Yes he tore the flag, I made a point of stating exactly what he was charged with.
Before doing so he also notified the UNM Deans office, and the Army ROTC, who was responsible for flag duty that day. The flag had been flying for several days. The day Lynch chose to take the Mexican flag down it was flying solo and happened to be U.S. Constitution Day, and a day or two after Mexican Independence Day.
Quote:
As part of the UNM community, the ROTC departments share responsibility for raising and lowering flags at Scholes Hall. This month, it is the Army ROTC department's turn in the rotation. On Friday morning, Army ROTC students raised the U.S. flag and the New Mexico state flag. The third flagpole, which usually carries the University flag, was left empty and unlocked. This was planned to allow students from the Mexican Student Association to raise the Mexican flag later in the day. At the end of the day, the Army ROTC students returned to lower the flags. Due to a misunderstanding, the students did not lower the Mexican flag or lock the flagpole. They believed that the Mexican Student Association students would return to retrieve the flag that they had raised earlier in the day.
As a result, the Mexican flag remained flying at Scholes Hall. On Monday morning, the Army ROTC students were again scheduled to raise the flags at Scholes Hall. As occasionally occurs with any organization, a communication error occurred, and Army ROTC students failed to raise the flags. This mistake resulted in only the Mexican flag flying over Scholes Hall.,, -
Lt. Col. Erik Sevigny Army ROTC
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Quote:
Lynch said he tried giving El Centro de La Raza a replacement Mexican flag in September, but it refused to accept one.
"I tried to make restitution," he said. "I tried to be the best man I had to be. I didn't intend any harm on any person, and I didn't intend for this to get so out of control. I just didn't want my nation to be insulted."
Sepulveda (El Centro de la Raza employee) said she didn't know if El Centro de La Raza would accept a flag from Lynch even if the court had ordered it.
"That would have to be the decision of our director and the other employees," she said. - Daily Lobo UNM
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Well the court has ordered it.
If Lynch meets the terms of probation, the offense will be erased from his record.
However the UNC admin seems to be tripping all over itself to appease El Centro de la Raza.
Well two points here, El Centro de la Raza raised the Mexican flag, then neglected to lower it at night or the next day even though the Mexican Independance day was over. Second El Centro de la Raza refused restitution when offered.