A judge just found Omaha, Nebraska resident Cameron Mayfield guilty of a hate crime in the burning his lesbian neighbors’ pride flag last year. Though he attempted to argue in court that it was a misunderstanding stemming from a drunken prank, evidence showed otherwise.

In court Mayfield’s attorney James Martin Davis portrayed Mayfield as the victim of circumstances saying he had no malicious intentions in lighting their flag on fire and parading it in front of the house in the middle of the night.

“Just because the victims are gay doesn’t make it a hate crime,” he said. Davis went on to argue that Mayfield had no idea what the flag stood for and thought it was a “spring ornament” and not a gay pride flag.

No one in the courtroom believed this excuse. Omaha.com reported:

Prosecutor John Alagaban was more than a bit skeptical. He pointed out that Mayfield passed three or four neighbors’ homes — and all the flags hanging on their homes. The prosecutor also pointed out all the steps that Mayfield took to steal the rainbow flag. He walked 300 yards from his house to the couple’s home. He hopped a front-yard fence, jumped up to yank down the flag, hopped back over the fence and rushed home. He got a gas can out of his garage, drenched the flag, set it on fire, then walked 300 yards back to the couple’s home. He stood in the middle of the street, waving it.

The attack shook the couple to their core as they weren’t sure if the flag burning was the onset of a home invasion. Since the rainbow flag was but one of the two flags on their property the targeting of their home and children seemed obvious…and Douglas County District Judge Duane Dougherty agreed. In a statement the couple commented on Mayfield’s disingenuous defense statements. “Had the man who burned our gay pride flag burned our Husker flag, we would have still called the police — but we wouldn’t have felt as threatened,” they said. “We wouldn’t have wondered ‘what’s next?’ What became so clear to us after Saturday night, is that the intent really does make a difference. Seeing him waving that burning symbol of a controversial, and inherent part of our being(s) as a minority, in front of our house as a clear message, made it scary. It made it an attack as opposed to a prank.” Sentencing is set to occur this August where Mayfield faces up to two years in prison or five years of probation.

Previously:

Peacock Panache readers:

Tim Peacock is the Managing Editor and founder of Peacock Panache and has worked as a civil rights advocate for over twenty years. During that time he’s worn several hats including leading on campus LGBTQ advocacy in the University of Missouri campus system, interning with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, and volunteering at advocacy organizations. You can learn more about him at his personal website.

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