More than 150 people rallied in downtown Salt Lake City on Wednesday, calling for justice for two Utah men shot and killed by police.
The protesters held signs with their names — Chad Breinholt and Bryan Valencia — and shared stories about what they were like before they died. They also called for the officers who fired their weapons to be held accountable.
Breinholt, 31, was killed last August in West Valley City. He had been arrested for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. When officers had him in the processing area, video shows, he reached for one of their guns. Seconds later, he was shot at point-blank range by police.
Valencia, 28, was killed in March after police were called to investigate a report of shots fired. He was driving a car, and police tried to stop it, but he kept going. He crashed soon after, got out of the car and tried to run. Police have released few details about what happened next, but he was killed by a Unified officer during some kind of confrontation in a vacant home’s backyard.
The Salt Lake County district attorney’s office has not yet ruled if the police force in either case was justified. And those at the rally Wednesday said they’re tired of waiting.
They stood outside that office, at 35 E. 500 South, starting at 5 p.m. And they plastered the walls and windows with flyers with the men’s names. One woman wrote on one in black marker: “How many must die?”
The city has seen near-daily protests since the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed in Minneapolis by a white officer.
