You don’t need a finely honed sense of outrage to have this ruffle your feathers:
American flags, lining the lawn of the mother- and father-in-law of fallen U.S. Army Pfc. Timothy Hines Jr., were heaped in a pile early Saturday and burned under a car parked in front of the home – less than 24 hours after Hines was buried in Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Cemetery.
Jim Wessel, Hines’ father-in-law, said he thinks that the fire was a random act of vandalism.
The flames totaled Sara Wessel’s car.
Sara is Hines’ sister-in-law and Jim Wessel’s oldest daughter. She had been staying at the house on Sando Drive since the family returned last week from Washington, D.C., where they were visiting Hines at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Hines, 21, was buried Friday after more than 400 people mourned his passing and celebrated his life at the Vineyard Community Church in Springdale. He was buried with full military honors, leaving behind a pregnant widow who expects to give birth in about two weeks and a 2-year-old daughter.
Again, the story reports that this was more than likely a random act of violence, so let’s try to keep that in mind before jumping to conclusions about the anti-war left (and right). Still, this pisses me off. And no, it is not a sign we need a Flag Burning amendment, so let’s nip that in the bud, too.
Stormy70
I read somewhere that the neighbors put over 200 flags back out on the property that was vandalised. There is never any need for those types of shennanigans, and I hope they install a video camera at their house. It seemed to help with all the sign stealing in the last election.
neil
But John, without a flag burning amendment, there’s no law against stealing people’s flags and using them to commit arson!
Right?
WV.Hillbilly
Hate crime?
W.B. Reeves
Doubt that it qualifies as a hate crime but it certainly is hateful. Bad enough that the morons committed the initial vandalism but destroying the car puts them beneath the ethical status of cross burners, lowering them to that of night riders. Idiots.
Mike
“neil Says:
But John, without a flag burning amendment, there’s no law against stealing people’s flags and using them to commit arson!
Right?”
I agree, we need no Flag Burning Amendment.
We just need a law that says that IF you do burn a flag, then it’s okay for someone legally to beat the hell out of you that’s all. That way you retain your Freedom of Speech and the other guy retains the right to let you know what he thinks about you exercising it in this particular way.
Steve
One thing that always confused me about the Supreme Court’s most recent flag-burning case was that the guy swiped a flag off a public flagpole and burned it. You would think someone would have raised the issue that even if you have a constitutional right to burn the flag, you certainly don’t have a right to burn someone else’s.
Stormy70
You want to burn a flag, then buy it and burn it. Don’t steal someone else’s flag to make your point.
ppGaz
Yes, and have the guts to do it in the open, otherwise it is just cowardly vandalism. To say nothing of the fact that harassing somebody who has just buried their son is beyond despicable.
It could have been nothing but teenage stupidity. People do weird things …. I had all the Christmas lights stolen off my house. Kids will go by and snap off car radio antennas and break the tempered-glass windows just for fun.
But if this was a “statement” then the perpetrators should be put into public stocks and have rotten vegetables thrown directly at their heads.
Otto Man
Agreed. I hope it was just some idiot teens who didn’t realize the backstory. If someone did this knowing the family’s story, that’s despicable.
Mike
“But if this was a “statement” then the perpetrators should be put into public stocks and have rotten vegetables thrown directly at their heads.”
Agree. AFTER the soldier’s Army buddies “discuss” the matter in private for awhile with the perpetrators.
GrudginglyAffirmed
One thing that always confused me about the Supreme Court’s most recent flag-burning case was that the guy swiped a flag off a public flagpole and burned it. You would think someone would have raised the issue that even if you have a constitutional right to burn the flag, you certainly don’t have a right to burn someone else’s.In fact, that is an odd wrinkle to the case, and many legal commentators noted that the state of Texas had for some reason not prosecuted him for stealing the flag (which they surely could have), but only prosecuted him for the flag burning crime. Thus, the issue you identify was not before the Court because he was convicted only for hte act of burning the flag, not for the act of taking it. THe case that John identifies actually shows why we do not need a flag-burning amendment — anyone who did this could be prosecuted for a multitude of crimes, including conversion, arson, etc. There is no reason to make it a specific crime to burn the flag.
Longshot
See, we already have laws against this kind of thing. One is vandalism, the other is destruction/defacing of private property – there are laws against both in (I’m betting) every single state in the union (go figure, Americans being protective of their private property).
I’m a little sensitive about this, as back in ’91 a girlfriend had had this occur on the block she lived on (some asshat went and burned flags out for Gulf War I), and she had conflated my own opposition to the war with that individual’s destruction of private property. I guess it wasn’t meant to be, but still … there are already laws against asshattery.
Steve
Thanks for the clarification, GA. Sounds like the prosecutors missed the boat.
Bob
Macho Mike, law is law. You go around beating up people then expect to spend a couple months in county jail. But then again, that’s just your fantasy.
The big crime here is burning the car. We hopefully will find out the perps, and if there was a political (doubtful) or personal reason for the action. Then the wheels of justice will turn.
Al Maviva
But if this was a “statement
Of course it’s a statement. The Supreme Court has ruled it is core protected political speech. Just like lap dances.
Besides, it’s just a form of dissent, and nothing is more patriotic than dissent, right? What’s the problem here? If you support the troops, you want them home now. What better way of bringing the troops home, than mind-f***ing their families really badly?
I’m truly in awe of these bravely anonymous, articulate flag burning, manly widow-terrorizing patriots.
Jess
Whoa there, cowboy–we don’t know who did the deed or what their motive was. Most likely it was a bunch of drunken teenagers with no clue about anything other than how to be an a**hole. Don’t go slinging around unfounded accusations. Doesn’t help your team.