Salt Lake City, UT – Utah Against Police Brutality rang in the New Year with a rally here at the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building. Around 50 people braved the freezing temperatures to hear speeches against the ongoing police brutality in the U.S. In the state of Utah, police murders are outpacing those committed by drug dealers, gang members and child abusers.

In 2014, two high-profile police shootings occurred, taking the lives of Dillon Taylor and Darrien Hunt. Officer Bron Cruz killed Dillon Taylor, even though Taylor was unarmed. A body camera captured the incident; however, Salt Lake City (SLC) District Attorney Sim Gill justified the shooting. SLC Police Chief Chris Burbank said, “Under the circumstance, he used the appropriate force necessary facing that difficult situation,” while in the same breath he declared, “that young man shouldn't have lost his life.”

In another police murder, Darrien Hunt was stopped while carrying a model toy sword after two 911-phone calls reported him as suspicious. Darrien was an African American man walking in the majority white suburb of Saratoga Springs.

Despite contradicting testimonies, officers Schauerhamer and Judson were cleared, with Utah County District Attorney Jeff Buhman justifying the shooting. This result came despite video surveillance showing Darrien Hunt running for his life, with no toy sword in hand when the fatal shots were fired. The autopsy reports six shots to Darrien’s back. It was reported that Officer Judson wore a body camera that day, yet it was not activated during the encounter.

Activists are looking forward to 2015 as a year when all this changes. Utah Against Police Brutality made two New Year resolution: a campaign to create mandatory external reviews of all police shootings and a campaign to organize community classes for Know Your Rights training.

“They kill indiscriminately. They never are held accountable. Nobody asks questions. They sweep it under the rug and lie, then vilify the victim after that,” said Ash X to the crowd in front of the Federal Building.

Pratik Raghu spoke: “I was deeply upset by the way that the UN Human Rights Commission and Committee on Torture dismissed and belittled Mike Brown's family members.” Raghu views the killings, “as part of an international epidemic of police violence against civilians from Ferguson to Palestine to India.”

“The way the Ogden Police Department racially profiles Latino youth results in higher incarceration rates,” explained Malik Dayo an activist from nearby Ogden.

“Now we have to talk about Antonio Martin, not just Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Darrien Hunt,” explained Lex Scott, president of the United Front Party. Lamenting the ever-growing list of African Americans shot dead by police, Scott added, “We need to let those people out there know, that there will be no peace until we get our justice.”

Protesters marched on major streets in downtown Salt Lake City, taking the full lane of traffic on State Street, Main Street and West Temple. They then staged a die-in at a busy intersection, causing traffic to shut down and TRAX trains to back up.

The marched ended at the New Year’s ball drop, with protesters shutting down a major intersection. Police scrambled on scene to block off traffic, while protesters chanted “From Ferguson to SLC, end police brutality!”

A dozen SLC police officers looked on as cars forced their way through the crowd of protesters. The cops stood idle as protesters took action, with some ending up on top of moving vehicles. No severe injuries were reported.

One SLC cop pushed his way through a crowd, using his wooden baton to shove protesters out of the way. This officer refused to reveal his name and badge number to protesters.

“Utah Against Police Brutality is a great group doing great things. The United Front Party is proud to march with them and address the issue of police brutality. Addressing this issue is long overdue,” declared Lex Scott at the end of the action.

Follow activists on the ground in Utah with #utahprotests.

#SaltLakeCityUT #PoliceBrutality #DillonTaylor #DarrienHunt #UtahAgainstPoliceBrutality

Hunt’s fatal encounter with police follows the high profile murder of Ferguson teen Michael Brown at the hands of white officer Darren Wilson. Similar to Ferguson, Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman is giving the police officers a pass, while Darrien Hunt’s mother is left to grieve her son’s death.

The description of the deadly police encounter in a police search warrant differs greatly from that given by the medical investigator. The police search warrant affidavit claims, “The first officer exited his vehicle and the subject charged him swinging a sword”, completely leaving out the discussion that took place before the shooting.

In addition, authorities investigating Hunt’s shooting were caught manipulating testimony of an eyewitness at the scene. One witness, Leonard “John” Zogg came out publicly to correct authority’s claims that he witnessed Darrien Hunt swing a sword at officers. Zogg said he only saw Hunt unsheathe the toy sword.

In addition, independent and official autopsies contradict authority’s accounts that Hunt was shot down as he lunged at officers. The autopsy shows Hunt died of multiple gunshot wounds, including several to the back of his body as he fled the officers.

The death of Darrien Hunt is a tragedy for his family and yet another example of racial discrimination against African Americans in the U.S. The only legal recourse left for the family is a civil lawsuit, while the killers walk free and return to patrolling the streets.

#SaltLakeCityUT #PoliceBrutality #DarrienHunt

The rally, organized by Utah Against Police Brutality, had a list of three demands. The first was that District Attorney Sam Gill follows through on his promise to create an independent task force dedicated to investigating police officers involved in acts of brutality. The second demand was the police end the use of deadly force against unarmed civilians. The third demand was that the police officers who shot Darrien Hunt be charged with murder.

“We are here because justice has not been served,” stated Christopher Manor, a member of Utah Against Police Brutality and the main organizer of the event. “I don’t want my tax dollars to pay for a police officer to get a paid vacation because he shot somebody down.”

Another speaker was Lex Scott, the president and founder of United Front Party, a Black civil rights organization that originated in Utah and has chapters nationally. “I’m here to stand against police brutality,” said Scott. “Police are not the judge, jury, and executioners.”

Gregory Lucero, of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, talked about the origins of police brutality. He said, “What most people don’t realize is that many police departments started as slave patrols that would kidnap escaped slaves and return them to slave owners.” He continued, “This police system is not a few bad eggs. It’s systemic oppression from a system made to keep the African American and Chicano nations in chains.”

One of the protesters, Melinda Tucker, carried a photograph of her brother Joey who was murdered by police in 2009 after his family called for help while he suffered a medical emergency related to his diabetes. Tucker attended the protest wearing a shirt that bore a list of victims murdered by police. “My shirt keeps growing with names” Tucker said, referring to the numerous people slain by SLCPD officers since her brother’s death.

“We’re a little too comfortable in our oppression, aren’t we?” Lex Scott asked. “We’re going to stand up, and never sit down again.”

#SaltLakeCityUT #PoliceBrutality #DarrienHunt #UtahAgainstPoliceBrutality