Salt Lake City, Utah – 100 people who came out to support the police were met with a counter-protest organized by Utah Against Police Brutality. In Utah, police murders are outpacing murders committed by drug dealers, gang members and child abusers. The pro-police rally was organized in the middle of the work day by well-off whites who had Utah District Attorney Sean Reyes come to address them.

30 counter-protesters set up on the steps of the county building, using their chants to shut down the pro-police rally. They chanted “Serve and protect, that’s a lie, you don’t care when Black kids die,” and “Good cop bad cop, police violence gotta stop.”

The supporters of police carried signs reading “Police don’t shoot to kill, they shoot to stay alive.” Three days after Mike Brown was killed in Ferguson, unarmed Dillon Taylor was shot at a 7-Eleven store by Officer Bron Cruz. Darrien Hunt was a Black man shot in an overwhelming white city running for his life.

The pro-police crowd chanted “We love police,” but soon stopped when Gregory Lucero of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization spoke at the protest. Lucero said, “We are out here against police brutality. That other rally is for police brutality. We will stand against all forms of racism and police brutality.”

The pro-police people marched over and attempted to engage with counter-protesters, but counter-protesters disregarded them and continued chanting until the pro-police rally disbanded.

Val Brown, who attended the counter-protest, said, “I saw a big action in Milwaukee on the media, seeing my friends standing up and fighting back got me inspired to come out here today.”

Protester Fubuki Abe said “I think the protest was extremely important today to show people who are in favor of cops, that there are people in the community who stand up against police injustice.”

Utah Against Police Brutality will hold an event on New Year’s Eve at the Federal Building in Salt Lake City. People can follow protests and other events using #utahprotests.

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