Crawford Cross Desecration: This does not surprise me !

Army veteran arrested in destruction of soldier memorial

By Tommy Witherspoon Tribune-Herald staff writer
Wednesday, August 17, 2005

If a 59-year-old Speegleville man had not been arrested Monday night shortly after he reportedly destroyed a roadside memorial to fallen U.S. soldiers near President Bush's ranch, McLennan County Sheriff Larry Lynch would have known where to find him later this week – in Lynch's Sunday School class.
Sheriff's office investigators said Larry Chad Northern drove his pickup truck over hundreds of small wooden crosses bearing the names of soldiers who died in the war that peace activists had placed along Prairie Chapel Road.
Northern, an Army veteran who reportedly earned a Purple Heart in Vietnam, is free on $3,000 bail after his arrest Monday night on state jail felony charges of criminal mischief over $1,500 but less than $20,000.
Lynch confirmed Tuesday that he and Northern both attend Columbus Avenue Baptist Church.
“I am not going to talk about it,” Lynch said. “I know his family. This is sad for his family.”
Northern was arrested shortly after 9:30 p.m. Monday after he was spotted changing a tire on his pickup, authorities said. Small white crosses were found stuck in the truck's undercarriage, according to sheriff's office reports.
The memorial was set up in an area known as Camp Casey and featured American flags, crucifixes, Islamic Crescents and Stars of David affixed with the names of servicemen killed in Iraq.
Cindy Sheehan, whose son, Casey, was killed in the war, started a protest vigil on Prairie Chapel Road on Aug. 6. She said she was shocked that someone would deface a tribute to the troops overseas.
“To me, the memorial crosses we have in Crawford honor the fallen heroes ... (They're) nonpolitical, they're nonpartisan. No matter what you think of this war, you should honor the troops. That's what we were trying to do,” said Sheehan, who has pledged to remain in Crawford until Bush meets with her or goes back to Washington.
Precinct 4 McLennan County Commissioner Ray Meadows is also friends with Northern, a retired real estate company owner. Meadows defeated Northern in the 1986 Republican primary to win his first term in office, but said Northern recently played at a golf tournament held to raise money for Meadows' latest re-election bid.
“I think emotions are just a little high about what is happening out there,” Meadows said. “It has everybody stirred up and it might have pushed him a little too far. He is an Army veteran and a war hero as far as I am concerned and this may have just pushed him over the limit.”
Northern did not return phone messages left at his residence Tuesday.
source: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/08/17/20050817waccrossmemorial.html