A man was arrested Tuesday after police say he tried to spray paint a protest message on the state Capitol.
The 18-year-old was arrested for investigation of graffiti just before 2 p.m., which is the same time hundreds of Utahns poured onto the steps of the Capitol in the latest of a series of national protests against the Trump administration.
Someone spotted a man wearing a gas mask and holding a can of spray paint and was able to pull the man to the ground and hold him until officers arrived, according to a police booking affidavit. The man did not resist.
The man said he intended to write, "No kings, no tyrants" in bold letters on the concrete wall, "which he described as the perfect canvas," the affidavit says. He managed to "paint a red mark approximately 24 inches on the wall before he was stopped by the citizen."
The cost to repair the spray-painted wall will cost between $300 and $500, police said.