Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Well, he said he'd do it, I told you he said he'd do it, and he did it:

A Tucson man was arrested Tuesday for his role in the burning of a Mexican flag as part of a counterprotest at a pro-immigration rally.

At about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Tucson police cited Roy Warden, 58, on suspicion of assault, criminal damage and reckless burning, and then released him, according to Sgt. Decio Hopffer.


Righty blogger Clayton Cramer sniffs:

Somehow, I can't picture the ACLU defending Warden's right to burn the Mexican flag.

Er, Clayton, the ACLU is helping to defend Warden in another free-speech case.

Of course, Warden wasn't arrested for the burning per se:

Video footage shot Monday by police and the media showed Warden assaulting a TV cameraman and a photographer, Hopffer said....

Warden faces the criminal-damage charge for harm done to the concrete shuffleboard court where Warden's group was burning the Mexican flag, Hopffer said...


And people on the other side were also arrested:

Police arrested two girls for throwing water at Warden and his group, and a scuffle broke out as police escorted them away.

And he burned a Mexican flag on Sunday and wasn't arrested.

I'm sorry he was arrested. This is like hitting the lottery for him. I don't want him arrested for the same reason I don't want Moussaoui executed: Please don't make a martyr of him. (As it is I'm giving him more publicity than he deserves.)

And yeah, I say it's his legal right to burn the Mexican flag. Regardless of what I think of the content, expressive conduct is protected speech. (Though assault and property damage are another matter.)

Via Memeorandum.

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