19-year-old Lauren Gibson has been charged with a hate crime by a Utah Sheriff’s department after allegedly crumpling and stomping on a “back the blue” flag. Garfield County Sheriff’s Deputy Cree Carter was the officer who reportedly witnessed the occurrence. Carter said it was done in a “destructive” manner and that Gibson “smirked” at him before he arrested her.
She was charged with “criminal mischief” with a hate-crime enhancement according to the Washington Post. The enhancement strengthens penalties toward hate crime offenses reportedly. When the hate crime charges were initially created, the last thing the supporters probably ever thought would happen is that it would be used to enforce hate crimes toward police officers, but this is what happens when new laws are made, they aren’t always enforced the way the legislators think they will be.
The left-leaning ACLU put out a statement showing that they are furious about this happening. They said in part that they are “troubled and disappointed” that Gibson was charged. They also said that this sends a “chilling message” to the community that the government and law enforcement will seek harsher punishments on those who disagree with police actions.
They went on to say, “Finally, this case is a reminder that we believe that prosecutors should exercise their discretion about whether to bring any criminal charges at all with an eye toward what kinds of incidents are truly worth using government resources to pursue, bringing a charge against this person that could result in her spending a year in jail makes no sense both in terms of simple fairness and expending the county’s time and money.”
The Daily Beast had more on the story, reporting that Gibson was in a caravan of friends heading from their camping spot in Panguitch, Utah, back to California when one of the cars was pulled over for speeding. The article later says it was Gibson’s friend’s car that was pulled over. Gibson said the officer was “aggressive”. One could speculate that others in the “caravan” may have been speeding as well, although that has not been reported. The Daily Beast reported:
After watching the interaction, she said, she was upset and picked up a rusted “Back the Blue” sign that she said her friends had found on the side of the road and kept in one of the cars.
It’s tough to say why these people in particular picked up a rusted “back the blue” flag. Perhaps they were cleaning up litter out of the goodness of their hearts? It’s tough to say for sure. The officer allegedly thought it was stolen from the gas station, but they said it was not stolen from them apparently. Gibson said that after getting the ticket, she waved the sign at the officer, stepped on it, and threw it in the trash. “I just wanted to, I don’t know, make her feel better or something or stand up for her,” Gibson told The Daily Beast.
They also reported:
“This doesn’t really seem to meet the criteria for what we would generally consider a hate crime, nor the specific language of the statute,” said Seth Brysk, a Utah regional director with the Anti-Defamation League.
The Hill and The Daily Beast both reported having tried to get statements from The Garland County Sheriff’s Office, but have not had any success as of now.
The Daily Beast also wrote:
But Brysk, who helped advocate for Utah’s hate-crime enhancements, which passed into law in 2019, said the key phrase there is “intimidate”—which is language included in the statute. While the model hate-crime statute that the ADL drafted for Utah was meant to protect victims of certain races, religion, or sexual orientations, he said the version that eventually passed in Utah also applies that protected status to law-enforcement officers. Louisiana passed a similar addition to their hate crime statute in 2016, at a time when, as now, protests against police violence were visible in the state and nationally.
Although he believes that addition was “unnecessary” given that there are already harsher laws on the books for people who attack law-enforcement officers, Brysk said, he does believe there are instances where someone may be seeking to terrorize or intimidate cops writ large.
Time will tell if the charges stick, and what type of precedent this situation may set for potential future similar situations around the state and even the nation that may arise.
