Deseret News
Patriots or paramilitary? Armed groups working with police raising questions
United Citizens Alarm works hand in tactical glove with police, but critics say it undermines law enforcement legitimacy By Eric S. Peterson
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
The following story was funded by support from The Fund for Investigative Journalism and was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with the Deseret News.
It started with a call on social media to “back the blue” in the summer of 2020, urging Utahns to stand together in support of police to intimidate potentially violent protesters and deter them from looting and pillaging. Soon 20,000 members online were cheering on Utah Citizens Alarm, a group referred to as a militia by local police, which a year later continues to evolve and thrive.
Patriots or paramilitary? Armed groups working with police raising questions
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Patriots or paramilitary? Utah armed groups working with police raising questions
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Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY Ken Dudley told a panel of Utah lawmakers on Wednesday that when he was shot twice while driving his car during a protest against police brutality in Provo last year, it was “one of the most terrifying things that’s happened to me.”
Days after Dudley got home from the hospital with wounds from a bullet that went through his elbow and hit his other arm, bullet fragments that hit his eye and shrapnel in his abdomen he said he was horrified to learn the man accused of shooting him was released from jail after having paid $42,000 for bail. (A judge later raised that bail amount to $100,000).
‘Enough’s enough’: Utah lawmakers move to toughen penalties on ‘rioters’ Katie McKellar © Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News People jump on top of an overturned police car as they protest police brutality in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 30, 2020.
SALT LAKE CITY Ken Dudley told a panel of Utah lawmakers on Wednesday that when he was shot twice while driving his car during a protest against police brutality in Provo last year, it was “one of the most terrifying things that’s happened to me.”
Days after Dudley got home from the hospital with wounds from a bullet that went through his elbow and hit his other arm, bullet fragments that hit his eye and shrapnel in his abdomen he said he was horrified to learn the man accused of shooting him was released from jail after having paid $42,000 for bail. (A judge later raised that bail amount to $100,000).