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SALT LAKE CITY — The CEO and founder of Banjo, a Utah-based tech company, resigned on Friday after his ties to a Ku Klux Klan white supremacist group were made public in late April.
Damien Patton’s position will be taken over by Chief Technology Officer Justin R. Lindsey, company officials confirmed in a statement.
“I’m deeply honored to have worked alongside the Banjo team and am proud of all we have accomplished thus far,” Patton said in a statement. “I am confident Banjo’s greatest days are still ahead, and will do everything in my power to ensure our mission succeeds. However, under the current circumstances, I believe Banjo’s best path forward is under different leadership.”
Banjo operates Live Time, a service that provides life-saving information in seconds to first responders in order to "better identify emergencies, reduce response times and save lives," according to its website.
"Nine months ago I was inspired by Banjo's mission to join the company full time as the CTO," Lindsey said in a statement. "As CEO, I’m looking forward to continuing Banjo's dedication to technology solutions that protect privacy.”
As a result of Patton's prior connection to the KKK, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes suspended a $20.7 million contract with the company to use surveillance and develop a crime-detection program on April 28.
"While we believe Mr. Patton’s remorse is sincere and believe people can change, we feel it’s best to suspend use of Banjo technology by the Utah Attorney General’s Office while we implement a third-party audit and advisory committee to address issues like data privacy and possible bias. We recommend other state agencies do the same," Reyes' office said in a statement then.
Part of the contract gave Banjo access data from 29 counties, 13 cities with a population above 50,000 and campus security for the University of Utah, OneZero — which first broke the news of Patton's previous KKK affiliation — reported.
