives. Criminal acts already receive penalties and punishment, why double the penalty on a subjective mind-reading exercise? I'm glad you like living under a tyrannical, totalitarian state; you'll see the consequences in the next decade. Sounds like you all hate the person accused of hate crimes...which makes another hate crime, ad infinitum.
Only in a pathetic, pretzel-logic, fantasy-based kind of world is criticism and dislike of hate acts equated with hatred itself. BTW, how's that anti-flouridation movement going?
I am a criminal justice student and therefore Mr. Burton cannot be charged with a hate crime. He is just a misinformed and confused young man. Now, if he had actually injured another person; that is another story altogether. It is going to get worse as we as gay people are getting closer to full equality that is due us; I just hope that no one gets hurt in the meantime.
Mr. Burton cannot be charged with a hate crime because you are a criminal justice student? Hmmmmm....
CHG. You are wrong, wrong, wrong. I can hate all I want. Hate is not a crime. Tying someone to a fence and letting them freeze do death because they are gay is a crime. And it deserves extra punishment. There is a difference, and you know it.
Increased sentences for "aggravated" crimes is well-established in the American criminal justice system, i.e. killing a police officer will get you a harsher sentence than killing a civilian. Also, sentences are often tempered because of mitigating circumstances in which a jury will deliver a harsher or softer verdict based on what they presume to be the plaintiff's state of mind or whether there were issues that may have made his actions more "justifiable." So-called hate crimes are a variation of long-established judicial precedence.
I think it would be justified to make Ross Burton run a gauntlet of gays, lesbians and their friends. "But, your honor, he needed a good paddling."
CHG: Don't try to use the logic that the crime should be punished and not the intent of the crime because it simply doesn't work. We have a long-standing precedent of steeper penalties based on intent. When you are responsible for someone's death, it matters if you meant to do it, if you sold the person an unsafe product that caused their death, if you did it out of anger, if you planned to do it and then did it or if you hired someone else to do it. If you are letting someone crash on your couch and you later find out they are hiding after committing a crime is different from knowingly helping someone hide after committing a crime.
I'm sorry you don't see the difference between bashing someone's head in because you think they're Jewish and bashing someone's head in because they raped a member of your family. Those crimes should not be punished the same way.
One of the things that makes hate crimes so dangerous for society is that they can lead to disproportionate retaliatory violence.
"If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?"
William Shakespeare
Ross was drinking and was trying to steal the flag, not burn it. He is the most tolerant person you could ever meet. The police arrived and never even asked a question, they just started beating him. He wasn't even doing it anyway, he was just the lookout. They claimed he resisted and that is why they had to beat him. He is a calm, easy going, guy who has grown up around the gay lifestyle and very understanding of it. This guy got a bum rap. No, he shouldn't have been stealing the flag, but he was not trying to burn it. You need to check out the Memphis police for beating an innocent citizen. After all, aren't we all innocent until proven guilty? Look at the picture? Do those bruises look like they were done by an officer in self defense?
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