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MOAB — An outspoken Moab conservationist who police say has been making violent threats for months against city leaders, local businesses and neighbors has been arrested after officers reported finding drugs and weapons set up inside his house.
Investigators say they have also linked him to a recent rash of vandalism around the city involving stickers with anti-utility task vehicle messages.
Christian Langdon Wright, 39, was arrested Friday for investigation of criminal solicitation, criminal conspiracy, criminal mischief, possession of a weapon by a restricted person, as well as three drug-related crimes, including drug possession with intent to distribute.
Wright has worked as a boatman and park ranger in Moab and has written articles and produced podcasts dealing with topics such as noise pollution caused by utility task vehicles.
The investigation began in June when Moab police officers were contacted by then-Grand County Attorney Christina Sloan, who said that Wright had sent her messages on Facebook.
"I will also personally murder the owners of Epic 4x4 with an ax in their homes in front of their families if they do not move their predatory abusive business away from my home by the end of the summer," Wright allegedly told Sloan, according to an extensive eight-page police booking affidavit filed with Wright's arrest. "I do not care if I am executed in retaliation for this."
Epic 4x4 is a tour operator in Moab that offers all-terrain vehicles and utility task vehicles.
Then in August, a Moab resident contacted police after Wright had given her some papers to hold onto "in the event that anything happened to him." The papers included a flyer with a picture of an assault rifle and the message: "Defend your home, Resist UTV Noise Harassment, Abusive Tourists & SLC Politicians take note," according to the affidavit. A second flyer with "bumper sticker-style statements" included the messages: "Dead tourists don't rent UTVs" and "RENTING UTVS Moab Hates You."
In August, a law enforcer with the National Park Service contacted police saying Wright had made threatening comments to an employee and "made other statements, claiming that an NPS employee he'd done some research on had been murdered by the NPS as part of a conspiracy and cover-up, as she tried to whistleblow on them," the affidavit states.
The law enforcer later sent additional information to police regarding social media posts and emails allegedly from Wright in which he continued to push a conspiracy theory that a park ranger at Arches National Park who died by suicide in 1977 was murdered, according to the affidavit.
"He further claims he is requesting 'immediate mobilization of a federal investigation and sting operation into the Moab, Utah tourism industry and the political leaderships of Moab and the state of Utah for negligence, fraud, waste," the affidavit says.
Then in September, a woman who says she has known Wright for many years contacted police to report that she had been on a road trip with him over the summer and "became aware that Christian's mental health has deteriorated and she now has very real concerns that Christian is going to hurt someone," according to the arrest report. "(She) stated that Christian's rhetoric concerning the tourism industry, the National Park Service and the owners of Epic 4x4 has taken on a very concerning tone."
The friend says Wright spent a lot of time during the trip talking about acquiring weapons and making threats against businesses, neighbors and city leaders, the affidavit states. She told police she had "genuine concern for the safety of the people Christian was railing against," which is why she contacted authorities. She said Wright claimed to have purchased several rifles "which he planned to bury all over the West in order to protect his family" and use them against "people he believes are 'harassing' and 'bullying' him."
The woman ended her written statement to police by stating, "I need to reiterate that I have known Christian for almost 20 years, that I loved him and cared about him as a human, and that I seriously believe he is going to hurt or kill someone and/or himself. Christian seems detached from reality," the affidavit states. "I can see that Christian is not well. He is absolutely a danger to himself and others. I am scared of Christian. I want him to get help. I want to protect the Moab community."
Police also noted that last fall, anti-ATV stickers were showing up all over Moab.
"These small white stickers have been plastered all over Moab on every type of sign and all manner of surfaces. So many stickers were placed on so many signs, that members of the community began talking about it on social media, which led to the Moab Sun News doing a story, in which Grand County commissioners called for the graffiti to stop. This also led to an excessive amount of work for Moab City Roads Department employees, who found that as soon as they'd take stickers down, new ones were being put back up, and many with a clear glue that made them impossible to peel off. Even the ones being peeled off were permanently damaging stop signs and other reflective signs, since they took the signs's reflectiveness away in the areas where the stickers had been," the affidavit states.
On Feb. 10, surveillance video was reviewed by police that detectives say shows Wright placing "UTV Noise is Child Abuse" stickers on traffic light posts.
"It appears there is substantial evidence to believe that it is Christian Wright acquiring and gluing the stickers throughout the Moab area at this time, and that it is very likely Christian who has been doing so for months, since the stickers are unique and the ones that have been showing up for months," the arresting officer wrote in the affidavit. "It is also of note that I've had to read hundreds and hundreds of pages of Christian Wright's writings over the past eight months or so, and one common theme in his writings has been that noise pollution is child abuse, which is also the phrase on one of these custom stickers being put up all around Moab."
On Friday, police had gathered enough evidence to serve a search warrant on his home. Thousands of anti-utility task vehicle stickers were found in addition to THC edibles, according to the affidavit, as well as "a shotgun, a rifle, five AR-15 style rifles, a handgun, and other dangerous weapons" and "a United States Army Guide to Guerrilla Warfare book. The rifles were set up around the house in different rooms, as if in preparation to be quickly and easily accessed. Many fully loaded 30-round or even 40-round .223 magazines were located as well," police wrote.
"The search warrant was the result of a large-scale investigation into vandalism occurring throughout the city of Moab. Hundreds of stickers had been placed on street signs resulting in over $15,000 in damage," Moab police said in a prepared statement. "A search of the residence resulted in the recovery of nearly 5,000 of the same custom-made stickers seen throughout Moab."
Wright's girlfriend said Wright told her the weapons "were for self-defense in an apocalypse-type situation," the affidavit says.
