Posted on 09/26/2009 10:12:55 AM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
VALLEY FALLS -- The young man was given three choices: get turned over to the police, go one-on-one in a fight with a seasoned war veteran, or be duct-taped to a flagpole for six hours with a sign around his neck identifying his alleged crime: flag burning.
It was the third option that would still have the small town buzzing a week after a 21-year-old was hunted down and forced to endure a public humiliation with its roots dating to the Middle Ages. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1938 were incensed enough to tie up the man last Sunday after they accused him of setting the flag in front of their building on fire.
Post Commander Nick Normile, a Vietnam War veteran, said the man came into the post's bar Sept. 18 on Poplar Avenue and was eventually turned away for not having a proper ID.
Apparently angered, the young man, who Normile did not want to name, cut the rope of the American flag flying overhead and used a cigarette lighter to set it on fire, Normile and others said.
The man sat pilloried as the village had its fall youth soccer picnic with a long parade of children passing in front of him.
"He'll never disrespect the flag again, I can tell you that," Normile said.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesunion.com ...
Excellent!
Violated his Civil Rights. Holder is on it.
humiliation doesn’t change anyone anymore — because it requires humility to be effective, and that’s in short supply these days. It’ll probably turn him into a shoe bomber.
Pointless and stupid.
On a similar note: I am afraid that vigilantism will become the law of the land soon, because the laws now give no justice. Had this perp been turned over to the constables, the ACLU would have been there in a heartbeat to "preserve his right to free expression" and the leftists would have carried him out of the jail on their shoulders.
Calm down Dubh! You're getting your BP up again....
No doubt some will laud this, but I find it despicable.
My Dad got one up in Columbus, Ohio in the sixties while I was away. Broad daylight, smacks the crap out of a guy desecrating a flag in an anti-war protest and leaves. We need more folks that remember what that flag represents!
Let the punishment fit the crime ...
I think it’s a good approach to let the perp choose his punishment.
“I am afraid that vigilantism will become the law of the land soon”
I agree. How many people have confidence in our justice system? Not many, I think. It’s seeming more like the wild west all the time.
A fourth choice of being wrapped in the flag and set on fire would have been my suggestion.....
Stocks and Pillories...huzzah!
Hey, it was his choice.
“It’s seeming more like the wild west all the time.”
Which had a much lower crime rate than today.
IMOH it is neither pointless nor stupid. I majored criminology in college and there is a long history in the use and success of public shaming in behavior modification.
Righteous!
Technically, the choice itself was criminal extortion by threat of violence. So, no, not buying. The problem with vigilantism is that it begets retribution. At this point since the police are obviously in on it, who could blame a family member of this kid for going vigilante on the vigilantes which of course would beget retaliation in kind...
Is there a reason that we don’t just make the flag out of fire resistant materials?
Exactly!
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