Police expect protest outside of execution of Taberon Honie
Aug 7, 2024, 11:00 AM | Updated: 1:13 pm
The Department of Corrections' garden at the Utah State Correction Facility in Salt Lake City on May 23, 2024. Officials are expecting protesters outside the execution of Taberon Honie. As such, police are beefing up security in the area. (Photo by Heather Peterson)
(Photo by Heather Peterson)
SALT LAKE CITY — Police and prison officials are expecting protesters outside the execution of Taberon Honie.
There will be a designated “free speech zone” located at 7800 West and 700 North in Salt Lake City.
Director of Communications for the Utah Department of Corrections, Glen Mills, said it is staffing extra security around this area.
“We will have a significant presence out there,” he said. “And it won’t just be officers from our department. We are teaming up with other local agencies.”
Mills, said the Utah Department of Corrections feels it’s important to give people a space to express their beliefs under these circumstances.
He’s also optimistic that these will be peaceful demonstrations.
“I’m not aware of any incidents where we’ve had demonstrations get to the point where we’ve had to arrest people,” he said. “I think for the most part people just have a message they want heard.”
While they don’t know exactly how many protesters to expect, Mills thinks they won’t have as many as they did at Utah’s last execution since lethal injection is less polarizing than the firing squad in 2010.
Britt Johnson is a reporter and anchor for KSL NewsRadio.
