“It was an honor to do that, it’s a blessing from the Lord to be able to stand for his word firmly against all odds plain and simple. It is a blessing from the Lord, plain and simple. It is my honor to do so, and it is an honor to that. In November he granted an interview to a local TV channel in which he said: “It is my honor, it is written, it is a judgement and it is written to execute vengeance on the heathen and punishments upon the people.
He said that he tore the flag down from the United Church of Christ in Ames and burned it because he opposes homosexuality. Martinez was arrested in June and convicted in November. A man has been sentenced to more than 16 years in jail for pulling down and burning an LGBTQ flag that was flying at a church in the US.Īdolfo Martinez, 30, of Ames, Iowa, was sentenced to 15 years for the hate crime of arson, as well as 1 year for the reckless use of explosives or fire, and 30 days for harassment.