ST. GEORGE — A Black Lives Matter and human rights demonstration that was scheduled to take place Saturday evening in St. George was postponed after the organizer said he received death threats.
The protest was planned to take place on the corners of St. George Boulevard and River Road. Xander Allen, who organized the event, told St. George News that he began planning two weeks ago and shared his plans with the public last week.
“In that time, I received many message(s) about how BLM isn’t welcome here and how if we — the BLM protesters — were to show up, there would be conflict,” Allen said. “I received one message that was very concerning, which made my decision to postpone the protest. The message mentioned wanting to kill and hurt all member(s) of the protest, which was uncalled for and insanely concerning.”
The message was sent via an anonymous account under the name “Make America Great Again,” Allen said, and he was unable to verify the sender’s identity. He added that he blocked the sender and reported them but he is still fearful about future events and the outcome.
Civil Ground Patrol, a volunteer-run organization that was formed during the protests in 2020, planned to have members attend the protest. A volunteer told St. George News that the organization planned to attend to keep the peace and de-escalate any situation that got out of hand. The organization is not affiliated with any political parties or movements.
Allen posted on Facebook that the protest has been rescheduled for May 29.
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