Utah man arrested for allegedly stalking, harassing Salt Lake mayor over pride-themed city flag designs

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A Farmington man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly threatening the mayor of Salt Lake City over pride-themed changes to the city’s flags to circumvent a recent ban on “certain flags on government property.”

Jason Guy Rogers, 44, was arrested on one count of electronic communication harassment, a class B misdemeanor; and one count of stalking, a class A misdemeanor. He is accused of threatening Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall on social media and physically showing up at her place of work.

On May 6, the Salt Lake City Council voted unanimously to approve new designs for the city flag “to help everyone feel they belong.” According to arrest documents, Rogers posted on social media several times on May 9 — a few days after the flags were approved by the council — and made comments “in reference to the proposal.”

While Mayor Mendenhall was not named as the victim in the affidavit of probable cause, documents say the suspect reportedly commented on the victim’s “elected official page,” with one comment saying the following: “When you see a mendenhall. End there life immediately.”

Another comment reportedly read, “When you see her and her family end them immediately. Utah will rise up,” documents said. ABC4.com reached out to the mayor’s office to learn more about the situation, and received the following statement:

The mayor’s office is monitoring the situation and appreciates the swift and professional investigation by the Salt Lake City and Farmington police departments. Out of respect for the investigative and judicial processes, we are unable to release any additional information at this time.”
Andrew Wittenberg, spokesperson for Mayor Mendenhall’s office

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The Salt Lake City Police Department was notified of the comments and determined that the account belonged to Rogers, who lives in Farmington. The investigation was then turned over to Farmington police.

The arresting officer made contact with Rogers on May 20 and questioned him about his comments on social media. The suspect allegedly admitted to making comments about the changing flags but “denied making any comments that would indicate he threatened anybody,” documents said.

“He told me he believed his account must have been ‘hacked’ when those specific comments were made,” the officer wrote in the affidavit.

After speaking with officers on May 20, Rogers allegedly posted more comments on social media and said, “Time for action.” About an hour after making that comment, documents say Rogers had shown up at “the victim’s place of work.”

“Security personnel observed [Rogers] pull his truck into the parking lot and then approach the building on foot,” documents said. “[He] then walks around the building with his phone out.”

Documents say Rogers attempted to enter the building through some side doors that were locked. He was reportedly about to enter the building through the front but then “made eye contact” with security personnel, who were aware of his comments and “were on the look out.”

After making eye contact with security, Rogers then drove away from the building.

Officials said he “made death threats to the victim” and “showed actions and behavior to back up his threats.” Rogers was booked into the Davis County Jail on the aforementioned charges.

Background

The Salt Lake City Council approved the new designs on May 6 — one day before H.B. 77, called “Flag Display Amendments,” went into effect. The bill prohibits “certain flags” from being displayed in schools and on government property.

The bill’s sponsor previously said on social media that the bill “would ban Pride flags […] from schools.” Other political flags are also not allowed, but country, state, city, and military flags are among the approved designs.

In response, the Salt Lake City Council proposed and unanimously approved new designs for the city flag to “accurately reflect the values of the City and its residents.” The flags will be flown alongside the Utah and United States flags, and the city’s original flag design is still in effect.

“In all three flags, the sego lily in the upper corner of these designs is the City’s most recognized emblem, clearly identifying that each flag is representative of Salt Lake City specifically,” Mendenhall’s office said on May 6.

The new designs are called the Sego Celebration Flag to represent the history of Juneteenth, the Sego Belonging Flag to represent the city’s LGBTQIA+ residents, and the Sego Visibility Flag to represent transgender people.

“While the state has restricted which flags public buildings can fly, I’m glad we can still uphold our community’s values within the law,” Salt Lake City Council Chair Chris Wharton previously said.