by Ashleigh Sanchez
Daily Lobo
More than 100 people rallied at The Pit on Sunday to celebrate patriotism and the American flag.
The event was held after a student was accused of committing a hate crime for taking down a Mexican flag last month from outside Scholes Hall and tearing it up, said Paul Caputo, who organized the rally.
"This is to show Americans we will stand together," said Caputo, a former marine. "It isn't about anything else but Americans."
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The rally's participants, who were mostly veterans, rode in a motorcycle concession ending at The Pit, where Caputo presented UNM President David Schmidly with an American flag.
On Sept. 14, El Centro de la Raza raised a Mexican flag in honor of Mexican Independence Day.
Due to miscommunication, it was left up for three days without an American flag beside it, a violation of flag protocol.
Student Peter Lynch, an Air Force veteran, said he took down the flag and tore it after waiting three hours for University administration to take it down.
He was charged with criminal damage to property.
El Centro de la Raza has asked that Lynch be charged with a hate crime for the vandalism.
The New Mexico League of United Latin American Citizens has asked state and federal officials to investigate the incident as a hate crime.
Lynch said it was a mistake to tear the flag, but his actions weren't racially motivated.
Caputo also said Lynch's action was not a hate crime.
"He would have torn down any country's flag if it was being flown in this manner," he said. "This was not a hate crime. This was not a political crime."
Mabel González, president of the Mexican Student Association, has said the destruction of the flag is a hate crime, and should be treated as such.
"When we found out about the incident, we felt very insulted,"
she said.
During the rally, people collected donations to fund Lynch's defense at his November jury trial for the vandalism, a misdemeanor.
Lynch said he was overwhelmed by the support shown for him at the rally.
"I would do it again," he said. "I will continue to defend the flag. I will continue to ask people to remove caps during
baseball games."
Lynch said his lawyer, John d'Amato, is representing him
for free.
Lynch said he will donate the money raised for his defense to the Blue Star Mothers, an organization of mothers of veterans and members of the armed forces.
Caputo said Schmidly and his administration handled the situation well.
"He has not only been supportive, but has shown himself to be open-minded, American, and he cares about every one of us," he said.
Schmidly said he would fly the flag the veterans gave him.
"I was raised to be a patriot and raised to respect this flag, and I do," he said. "I accept this flag in the spirit it is given, and you can rest assured it will be flying over UNM tomorrow."
