Three Yale students arrested for burning U.S. flag

[Kat Kanning]

Three Yale students arrested for burning U.S. flag

1 hour, 45 minutes ago

BOSTON (Reuters) - Three Yale University students, including a Briton and a Greek national, have been charged in a case involving the burning of a U.S. flag outside a Connecticut house, a court official said on Wednesday.
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Said Hyder Akbar, 23, Nikolaos Angelopoulos, 19, and Farhad Anklesaria, 19, were arrested on Tuesday and charged in New Haven Superior Court with reckless endangerment, arson, breach of peace, criminal mischief and other offenses.

Police said the three torched a flag hanging from the porch of a house in New Haven near the Ivy League school.

Anklesaria is British and Angelopoulos is Greek. Both are freshmen. Akbar, a senior, was born in Pakistan but is a U.S. citizen, according to police and court documents. Anklesaria and Angelopoulos turned over their passports.

Police gave no indication why they set fire to the flag. The trio acknowledged it was a "dumb thing to do" when questioned by police, the New Haven Register reported.

They appeared in court in leg irons and handcuffs, the newspaper said. Bail was set at $25,000 for Angelopoulos and Akbar, and $15,000 for Anklesaria, it added.

Akbar worked as an informal translator for U.S. forces during the 2001 invasion of
Afghanistan and later published a memoir, "Come Back to Afghanistan," about his experiences there, the Yale Daily News reported.

The
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag burning was protected under constitutional free-speech guarantees, invalidating laws in 48 states and outraging veterans' groups and others who say that an important national symbol should be protected from defacement.

"It makes me sick to my stomach to think that someone would burn the American flag," Marc Suraci, 37, owner of the two-story house, told the Register, describing himself as "very, very patriotic."

[EJinCT]

the three torched a flag hanging from the porch of a house in New Haven near the Ivy League school.

Eh, the idiots deserve the charges. 




























They should have just bought their own and found a safe place to burn it. 

[LiveFree]

So the flag was hanging from someone's porch, which leads me to believe it was private property.  Further, it was hanging from the house, which I would say probably justifies the reckless endangerment charge depending on the specifics of the case and the law on it.  Criminal mischief seems to be the typical statutory name for vandalism, which if this flag was private property, likely would justify a misdemeanor charge.  Breach of peace is usually a BS charge anyways, but could very well apply here.  And I don't know enough about arson laws to even think about forming an opinion on that charge.

Sounds like these kids destroyed private property and put the homeowners and their home in danger in the process.  Now, if they had bought their OWN flag, and not torched it on someone else's property, putting their house in danger, I'd say they're getting screwed.  But the charges seem mostly warranted here.

Lesson to learn from this:  don't destroy other people's property without their permission, don't torch things near people's houses w/out permission, and don't let anyone see it when you do.

[Kat Kanning]

Yeah, my reaction was the same as EJ.

[penguins4me]

They appeared in court in leg irons and handcuffs, the newspaper said. Bail was set at $25,000 for Angelopoulos and Akbar, and $15,000 for Anklesaria, it added.

Meh. Good to see that the Department of Justice still believes in punishments that fit the crime... :P

[Russell Kanning]

Eh, the idiots deserve the charges. 

well I don't quite agree....

since it was so small (just burning their flag) .... why wouldn't some sort of restitution make sense?

why would it help to hold them in jail?
I guess this use of force thing sometimes gets complicated.

[Russell Kanning]

Police gave no indication why they set fire to the flag. The trio acknowledged it was a "dumb thing to do" when questioned by police, the New Haven Register reported.

"It makes me sick to my stomach to think that someone would burn the American flag," Marc Suraci, 37, owner of the two-story house, told the Register, describing himself as "very, very patriotic."

dumb .... I guess so
Maybe the guy could make them pay him money and then do a lot of flag raising saluting and folding in front of his house on holidays with his very very patriotic buddies in lounge chairs laughing.

[realitycheck]

the statement did not say they lit fire to a flag attached to someone elses dwelling, (like lighting their house on fire)? 
    then what is the poblem? did it mention whether they owned the flag? was it their dwelling? seems to me if that was the case the press would have run that as the lead.....

[KBCraig]

They appeared in court in leg irons and handcuffs, the newspaper said. Bail was set at $25,000 for Angelopoulos and Akbar, and $15,000 for Anklesaria, it added.

Meh. Good to see that the Department of Justice still believes in punishments that fit the crime...

DoJ isn't involved. These are local charges.

[MaineShark]

the statement did not say they lit fire to a flag attached to someone elses dwelling, (like lighting their house on fire)? 
    then what is the poblem? did it mention whether they owned the flag? was it their dwelling? seems to me if that was the case the press would have run that as the lead.....

Uh, it does say that the flag was hanging from someone's dwelling...

Police said the three torched a flag hanging from the porch of a house in New Haven near the Ivy League school.

[emphasis added]

Joe

[error]

They burned someone else's flag. This is national news? Must have been a really slow news day.

[MaineShark]

since it was so small (just burning their flag) .... why wouldn't some sort of restitution make sense?

why would it help to hold them in jail?

Well, it should be up to the person who was harmed.  If someone initiates force against me, and it pleases me to lock him in a box as punishment, that's my choice.  But I shouldn't expect others to pay for the box.

Personally, I'd rather see that person working to repay his act,  but maybe I'm just a capitalist...

I guess this use of force thing sometimes gets complicated.

Of course, doing this in NH might have a totally different result...

627:7 Use of Force in Defense of Premises. ? A person in possession or control of premises or a person who is licensed or privileged to be thereon is justified in using non-deadly force upon another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes it necessary to prevent or terminate the commission of a criminal trespass by such other in or upon such premises, but he may use deadly force under such circumstances only in defense of a person as prescribed in RSA 627:4 or when he reasonably believes it necessary to prevent an attempt by the trespasser to commit arson.

[emphasis added]

Joe

[EJinCT]

IMO, destroying someone elses property is still morally wrong, no matter how much property is actually damaged; and the fact that their method of destruction had the potential for causing others grave harm only makes it worse. Many of the houses around Yale are considered depressed and as such recieve very little upkeep and/or are delapidated to begin with, so the potential of a fire growing out of control is not so far fetched.

As it is, the worst these kids will likey experience is a short stay in the Whalley Ave. correctional facility ( which really isnt as bad as it sounds) if they aren't bailed out; (with the bail bond being only 10% of the amount listed I see that as a very likely possibility) Their actual "punishment" will likey be community service.

All the "If's" aside, the only form of restitution can be had through the enforcement of laws and our legal system; not that I agreee with that in totality mind you.

I wish there was alternatives, but there aren't. For better or worse, thats just how it is.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Named after Edward Whalley, one of the signers of King Charles I's death warrant.  He later came to the colonies and hid out with the other Regicides.  Regicide........I like that word

[penguins4me]

They appeared in court in leg irons and handcuffs, the newspaper said. Bail was set at $25,000 for Angelopoulos and Akbar, and $15,000 for Anklesaria, it added.

Meh. Good to see that the Department of Justice still believes in punishments that fit the crime... :P

DoJ isn't involved. These are local charges.

Quite right - court system then. It's somewhat unsettling that someone recently charged with either murder or manslaughter (I don't recall which) had bail set at $10,000, which was less than someone(s) charged with what amounts to petty theft, vandalism and/or possibly trespassing.

On a side note, I find it vastly amusing that many people get bent out of shape over the idea of burning a US flag, when the proper way to dispose of one is by burning, albeit in a more respectful manner.