SALT LAKE CITY — Fourteen people are facing criminal charges after allegedly storming the Chamber of Commerce Building in July to protest the construction of the Utah Inland Port.
Charges were filed against 10 people Monday in 3rd District Court, including counts of riot and criminal trespass. Nine of those 10 were charged with a felony.
Four other people have been charged with misdemeanor riot in Salt Lake City Justice Court, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said.
The charges in 3rd District Court were filed after “wide-ranging and vast amounts of evidence” were collected, the district attorney’s office said, including body camera footage, cellphone footage, surveillance footage and media footage.
“This is not about the First Amendment,” Gill said Monday. “This is not about protesting or airing your grievances against the Legislature. ... It is about crossing that threshold when that peaceful protest turns violent or into a violation of the law.”
About 100 protesters stormed the Chamber of Commerce Building on July 9 to show opposition to the inland port, a project planned in northwest Salt Lake City to maximize Utah’s place in the global import and export economy with a network of truck, train and air connections.
The demonstration escalated into violence after some protesters refused to leave. Both officers and protesters were seen throwing punches.
The district attorney’s office looked “very carefully” into the behavior of some of the officers involved but declined to press charges, Gill said. While some of the officers could be seen making striking motions in video footage, the officers said they were performing what is known as a “distraction blow” while trying to push protesters out the door, according to Gill.
Eight people were arrested at the protest on suspicion of charges ranging from assault on a police officer to trespassing, riot and resisting arrest.
The 10 people charged in 3rd District Court Monday are: Kaden Cicily Fralick, 21; Randy Navarette, 20; Rosemarie Zoe Obrien, 25; Hannah Kelman Zivolich, 24; Ethan Merrill Petersen, 25; Amy Kathleen Kovac, 28; Richard Anderson Jr., 31; Nicholas Evert Jones, 30; Jackson Richman, 18; and Joshua Macrae Baker-Cooper, 33.
All of the 10 except for Jones face one count of riot, a third-degree felony, and all but Baker-Cooper were charged with criminal trespass, a class B misdemeanor.
Petersen, who police say attempted to kick officers and did not obey their orders to put his hands behind his back, has also been charged with interference with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor.
Jones, who is charged with assault against a police officer, a class A misdemeanor, along with misdemeanor riot and criminal trespass, is accused of “violently kicking” toward an officer’s head, according to charging documents.
Two of those 10 face additional charges stemming from an interaction with a bicyclist that took place across the street from the Chamber of Commerce Building immediately after the protest.
Video footage shows Richman trying to pull the man’s bicycle away from him after the man got into an argument with several people, according to the charges. When the bicyclist swung his arm at Richman to stop him from taking the bike, police said, Baker-Cooper began hitting the bicyclist in the face. Footage shows Richman walking away with the bicycle while Baker-Cooper punches the man in the head, according to charging documents.
Richman is also accused of spitting on a police officer inside the building. He was charged with an additional count of riot, a third-degree felony, plus propelling a bodily substance, a class A misdemeanor.
Baker-Cooper was also charged with assault, a class A misdemeanor.
The protest caused at least $7,000 in damage to the Chamber of Commerce Building, according to charging documents. The owner of the cleaning company told police he found human feces on the floor of an office area and in the stairwell and could smell human urine in five or six offices, as well as three spots in the stairwell, the charges say.
Navarette could be seen on surveillance cameras stomping on a cubicle desk, which caused an estimated $150 in damage, according to the charging documents.
The four people charged in Salt Lake City Justice Court have all been charged with riot, a class B misdemeanor, Gill said.
If convicted, those charged with felony riot could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, Gill said. A class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in jail, and a class B misdemeanor is punishable by up to six months in jail.