In Manhattan, a guy who stole an Israeli flag right out of the owner’s hands, and set it on fire, was released without bail. That last part is on you, Alvin Bragg. Shame on you.
https://news.yahoo.com/man-busted-columbia-protest-accused-203819015.html
Man busted at Columbia protest accused of burning Israeli flag
By Mira Wassef
May 2, 2024
NEW YORK (PIX11) — A man who was arrested during the Columbia University protests on Tuesday is also accused of stealing and burning an Israeli flag during a Manhattan protest last month, police and sources said Thursday.
James Carlson, 40, of Brooklyn, was arrested Wednesday and charged with criminal mischief, arson, and criminal possession of stolen property in connection to the April 20 incident, according to the NYPD.
Carlson allegedly took the 22-year-old man’s Israeli flag and lit it on fire during a protest near West 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue at around 10 p.m., authorities said.
The victim followed Carlson and two accomplices into the crowd when one of the accomplices threw a rock at the man’s face, police said. The victim suffered minor injuries and refused medical attention at the scene.
The other two suspects have not been arrested, police said.
Sources said Carlson was among the protesters arrested at Columbia University Tuesday night. He was charged with criminal trespassing.
Carlson was arraigned in the flag and protest incidents on Thursday and released without bail, according to court records.
Authorities arrested nearly 300 people at protests at Columbia University or City College on Tuesday, according to Mayor Eric Adams.
More than 40% — roughly 130 — of those detained at the New York City campuses were not tied to the schools, according to a source close to the investigation. But the breakdown is much lower for Columbia, specifically, with just 29% of those arrested being unaffiliated with the school, the source said.
It was unclear if the unaffiliated arrests were considered “outside agitators.”
As a person who believes in incentives, I think this is great, and I hope it sets a new precedent. A judge has ordered vandals to pay restitution equal to approximately 27 times the amount of the damage that they caused. I hope that all future vandals will be held to this same standard.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
July 5, 2023
The Washington Post recently reported the following:
Proud Boys to pay church $1 million for destroyed ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign
D.C. judge ruled members of the Proud Boys vandalized ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign displayed on front lawn of a historic Black church in 2020
By Keith L. Alexander and Rachel Weiner
June 30, 2023
The Proud Boys organization must pay more than $1 million to a historic Black church in D.C. after a judge determined members of the group damaged a Black Lives Matter sign displayed on the building’s front lawn in 2020.
The judge said that replacing the sign and protecting the church cost only $36,626.78.
So a judge has ordered vandals to pay restitution equal to approximately 27 times the amount of the damage that they caused.
As a person who believes in incentives, I think this is great, and I hope it sets a new precedent.
I hope that all future vandals will be held to this same standard.
In my opinion, the fact that Maxine Waters supporters stole an American flag is far more significant than the fact that they burned it
This article from the Washington Times includes the following photograph of Maxine Waters supporters burning an American flag:
As a libertarian who believes in free speech and property rights, I think it should be legal to burn the American flag as long as both of the following conditions are met:
1) The flag being burned is the property of the person (or people) who is (or are) burning it, i.e., the flag is not stolen.
and
2) The flag is burned in a manner that is in accordance with all of the fire and safety laws, i.e., the flag burning doesn’t pose a physical threat or fire hazard to the lives or property of other people.
Well, the particular incident in the above photograph fails this test, because, according to the same article from the Washington Times:
A small crowd that gathered Thursday outside the Los Angeles office of U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters to counter an expected protest by a self-styled militia group burned an American flag taken from the back of a pickup truck.
The vehicle, occupied by two men who appeared to be white, was stopped by the crowd. Some marchers opened the doors and one grabbed the flag flying on a pole in the bed of the truck, which sped off.
In other words, they stole the flag.
In my opinion, the fact that these Maxine Waters supporters stole an American flag is far more significant than the fact that they burned it.
I hope the person who stole the flag is prosecuted for robbery.
And I hope the people who blocked the vehicle and opened its doors are charged as accessories to robbery.
There is no excuse for committing robbery. Shame on them.
Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog 