Despite all the media hand-wringing about public schools in Florida, Disney’s special tax breaks, and Libs of Tik Tik, the LGBT community remains one of the most potent political forces in the country.
A criminal case in Palm Beach County helps explain.
Last week, 20-year-old Alexander Jerich appeared in court to be sentenced.
His crime: He did a burnout in a Delray Beach intersection in his truck, leaving a 15-foot-long skidmark on an intersection painted with a combination of the gay pride flag and the transgender flag.
Jerich’s “crime” was committed three days after the city dedicated the intersection. He turned himself in last June and pled guilty in March to one count each of criminal mischief with more than $1,000 damage and reckless driving causing property damage.
Jerich had already paid $2,000 to have the intersection repainted, according to media accounts.
Still, prosecutors were pushing for 30 days in jail followed by five years of probation.
Yet that was nothing compared to the demands of the left-wing Palm Beach Human Rights Council, which sought a year in jail for Jerich – for defacing an intersection in which no one was hurt.
Instead, after Jerich showed some tearful remorse for his alleged crime, Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer ordered him to write a 25-page essay about the 2016 massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando – a popular LGBT hangout.
A Muslim extremist killed 49 people in the attack.
The judge said he expected a recounting of the massacre, profiles of the deceased, and Jerich’s own theory as to “why people are so hateful and why people lash out against the gay community.”
The essay is due on June 8, when Jerich appears for formal sentencing. The judge also wanted the defendant to perform community service.
Yet showing an intolerance that they accuse the rest of society of harboring, Rand Hoch, president of the pro-LGBT Human Rights Council, told the judge that in addition to the year in jail, his supporters wanted a lifetime ban on Jerich using the public intersection.
Hoch also criticized the state attorney, a Democrat, for not charging Jerich with a hate crime – for defacing an intersection. And as for community service, Hoch added that LGBT groups “don’t want the defendant anywhere near our organization or our missions.”
One imagines that Jerich would have been fine if he had burned the American flag.
But here’s the bizarre twist.
Jerich is forced to write an essay explaining why people, including himself presumably, are bigoted toward the LGBT community.
Yet hatred of the LGBT community was not the motive for the Pulse shooting.
As the left-wing news outlet, Vox reported in April 2018, “There’s now conclusive evidence that the shooter wasn’t intending to target LGBTQ people at all.”
“In fact, he allegedly had no idea Pulse was a gay club, and simply Googled ‘Orlando nightclubs’ after finding that security at his original target, a major shopping and entertainment complex, was too high,” Vox added. “This evidence dramatically changes the mass shooting’s narrative; politicians and individuals across the political spectrum had positioned it as an anti-LGBTQ hate crime. Instead, the new evidence suggests, the Pulse nightclub shooting was intended as revenge for US anti-terror policies abroad.”
Except in Delray Beach.
Visit Tampafp.com for Politics, Tampa Area Local News, Sports, and National Headlines. Support journalism by clicking here to our GiveSendGo or sign up for our free newsletter by clicking here.
Android Users, Click Here To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook Here Or Twitter Here.