An investigation uncovered the fact that students the pulled the flag from a trashcan and burned it behind a school building. However, the students involved in the flag burning will not be punished, because it wasn’t a public act, it didn’t appear to target any one person, and no one except those involved saw it happen. The college, Michigan’s Albion, was the site of the burning that was allegedly perpetrated by a small group of students.
The statement further said the behavior is reprehensible and that appropriate action would be taken in response. reported on a story Wednesday about the burning of a gay pride flag on a college campus that occurred last month. 30-year-old Adolfo Martinez, according to the Des Moines Register, was arrested after stealing a pride banner and later burning it outside a strip club. The Huffington Post reports that Randall released a statement saying the school “has taken the situation very seriously” and “condemns harassment of any member” of its community. An Iowa man has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after setting a local church’s LGBTQ flag on fire this past June. Albion is a private Michigan college that is associated with the Methodist Church and has about 1,800 full-time students. The burning followed the college’s Coming Out Week. The President of Albion College, Donna Randall, has condemned students involved in burning a gay pride rainbow flag.
