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PROVO — The mass gathering of nearly 1,000 people in Utah’s third-largest city Friday night was not a protest.
Many of those gathered held signs that read “Black lives matter” and “I can’t breathe,” while even more cheered for calls to end police brutality. But while the crowd may have protested the issues, they were not in Provo to call for a protest.
They were there to call for unity.
Because Friday night wasn’t about putting up walls; it was about building bridges, said community activist Israel “Izzy” Herring, a Utah Valley University student who is a founding member of the activist organization Unified Allies for Change.
“All we’re trying to do is connect the community,” Herring said. “This is not a protest. We are honoring and venerating the people who have died to police brutality.”
The first female mayor of Provo was not against Friday night’s vigil. In fact, Michelle Kaufusi welcomed it. So, too, did Provo City Police Chief Rich Ferguson, who joined with police chiefs from every jurisdiction in Utah County, as well as dozens of his own officers in the peaceful event.
“That’s what we’re all about. We’re about peace and love,” Kaufusi said. “Our motto is ‘welcome home’ — and I mean that.
“It’s an honor to be the mayor of this city.”
There’s a reason why Provo was the place where Unified Allies for Change wanted to hold a vigil following a week of nationwide protests, including many in Utah, in response to the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police officers, the latest in a long line of violence against people of color.
“Provo can become and will become a beacon of light and an exemplar to everyone around them,” founding member Sebastian Stewart-Johnson said.
“Today, we will be unified. But we have to do it together,” he added.
Several notable residents of Utah Valley were in attendance: joining Provo's mayor was her son, NFL offensive lineman Corbin Kaufusi; Latter-day Saint musician Alex Boye; musician James Curran, formerly known as James the Mormon; and UVU president Astrid S. Tuminez.
The crowd held candles, many of them electronic, and lit up cellphone flashlights in honor of the many people whose lives have been lost to police brutality. They stood in somber silence in memory of the fallen. Of course, many of them were people of color, organizers said. But all communities have been touched by too many violent acts echoed across America.
“There is nothing that makes good cops madder than bad cops,” said Provo chief Ferguson, who reminds his officers every day that the goal is to retire without a day of tarnish on their badge. “Good cops everywhere come to work every day, united in our goals. We’re here to gain the trust of our citizens, and we strive every day not to do something that will put tarnish on our badge.”
Ferguson said Provo police officers’ goal is to provide “compassionate service” for their community, and while he realizes there is always room for improvement, he urged those in attendance to “come together” to solve their problems.
“I appreciate this peaceful gathering,” Ferguson said. “It’s good for our community and it’s good for our state.
“We’re here tonight because we understand how important it is that we listen, and that we learn from each other. It’s more important now than ever.”
After the moment of silence, the vigil ended with a “celebration of their lives,” in the form of a mini-concert from Boye. The British-American singer-actor performed his single, “We all bleed the same,” a song about equality, individuality and uniting across race, ethnicity, religion and other differences.
It’s those differences that allow humans to make beautiful music together, he said.
“If you play the piano just by using the black keys, you can play most of the spirituals. And if you play just the white keys, you can play a bunch of Frank Sinatra songs,” Boye said. “But when you play the black and the white keys together, that’s when some magic comes up. That’s why we need every one of you all.”
When Boye first read an invitation on social media to come to a vigil — and one hosted at the police station — he stopped. That can’t be right, he considered.
But “I spent the last 15 minutes in that building,” Boye said, pointing behind him to the Provo police station. “And I met some of the most incredible men.
“One of them said to me, ‘We’ve got your back.’ I think that’s something that every black man would love to hear. I wish I had it recorded so that I could post it, and I could tell people that there are good cops here. There are places where the helpers live; they’re right here.”
Organizers ended the event by wishing happy birthday to Breonna Taylor, the Louisville EMT who would have celebrated her 27th birthday Friday were it not for her tragic death when police officers broke down her door while performing a search warrant against someone else; she was shot her eight times in her apartment as her boyfriend confronted police.
“It’s not just, and it’s not OK that her life was taken from us,” organizer Cole Stewart-Johnson said. “She sacrificed her life every day as an EMT.
“She gave her everything to her community, to her family. And as we stand here today, and we memorialize and celebrate the lives of all those who have been taken, by racism, by police brutality, or whatever it may be, we will move forward. We will take that light with us.
“There are thousands — maybe even millions — of people who have lost their lives that we don’t know about. It is not acceptable. But thank you for showing that you care.”
