A California woman charged with a hate crime in Utah after she trashed a pro-police sign in front of a deputy in Panguitch last year won’t serve any prison time — but she has to pay a fine and write an apology letter to the officer, according to her plea agreement.
The woman, who was 19 at the time, was a passenger in a car when its driver was pulled over in Panguitch on July 7, 2021, on suspicion of speeding.
Garfield County Sheriff’s deputy Cree Carter reported that outside of the car, next to where the traffic stop was initiated, the woman stomped on a “Back the Blue” sign, crumbled it up “in a destructive manner” and threw it in a trash can, “all while smirking in an intimidating manner towards me,” he wrote.
Carter determined that the woman had grabbed the sign from nearby and arrested her on suspicion of “destroying property that did not belong to her in a manner to attempt to intimidate law enforcement.”
The woman was booked into jail and charged in 6th District Court with disorderly conduct and criminal mischief — which was enhanced to a class A misdemeanor by Garfield County prosecutors, who filed it as a hate crime because of “the demeanor displayed by [the woman] in attempts to intimidate law enforcement.”
Utah law defines a hate crime as an offense that intends to “intimidate or terrorize.” It further defines “intimidate and terrorize” as something that makes a person “fear for his physical safety or damages the property of that person or another.” Another Utah law also specifically mentions “status as a law enforcement officer” as a protected class, but prosecutors didn’t charge her under this statute.
The case made headlines across the U.S. and in other countries. The American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement at the time that read: “This kind of charging decision sends an extremely chilling message to the community that the government will seek harsher punishment for people charged with crimes who disagree with police actions.”
Garfield County Sheriff James D. Perkins issued his own statement at the time that said Carter acted in a “proactive and compassionate manner” during the traffic stop, but the woman “singled out and attacked” him for being a police officer.
Woman faced up to a year in prison
The woman initially faced up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,500. But when she agreed to plead guilty to the criminal mischief charge, the court agreed to hold her plea in abeyance.
That means the charge will be dismissed if, according to the plea deal, she writes an apology letter to Carter “expressing remorse for treating (and threatening by actions) a law enforcement officer with disrespect.”
The letter must be “sincere and heartfelt,” according to the agreement, and the Garfield County Attorney’s office must verify that the letter is “acceptable.”
The woman must also pay a $250 fine and a $150 plea-in-abeyance charge, and she must not commit any law violations. She was sentenced to two days in the Garfield County jail, which will be “suspended and deemed completed” upon acceptance of the apology letter and her fine and fee payments. The disorderly conduct charge was dismissed.
The woman’s brief letter — which she submitted, but court records did not indicate as of Wednesday whether it had been accepted — reads: “I apologize for my actions. I can understand why what I did would be offensive and/or threatening. With the current discourse surrounding the treatment of law enforcement, the display of disrespect that I showed was immature.”
“After reflecting over the past two months I would like to apologize and share my gratitude for the work that police officers do every day,” the letter continues. “I am constantly working to improve upon thinking before I act and the consequences of said actions upon others. I hope you can see that I do care about what I did.”
This is not the first time someone in Garfield County accused of disrespecting police has been charged with a hate crime, and it is not the first time such a defendant has been ordered to apologize.
A man was charged in August 2020 after he allegedly spray-painted the word “bisexual” over the word “blue” on a “Back the Blue” sign. He was sentenced to a year in jail, but that sentence also was suspended and cut down to two days, and he was instructed to pay a fine and write an apology letter.
