ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 23, 1996 TAG: 9601230096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE
Vandals burned a cross on a Southeast Roanoke family's lawn early Saturday. Police said the residents believe the act could have been motivated by their interracial relationship.
The 4 1/2-foot tall cross was wrapped in rags and doused with flammable liquid, police said. A blue, 5-gallon kerosene can was found near the house, which is on Tompkins Avenue.
The residents called police about 2 a.m. Saturday after seeing the flames. The cross was still on the lawn Monday, flat on the ground, scorched
A neighbor said another cross was burned in the yard of a nearby resident last year. A Southwest Roanoke woman also reported a cross burned in her yard in 1992.
That same year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a St. Paul, Minn., hate-crimes ordinance that restricted cross-burning and swastika displays, ruling unanimously that such laws violated freedom of speech.
Virginia's law against cross burning, passed in 1956, is believed to be more narrowly drawn than the St. Paul ordinance, which was directed at speech. The act of burning a cross in Virginia is punished apart from the speech involved with that action.
Police said Monday they were investigating the Southeast Roanoke cross-burning. The residents, whose names were not listed on police reports, could not be reached for comment.
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines KEYWORDS: CROSSBURNINGby CNB