Dear editor,This is not for print.However, I thought you might be interested in this — the former student body president of the University of Idaho enrolled there after a flag burning scandal. He and some senators (and frat buddies) tried to burn the gay-straight alliance’s flag. It seems our former President Kasey Swisher has run away to Utah. Good luck with that.
Thursday, May 23, 2002
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Second Idaho student jailed in flag burning
Matthew Henman has become the second former University of Idaho student leader to be confined in the Latah County jail over the theft of the campus Gay Straight Alliance’s flag. Henman, 18, pleaded guilty Tuesday in second district court to petty theft and received a five-day stay behind bars and a year’s probation for his role in the theft and attempted burning of a flag belonging to the group. Henman changed his plea following a pretrial conference with prosecutor Bill Thompson. He told Magistrate William Hamlett that he felt the flag’s 13 stripes’ being rainbow-colored was a desecration of the American flag.
Also participating in the theft were fellow student senators Joel Sturgill and Kevin Smith and student body president Kasey Swisher. All four have resigned their posts. Henman told Hamlett that he, Sturgill, and Smith had been drinking at an apartment the night of the theft. They then went to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house, where they met up with Swisher. He said the three senators got the flag in the alliance’s campus office and tried unsuccessfully to burn it at the frat house.
Last week Swisher pleaded guilty to malicious injury to property and was sentenced to a year’s probation. Smith also pleaded guilty to petty theft and received the same sentence as Henman. Smith remained in jail Wednesday. Sturgill is scheduled to appear before Hamlett for sentencing this week.
Hamlett said he was concerned that the students had time to think about their actions as they walked to the alliance office. “Surely, I mean, you guys weren’t born yesterday, and you’re not the dumbest kids on that campus,” he said. “Surely somebody during that journey had a second thought about it.” Henman said he’d had second thoughts but decided to go ahead with the plan anyway. Swisher has dropped out of school and enrolled at the University of Utah.