Woman arrested for replacing American flag with Mexican flag in California park
A woman was arrested on Thursday after she took down an American flag and placed it on the muddy ground at a California park, replacing it with a Mexican flag.
Kern County deputies responded to the entrance of Hart Memorial Park in Bakersfield on Thursday morning after receiving reports of someone trying to steal the U.S. flag, the sheriff's office said in a social media post.
When park rangers arrived, they found a vehicle on the grass near a flag pole, authorities said.
The woman, identified as Crystal Aguilar, 24, allegedly cut the chain that secured the flagpole and threw the American flag on the ground. She then raised the Mexican flag in its place, claiming they were on "Mexican land."
Body-worn camera video from sheriff's deputies shows Aguilar saying, "You're not going to tell me what to do, this is Mexican land, motherf-----."
She then allegedly resisted the deputies and threatened to have them and their families, including their children, killed.
Aguilar was heard saying, "Touch me, motherf-----, and when your kids die." She identified herself as "Mexican" and "Aztec," further stating, "My dad is going to kill you and all your family."
Aguilar was arrested and booked into the Lerdo jail on suspicion of trespassing, threatening a peace officer, resisting arrest, and vandalism. She is being held on $20,689 bail, according to jail records.
