Over 100 protest police brutality at Historic Cache County Courthouse

The corner of Main Street and 200 North in Logan resonated with the sounds of honking horns and cheers Tuesday as demonstrators holding homemade signs chanted phrases like “Black lives matter” and “Hands up, don’t shoot.”

Kylie Jackson, who helped lead the protest advocating for racial justice and against police brutality, showed up at the Historic Cache County Courthouse at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. At first, the demonstration was small, with only a few people. However, the crowd grew as others saw the signs or heard about the protest through social media. By evening, there were more than 100 protestors outside the courthouse.

Jackson was hopeful the demonstration could help others avoid the experiences she has witnessed in her life as a black person. One example included a personal witness of what she said was a race-related killing of a black man by a police officer.

“I don’t want anybody else to go through that,” she said. “I don’t want any more black people to have to worry about being on the streets, worrying about walking down the streets, worrying about being in the mall getting followed and for the cops to show up and arrest them for no reason or murder them like George Floyd, like Breonna Taylor, like Trayvon Martin.”

The protest comes with many others that have arisen nationally following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died on May 25, when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes.

Protestors received some support from local businesses and community members throughout the day, including the Logan City Police Department.

“People have been really peaceful and dropping us off water and food all day,” Branden Haun, a Cache Valley resident and protestor said. “The police department came by earlier. They had a cooler full of cold drinks. They brought us, like, 10 pizzas.”

Haun said that, while his father worked as a correctional officer and his stepmother worked for dispatch for 20 years, he felt the need to speak up about recent events involving police.

“There just comes a certain point where you just see stuff get out of hand and you’ve got to say something,” Haun said.

Protestors said a few people tried to argue or yelled at them. A few diesel truck drivers left them in puffs of dark smoke but the demonstration was peaceful overall.

Susan Jelus, a Newton resident, protested by using a megaphone to lead the group in chants. She organizes the yearly Women’s March in Logan, and also helped plan today’s protest before it was initially cancelled due to concerns about COVID-19. When she heard that people were showing up anyway, she decided to participate.

“There is a lot of support from the street,” Jelus said. “Often there is, but this is more support from the street than I’ve seen for any other rally.”

Passing cars have been honking in support throughout the day pic.twitter.com/YKkAExbIGT

— Utah Statesman 📰 (@UtahStatesman) June 3, 2020

As the night approached, the protestors walked along the sidewalks of Main Street and past the police station. After returning to the courthouse, Logan City councilmember Jess Bradfield met the demonstrators and talked about what reforms the city could implement.

Utah State University students were present for the protest, including Tomoya Averett, a global communications major. She said she came to support because she is black and she also wanted to support her community.

“I like to see the Logan community come together. So, I wanted to come out here and support fellow black students and just feel loved and supported by my community,” Averett said.

Jackson plans to host another protest including speakers, music and food on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the same location. She said she was impressed with today’s turnout.

“I just didn’t expect this from Logan because of how much racism I’ve seen here, and for them to all come out here like this and in this big of a group,” Jackson said. “I know it looks small, but this is really big for it to be Logan. I’m just really proud of Logan.”

Haun said he hoped Tuesday’s protest conveyed positivity and love.

“Spread love, not hate. Hate breeds hate. So if we want to do something, we’ve got to make sure we’re showing love and being positive about it all and get out there and vote,” Haun said.

—alek.nelson@aggiemail.usu.edu

@nelsonalek

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