(Updated at 4 p.m.) The charges filed against a U.S. Army soldier accused in a series of pride flag thefts have been dismissed.
General District Court Judge Cari M. Steele formally dismissed the charges against Matthew Henshaw on Monday following his completion of a restorative justice program, according to defense attorney Damon Colbert.
The 21-year-old Henshaw was one of two men arrested in February following a series of five rainbow flag thefts from a home in Arlington’s Penrose neighborhood. He was charged with three counts each of bias-motivated unlawful entry and of petit larceny stemming from two instances in September 2023 and one instance in January 2024.
Both men — the other being 24-year-old Joseph Digregiorio of New York — participated in Arlington’s Heart of Safety Restorative Justice Conferencing Program at the encouragement of the victims, residents Michelle Logan and Jenna Burnett.
“We believed they could potentially be amenable to change, and also felt that simply putting charges on their records didn’t necessarily feel like enough,” Logan told ARLnow. “We wanted them to try to educate themselves and understand why stealing a pride flag isn’t just a felony but a hate crime against two people who had to live through it.”
Henshaw and Digregorio both went through five months of sessions with “facilitators,” Logan said, before meeting with the two victims. Logan and Burnett then determined assignments for the boys in “terms of educating themselves about the LGBTQ+ community and being better allies.”
Digregorio, who had been charged with one count of petit larceny, had his case dropped by the Commonwealth Attorney’s office in September, according to court records.
Both men were members of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard” — a ceremonial unit that provides funeral escorts and maintains a 24-hour vigil Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, among other duties — at the time, Military.com reported.
The first incident, which occurred on Sept. 16, was captured on the couple’s doorbell camera, though a clear view of the perpetrator’s face was unavailable. The clearest identifier was a cowboy hat, ultimately believed to be the same one captured in near-identical footage during a second theft two weeks later.
The couple went public with their plight on social media, quickly raising awareness, generating tips and raising donations for an LGBTQ+ nonprofit.
“We raised over $1,000 for the Trevor Project through an Instagram fundraiser and via spreading the word on Reddit and Twitter, received messages from people who said they may know these people on base at Fort Myer and that the base was conducting an immediate investigation,” Logan told ARLnow.
A third flag was stolen on Dec. 16, followed by thefts on Jan. 21 and Jan. 27. Both Henshaw and Digregorio were taken into custody on Feb. 2.
“To us, this isn’t just about a flag being stolen. Each time this happens is really violating and scary,” Logan said after the Jan. 27 theft. “It’s a reminder that a lot of work still needs to be done for LGBTQ+ communities to feel comfortable and supported being their full selves, and loving who they want to love.”
