Lynch guilty of destroying Mexican flag

IT'S A CASE THAT DIVIDED A COMMUNITY. SIDES SPLIT OVER WHETHER AN AIR FORCE VETERAN -- WHO TOO...  More »

IT'S A CASE THAT DIVIDED A COMMUNITY. SIDES SPLIT OVER WHETHER AN AIR FORCE VETERAN -- WHO TOOK DOWN AND TORE APART A MEXICAN FLAG -- ACTED OUT OF PATRIOTISM OR HATRED. A JURY SPENT TWO DAYS HEARING THE CASE OF THAT MAN -- PETER LYNCH. SHELTON DODSON IS LIVE AT DISTRICT COURT WITH HIS PUNISHMENT-- SHELTON? WHEN IT BOILS DOWN TO IT THIS IS JUST A MISDEMEANOR CASE OF CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY. BUT -- WITH ITS RACIAL OVERTONES -- THIS IS ONE CASE THAT WILL BE REMEMBERED LONGER THAN ANY SENTENCE LYNCH COULD HAVE RECEIVED: WHEN PETER LYNCH TORE APART A MEXICAN FLAG THAT HAD BEEN FLYING IMPROPERLY ON THE U-N-M CAMPUS HE TOUCHED OFF A FIRE STORM OF EMOTIONS. THE READING OF THE VERDICT AGAINST HIM THIS AFTERNOON WAS MUCH MORE SUBDUED. : 'We find the defendant guilty of criminal damage to property.' DURING THE COURSE OF HIS TWO DAY TRIAL LYNCH'S ATTORNEY ARGUED THE U-S AIR FORCE VETERAN WAS ONLY DEFENDING FEDERAL LAW BY REMOVING THE MEXICAN FLAG WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY AN AMERICAN FLAG. A POINT LYNCH REITERATED IN A BRIEF, POST SENTENCING INTERVIEW. : 'I was a cub scout. I learned when I was seven years old how to raise and lower the American flag and how to fold it. If a seven year old can learn it I think it is kind of embedded in our society as Americans and I just feel strongly about the colors of the United States of America and that's what is all about.'LYNCH FACED A MAXIMUM OF SIX MONTHS IN JAIL AND A 500-DOLLAR FINE. BUT INSTEAD METRO COURT JUDGE CLYDE DEMERSSEMAN GAVE HIM A SIX MONTH, DEFERRED SENTENCE, PLACED HIM ON PROBATION, AND ORDERED HIM TO REPLACE THE FLAG AND COMPLETE 48-HOURS COMMUNITY SERVICE. THE JUDGE ADDED THAT EVIDENCE THAT LYNCH'S ACTIONS WERE FUELED BY RACIAL HATRED WAS NOT PROVED. : 'There has been no evidence presented at trial which disputed that the defendant acted out of his own since of patriotism. However the jury found the jury found that destroying someone else's flag is illegal, whether it is backed by patriotism of something else.' LYNCH HAS ALREADY REPLACED THE FLAG HE DESTROYED. THAT WAS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS ISSUED BY U-N-M IN ORDER TO LYNCH TO REMAIN A STUDENT THERE. REPORTING LIVE FROM DISTRICT COURT... , SHELTON DODSON, EYEWITNESS NEWS FOUR.  « Less