Current Events > Iowa home with Confederate, Nazi displays gets vandalized

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https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/iowa-home-confederate-nazi-displays-vandalized-67757753

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Vandals have defaced the artwork and property of an Iowa man who displayed paintings of Confederate flags and swastikas in his front yard.

The vandal or vandals scrawled the words Nazi scum on a trailer and the pickup parked at William Stark's house in Des Moines and spray-painted over several of the wooden pallets in his yard on which he had painted the Confederate battle flag, the Des Moines Register reported. The vandalism was discovered Wednesday.
Stark told the newspaper for a story earlier last week that he isn't a racist or white supremacist and would paint any flag, if asked. His home, which is next to Morris Elementary School, drew public attention after someone posted a photo of his artwork on Facebook.

Stark said he had already sold the painting of a flag with a swastika. He said he displayed it in his front yard because the buyer dared him to do it.

He dared me to put it out with the rebel flags because he knew I got grief about the rebel flags, Stark told Des Moines station KCCI.

Stark's paintings are easily visible to students at the school, more than 60% of whom are children of color, according to a school district spokesman, Phil Roeder.

In a statement, the district said it has worked with the police to ban Stark from school property because of numerous conflicts he and others at the home have had with the district.

We should all be sickened that someone would promote the hatred espoused by Confederates and Nazis within sight of the front doors of an elementary school, the district said.

Al Setka, a spokesman for the city government, said Stark is within his rights to display the flags.

While the city may find these signs inappropriate and repugnant, particularly when displayed near an elementary school attended by students of diverse backgrounds, it must be noted that these residents have First Amendment rights protecting their freedom of speech, especially in and around their homes, he said.

The Anti Defamation League considers the swastika and Confederate flag as symbols of hate.

Stark blamed society today for the complaints over the flags. He said the swastika flag is historical because it was what the Germans painted on their airplanes during World War II. He said he thought it was in better taste than the standard Nazi flag that contains just the swastika.

When asked what he would say to a hypothetical Holocaust survivor who has concerns about the pallets, Stark said: Im sorry for their luck, but I dont mean nothing by it. I dont judge you. Only person thats supposed to judge me is the Lord, you know what I mean? I dont judge nobody else, dont judge me.

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fair next

womp womp

good

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freedom of speech should not allow hate speech

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mark my words, this case will be solved in record time, with arrest made within weeks, if not days, and the book will be thrown at the perpetrators.

Which goes to show how that PD prioritizes certain things.

Yeah, fuck that dude.

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BettyWhite posted...

Yeah, fuck that dude.

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YokoGeri posted...

mark my words, this case will be solved in record time, with arrest made within weeks, if not days, and the book will be thrown at the perpetrators.

Which goes to show how that PD prioritizes certain things.

So does CE want police to do their job or not? Because I'm getting mixed signals.

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Lol

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Nice

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It just heritage

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Sometimes messages need to be sent.

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So their house was improved?

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Vandalism is still illegal even if your target is a nazi.

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Regardless of his intentions, he knows how people would react. It doesn't matter if "we live in a society," you still have to conform to norms. You honestly can't brazenly display such symbols, especially in the vicinity of school children, and expect to be left alone over it.

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wow I cant believe so many people are against free speech. why don't you guys just leave racist nazi scumbags in peace smh

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Play stupid games am I right?

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DevsBro posted...

Vandalism is still illegal even if your target is a nazi.

look at this post

DevsBro posted...

Vandalism is still illegal even if your target is a nazi.

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DevsBro posted...

Vandalism is still illegal even if your target is a nazi.

Illegal = bad, right

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ThyCorndog posted...

Illegal = bad, right

Right.

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DevsBro posted...

Vandalism is still illegal even if your target is a nazi.

What a vital assessment

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Duncanwii posted...

So does CE want police to do their job or not? Because I'm getting mixed signals.

But that's the thing. They don't always do their jobs. If they always did their jobs, they wouldn't be selective and every bad cop would be a former bad cop/current convict.

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Anyone flying a nazi flag is spitting on the memories of our ancestors that died fighting them in ww2

Highwind07 posted...

I'm sorry but this guy is a dumbass

I wonder if he would have done it if the person dared him to fly an isis flag.

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DevsBro posted...

Vandalism is still illegal even if your target is a nazi.

Murder is always illegal too, but I don't think people would be crying if a father planned and killed the person who raped and murdered their child. What an impotent take.

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Tmaster148 posted...

I wonder if he would have done it if the person dared him to fly an isis flag.

we should find out

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just a prank bro

hockeybub89 posted...

Murder is always illegal too, but I don't think people would be crying if a father planned and killed the person who raped and murdered their child. What an impotent take.

Murder is wrong regardless of the circumstance.

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Tmaster148 posted...

Only person thats supposed to judge me is the Lord

I love how scumbags always say this.

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oh noooooo
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Duncanwii posted...

Murder is wrong regardless of the circumstance.

So vandalism is sometimes right?

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hockeybub89 posted...

So vandalism is sometimes right?

Vandalism is also always wrong. Obey the law.

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It was illegal to vandalism his home, but not immoral. He is a bad person, and nobody with even a small amount of critical thinking skills would give him the benefit of the doubt.

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Gosh, my heart just bleeds peanut butter for him.
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How awful.
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Duncan has me blocked, is he defending the Nazi as it looks like he is

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He's doing that thing he does where he's being a moral absolutist and saying that doing illegal things is always bad. He's not actually defending Nazis, but like Zikten he never makes this argument when its not a Nazi (or someone who said something bad about Pokemon Sword and Shield) being discussed.
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DeadBankerDream posted...

He's doing that thing he does where he's being a moral absolutist and saying that doing illegal things is always bad. He's not actually defending Nazis, but like Zikten he never makes this argument when its not a Nazi being discussed.

Nuance and context are forever lost on those two

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i wish the swastika didnt have the,,, baggage it has
its a very pretty symbol

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Ryuko_Chan posted...

i wish the swastika didnt have the,,, baggage it has
its a very pretty symbol

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Who's calling me a nazi? That's uncalled for.

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It's really not very pretty at all. It's just two lines with right angle bents. You can literally replicate it to perfection in Microsoft Paint without even an in-depth understanding of how the program works. It's extremely basic and devoid of artistic merit.

And nobody was calling you a Nazi, Duncan. Read before replying next time, please.
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DeadBankerDream posted...

It's really not very pretty at all. It's just two lines with right angle bents. You can literally replicate it to perfection in Microsoft Paint without even an in-depth understanding of how the program works. It's extremely basic and devoid of artistic merit.

thats why humans have been drawing it in all continents except antarctica and maybe north america (i know south america had them but cant remember if NA did) for thousands of years lol
its beautifully minimalistic
hell, even judaism used to use it

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User with an anime profile picture thinks the swastika is beautiful and calls Trump a "Jewish supremacist,"

Yeah clearly not a fucking weirdo nazi

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