Gov. Herbert activates National Guard as protesters clash with Salt Lake police

A police car is engulfed in flames as people protest police brutality in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 30, 2020. Protesters joined others across the nation to decry the death of George Floyd, a black man , who died while being taken into custody by police in Minneapolis earlier this week. Video showed an officer kneeling on his neck while he implored, “I can’t breathe.” | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News

Police car overturned as crowds march through downtown

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert activated the Utah National Guard Saturday afternoon to “to help control the escalating situation in downtown Salt Lake City” and said in a tweet. “We condemn violence and looting.”

“Our hearts break for the family of George Floyd and for his unnecessary death,” Herbert said in a statement. “We are grateful for the swift actions taken by the state of Minnesota to hold those responsible for his death accountable. We can not, however, condone violence, defacement of public buildings, and destruction of property. We call upon the good people of Utah to engage civilly and to act peaceably as they seek to exercise their First Amendment rights.”

Protesters knelt on their knees in front of a line of officers wearing riot gear outside the City Library just after 5 p.m. Behind them was a burnt out and vandalized police car that hours earlier protesters had pushed on its top, beat out the windows and started on fire.

An @slcpd car just got overturned at the #GeorgeFloyd protest in Salt Lake City. pic.twitter.com/iFpEmpkyEq

— Jacob Klopfenstein (@JFKlopfenstein) May 30, 2020

Another large group of protesters shouting and holding signs convened at the Utah Capitol, where a line of Utah Highway Patrol deputies stood, not letting them get close to the building. Protesters had already vandalized signs with spray paint.

A nearby 7-11 was broken into and looted Saturday afternoon, as well, by people who had congregated for the protest.

Dust-ups between protesters and some residents and drivers not participating in the rally also occurred. A video captured by a protester and shared on Twitter showed a car driving through the crowd.

A woman also attempted to attack several protesters with a hammer, hitting another woman who declined medical attention, Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Keith Horrocks said.

Protesters wrestled the hammer from the woman, Horrocks said, and she ran off before police could find her.

Earlier in the afternoon, the protesters spoke about why they were there.

“As a country, I just feel broken, and I feel scared for everyone in the black community. I just feel that our country is just not letting us live our lives, and innocent people are being killed for no reason,” Savanah Norman said, becoming emotional in front of the Salt Lake City Public Safety Building.

“I do feel a lot of support today here. Seeing a lot of people come out is very liberating and exciting to see, because I think, here in Utah, there is still a lot of racism. And so I’m really happy that people came out to show support,” Norman said.

“I just think we’re at our last straw. This is it. People are fed up, and they have every right to be. And I think this murder of George Floyd, everyone is just done. We’re done.”

Before mid-afternoon, the protest had remained relatively calm, with even some children out with their parents to call for justice for Floyd.

The protest had originally been planned as a caravan, with participants discouraged from rallying outside of vehicles. Organizers asked for the protesters to maintain physical distance from others.

Thousands of people in vehicles circled the Salt Lake City Police Department, many waving signs from their windows that said slogans such as “Black Lives Matter” and “Justice for George Floyd,” with others decrying racism and calling for police reform.

“I feel like I know what my ancestors went through in the 1960s, and it’s sad that here in 2020, we’re still saying, ‘I can’t believe this. We’re saying, ‘black lives matter.’ This isn’t the first time a black man has been killed like this,” Zala Long told the Deseret News.

“It’s good because I feel like we’re showing the world, and we’re showing the SLCPD that we see them and we’re watching them, and we’re letting our voices be heard. I feel a lot of empathy, I feel a lot of sadness, but also I’m glad that we’re saying their names. We’re saying George Floyd, we’re saying ... Ahmed Arbery. We’re not going to forget about them. We care about them, because if we don’t, then no one else will,” she promised.

She said she feels the Floyd case is getting more attention than others.

“But I feel like we’ve been at the tipping point for years. we’re tired of fighting for our rights, but we’re going to fight for our rights,” she said, explaining that she believes the police force needs to be restructured to root out systemic racism.

“The question isn’t who’s next, it’s when is he next. When am I next, when is she next, when are my brothers next, when is my mom next, when is my dad next?” Naia James added.

Within an hour, cars packed the streets, creating a standstill in traffic downtown, and thousands also marched on foot chanting “We can’t breathe.” They then made their way up to the state Capitol.

Beth Jennings and her family lived in Minneapolis before moving to Utah, and says she has friends there who are being impacted by the turmoil.

“We just wanted to show solidarity with the protesters in Minneapolis right now against police violence,” Jennings said.

Haizel Jennings, 10, said of Floyd’s death: “I feel like it’s sort of unhumanizing of that cop because I feel like it’s sort of human right to try, if at some point you could stop someone dying, to stop it. It’s part of human rights, I think.”

Earlier in the afternoon, messages were written on the windows of the police department building, including “We can’t breathe” and expletives directed at police. Several officers could be seen through the tinted windows lined up on the staircase inside the building.

Like others across the country, the Salt Lake protesters are demanding justice for Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer pressed a knee into his neck. Reports say he told police he couldn’t breathe before he died. In cities nationwide, local leaders increasingly said they might need help from National Guardsmen or even military police to contain the unrest.

This story will be updated.

Contributing: Alex Cabrero

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