Iowa locals have had different opinions on Martinez’s sentence, with some saying 16 years imprisonment is excessive. On Wednesday, the court handed down a sentence of sixteen years imprisonment. Then, last month Martinez was found guilty of a hate crime - a class ‘D’ felony - third degree harassment and reckless use of fire.
“But 12 people that I don’t know, who have no investment in me or this congregation, said this man committed a crime.”Īt the time of the incident, Martinez admitted to police he had stolen and burned the LGBTIQ flag. “There still is a very large closeted queer community here, “I often experience Ames as not being as progressive as many people believe it is,” she said. She told the Des Moines Register although the flag burning was awful, it restored her faith in the community. Pastor of the church, Eileen Gebbie is a member of the LGBTIQ community. Then Martinez doused the flag in lighter fluid and burnt it outside of a strip club called Dangerous Curves Gentlemen’s Club.
