Iowa man gets 16 years for burning LGBTQ flag: Are victim classes being pit against each other?

Adolfo Martinez was just sentenced to 15 years in prison for, "a hate crime, third-degree harassment, and being a habitual offender." In June, Martinez tore down the flag from Ames United Church of Christ and burned it. This kind of use of "hate crimes" laws seem to belie an undercurrent of paternalistic racism and a low opinion of ethnic, religious, and gender minorities. Everyone else in society is expected to live with the standard fare of legal protection from crimes such as this. The Totalitarian Left does not allow members of the public to explain what is wrong with this multi-tiered system, shouting down dissent and pretending to protect "vulnerable" minorities as if they couldn't stand on their own. "Hate crimes against the LGBTQ community are a serious matter as they inflict distinct emotional harms on their victims, and strike fear into the communities they target," Courtney Reyes, the executive director of One Iowa, a statewide LGBTQ organization.