‘We … have to stand up’: Utahns plead for change at downtown protest

SALT LAKE CITY — Utahn Tyler Gephardt encouraged a crowd of Utahns gathered in downtown Salt Lake City Saturday night to take a stand by “loving your neighbor as yourself.”

People gathered at the Salt Lake City-County Building to raise their voices against recent developments in Washington, D.C. with signs that hurled insults against the GOP, expressed support of immigrants and called for government change.

Unlike a similar demonstration on June 14 where about 10,000 protesters marched downtown, about 350 people gathered Saturday at its height. Two people were shot during that June rally by a volunteer “peacekeeper” at the event, causing hundreds to flee in panic.

Gephardt emphasized the “fight” he could see in everyone’s eyes at Saturday’s protest, hoping that each person would leave with more motivation to keep pushing. In a time of division, “community is resistance,” he said.

“Another form of resistance is speaking up,” Gephardt said. “Take a stand by lifting any hands that hang helplessly down.”

Advocacy group Indivisible Utah County held a demonstration along State Street in Orem Saturday morning to “raise their voices against a growing list of political injustices and failures at the local and national level,” the group said in a statement prior to the event.

Salt Lake City’s march was just one of hundreds of demonstrations across the country as part of a national day of protest called Rage Against the Regime.

The main reasons for the protests included controversy over the files of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, accountability of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement operations, the defunding of public media, “attacks” on higher education, the impacts of the tax-cut and spending “big beautiful bill” and “demanding transparency, justice and meaningful reform,” a statement from the event organizers said.

Saturday night’s event started with a moment of silence held for Afa Ah Loo, a man who was shot and killed during the No Kings protest in June.

Protest organizer Charlie Padilla said he is “sick of what I’ve seen from this fascist regime” and in order to make changes, individuals need to believe in the power they have by banding together.

“This event was put together entirely by individuals just like you and me, people with no connections other than our passion for resistance against a government that not only no longer serves the people, but has become weaponized against the people,” Padilla said. “We the people have to stand up.”

He spoke of how billionaires, corporations and foreign governments have “completely hijacked our country” and the programs that protect the public are being taken away.

“Enough is enough. We the people demand a new government that serves the people — the working class,” Padilla said. “We demand equal rights for all and we demand accountability for the corrupt politicians who have sold us out for their own personal gain.”

More than a dozen people spoke at the event, bringing up disappointment in budget cuts on public services, discrimination against LGBTQ communities, anger against recent state and federal legislation and rage for the people being killed in wars around the world. A prevalent theme highlighted turning rage into action and feeling the power of the people.

American Celtic punk band the Dropkick Murphys played two songs about freedom and raising your voice during the start of the protest. Lead singer Ken Casey spoke of how passionate the band is about speaking out.

“People will say, ‘Why can’t you just play music?’ And I’ll say, ‘Why can’t I just play music? Because my children aren’t going to have freedom if I don’t speak up,'” Casey said.

The protest emphasized calling state representatives to try to make change. Utah even ranked No. 1 for calling state leaders, according to nonprofit 5Calls.