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DRAPER — A Black Lives Matter billboard sponsored by Silicon Slopes giant Domo has been defaced in Draper.
Vandals wrote "All Life Matter" and hung an American flag from the base of the billboard, photos show. The billboard is visible from southbound I-15 near Point of the Mountain.
"As a company, diversity, equality and inclusion have always been important to us," said Domo CEO Josh James in a statement. "We created these billboards to show our support for our Black employees and Black community members. After the recent series of turbulent events, we asked them what we could do, and they told us that declaration and action would be most meaningful. The billboards were our message that we hear their voices, we are their allies and we see them as equal human beings.
"We’ve received numerous messages of gratitude from employees and community members on what the message means to them. And of course, we’ve received a few from people who interpreted the message differently — and that’s OK, because it started a conversation.
"This act of defacing the billboard is different, though, because it reinforces the dramatic lengths that some people will go to NOT have a conversation. And it shows the amount of work we have to do as people to create a culture and community of understanding and empathy."
James said the billboard will be restored and continue to run though mid-July as planned.
Domo was among many Utah companies that made public statements of support for the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd's death sparked weeks of protests in Utah and throughout the United States.
A George Floyd mural was recently vandalized in Salt Lake City.
