Matthew Shepard Human Rights Triangle

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – Sheriff’s detectives found the man they say desecrated a pair of tribute trees honoring pioneers of the gay rights movement in the center of West Hollywood this week, say officials.
The incident occurred Thursday night, March 26, with a second on Saturday night, the result of which left the trees, one a flowering Chinese Magnolia and the other a California Live Oak, suffering from considerable damage.
A transient named Bruce Bartmann, age 47, who is known to make WeHo his tramping grounds, was captured by a Sheriff deputy who spotted him in the Beverly Hills Court hallway on Wednesday; recognizing him from a photo that had been making the rounds, he arrested him on the spot.
The flowering Chinese Magnolia was planted to honor Morris Kight, who died just weeks after his tree’s planting in 2002.
He was honored at that time for his pioneering of the gay movement; founding Gay Pride, co-founding the LA Gay & Lesbian Center, Stonewall Democratic Club are just a sampling of his achievement.
The incident occurred Thursday night, March 26, with a second on Saturday night, the result of which left the trees, one a flowering Chinese Magnolia and the other a California Live Oak, suffering from considerable damage.
A transient named Bruce Bartmann, age 47, who is known to make WeHo his tramping grounds, was captured by a Sheriff deputy who spotted him in the Beverly Hills Court hallway on Wednesday; recognizing him from a photo that had been making the rounds, he arrested him on the spot.
The flowering Chinese Magnolia was planted to honor Morris Kight, who died just weeks after his tree’s planting in 2002.
He was honored at that time for his pioneering of the gay movement; founding Gay Pride, co-founding the LA Gay & Lesbian Center, Stonewall Democratic Club are just a sampling of his achievement.
Ivy Bottini, who serves on the WeHo Lesbian and Gay Advisory Board, was honored at the same time for her part in the founding of the LAGLC, her work in AIDS activism and her leadership in the city on gay issues.
The tree she selected was a California Live Oak.
The park was dedicated to Matthew Sheppard, a Wyoming man who was tortured and killed by homophobes.
The magnolia suffered the worst of the vandalism, being a softer, faster growing wood.
Its limbs were mostly torn off the tree, with the branches left lying around the tree in a heap.
The oak tree suffered minor damage to its smaller branches, but the tree was also toppled, leaving it wobbling in the soil.
Detective Brian Nelson, the lead detective on the case, told WeHo News the Mr. Bartmann had a history of doing unusual things on occasion, and an informant stepped forward after hearing/seeing the report on WeHo News.
A similar incident took place recently, although not involving monument trees, in which Mr. Bartmann was contacted, but the investigation in that case went no further.
The trees have been tended to and mended, with David Gardner, the city’s Urban Forester, saying that they will both survive the damage done to them.
Mr. Bartmann is held in the Twin Tower jail facility on $20,000 bail,
His arraignment has not yet been scheduled. If convicted of the charge of felony vandalism, he faces as many as three years in jail.
from WeHoNews