By Gus Saltonstall
A man was indicted for burning an Israeli flag during a Columbia University protest last spring, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced on Monday morning.
James Carlson, 40, has been charged with criminal mischief and arson, in connection with his actions during a protest at the Morngingside Heights campus earlier this year, according to the DA’s office.
Carlson, who is not affiliated with Columbia University in any way, was attending a protest at the campus on April 20, when a Jewish man, who was also at the event, had his Israeli flag stolen by another person, the DA’s office said. Carlson then snatched the flag and began burning it with a lighter, before the original owner of the flag was able to grab it back, the DA added.
“This defendant’s alleged activity went beyond legal and peaceful protest. Committing arson in a crowded protest endangers the safety of others, and this type of behavior will not be tolerated” Bragg said in a news release.
Carlson also has a separate and ongoing case for “unlawfully” entering Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on April 30, where he has been charged with trespassing, the DA said. As he was being arraigned following his arrest that day, he kicked and broke a glass panel within a holding cell at 1 Police Plaza, according to the DA’s office.
This investigation remains ongoing.
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Is this a different crime than burning an American flag?
No. One cannot burn someone else’s property. So I would expect the charges to be the same if the flag in this incident was a US flag.
How did all these non-students have access to the campus? And why are these professional protestors using colleges as their pawns?
Until this spring, any member of the public could walk into the Columbia quad. Those days are long gone.
Good. The public should not be on private property, especially when they found out most of the instigators were non students and professional protestors.
That’s a shame. I have great memories of walking through there.
Not a bias crime?
Why was a 40 year old protesting with a bunch of college students?
It seems like the anti-Israel crowd consists of people with not much else to do with their time but spew hatred.
well, Otis, when i was a 45 year old student at a large university there were many others around my age both older and younger. so there’s that.
Why not?
There’s a lot to hate about what Israel has done in the West Bank for example over the last 57 years, especially since the late 1980s.
I trust in the future we can have indictments for desecrating and burning the American Flag.
Well, if someone takes an American flag from someone else and sets it on fire, yes, that would be a crime. If someone burns an American flag on their own property and it does not pose a threat to someone, that’s free speech, which I’m sure you’re in favor of.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the courts have ruled that burning the American flag is a form of free speech. Goes back to the good old Vietnam War protest days, before the Democrats went over to the dark side.
Bill,
That’s why the arrest was for criminal mischief and arson.
The flag belonged to someone else, and burning things in public is often illegal without a permit.
This information is in the article. However the other blog (I love the upper west side) messed it up.
Do you mean Republicans?
The issue here, is that the guy didn’t own the flag he set on fire. That’s why it arson (destroying somebody else’s property with fire).
The thing you may want to ask is, would the police would bother to prosecute the same man for setting alight any another $20 worth of property?
The answer to that is very complex I think.
The police don’t prosecute crimes. It is the district attorney that ultimately decides what charges to bring against a person.
Bill is correct, you better be the owner of the flag as was pointed out above as well
The Court has recognized that the First Amendment protects certain forms of symbolic speech. Flag burning is such a form of symbolic speech. When a flag is privately owned, the owner should be able to burn it if the owner chooses, especially if this action is meant in the form of protest
I have been in the Columbia area for a long time. This is the first time the campus has been closed since I have been here. The campus runs from W. 114th Street to W. 120th Street and from Broadway to Amsterdam Avenue. So if you live on Amsterdam Avenue and want to go to the #1 train on W. 116th Street and Broadway you have to go around the campus, either up to W. 120th Street or down to W. 114th Street. It is a pain in the neck. But I really don’t see what alternative Columbia has. When the fighting in Gaza is over, things will go back to to normal.
This arrest is not about burning a national flag (US, Israeli, etc.) or the First Amendment. It’s about arson, a crime, and endangering the safety of others. As this article states, “This defendant’s alleged activity went beyond legal and peaceful protest. Committing arson in a crowded protest endangers the safety of others, and this type of behavior will not be tolerated” Bragg said in a news release.
The guy is a a Jewish lawyer from Brooklyn.
Are you kidding me? The Alvin Bragg who lets violent criminals walk??
“As he was being arraigned following his arrest that day, he kicked and broke a glass panel within a holding cell at 1 Police Plaza,”
really, now? That building and its holding cells have been in place since what, the 1970’s?, and there’s still breakable glass out in public?
It was plexiglass
He was not “indicted” as there was no grand jury. He also wasn’t “indicted” for burning a Jewish flag as headline insinuates as there is no law against that. He was charged for arson. The fact that it was a flag is irrelevant for the charge of arson. The arson charge will be dropped.