Organizer postpones St. George Black Lives Matter protest, alleges death threats

In a file photo, a protester against police brutality holds up a sign to passing motorists in St. George, Utah on May 30, 2020. | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – A Black Lives Matter and human rights protest scheduled to take place on Saturday night in St. George has been postponed after the organizer said he had received death threats.

Seen in a file photo, a Black Lives Matter counter-protester has a chat with at an All Lives Matter protest in St. George, Utah on June 5, 2020. | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

The protest was to take place at the corner of St. George Boulevard and River Road. Xander Allen, who organized the event, told St. George News he started planning two weeks ago and shared his plans with the public last week.

“During this time, I received many messages about the fact that BLM is not welcome here and how if we – the BLM protesters – were to introduce ourselves, there would be a conflict,” Allen said. “I received a very worrying message, which made my decision to postpone the demonstration. The message mentioned wanting to kill and injure all members of the protest, which was unwarranted and incredibly concerning.

The message was sent via an anonymous account under the name “Make America Great Again,” Allen said, and he was unable to verify the identity of the sender. He added that he blocked the sender and reported them, but still feared future events and the outcome.

Civilian ground patrol, a volunteer-run organization that was formed during the 2020 protests, planned for members to attend the protest. A volunteer told St. George News the organization plans to attend to keep the peace and defuse any situation that gets out of hand. The organization is not affiliated with any political party or movement.

Allen posted on Facebook that the protest has been postponed to May 29.

Megan Webber joined St. George News in 2020 after moving from Denver, Colorado. She graduated in May 2020 with a journalism degree from Metropolitan State University in Denver. While in college, she interned at the Denver Post, KGNU in Boulder, and WWOZ in New Orleans. For her work in print and radio, Megan won the 2019 John C. Ensslin Fellowship through the Denver Press Club, an annual award given to a promising student journalist. She enjoys exploring the outdoors with her dog, playing choral music, watching hockey games and traveling to new places.

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