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- Anti-LGBTQ flyers and posters were found in North Logan and Providence.
- Residents reported the materials to police.
- Authorities are investigating the incidents, which coincide with the start of Pride month.
NORTH LOGAN — Law enforcement is investigating suspicious posters and flyers with similar anti-LGBTQ messages left in front of people's homes in Providence and North Logan.
Homeowner Ryan Thorell said he spotted large poster boards stapled to utility poles, facing toward his house Sunday morning. He said the signs read, "White power," and "man plus woman." Others used slurs. He said he gave them to the North Park police.
"The signs were very targeting and inflammatory in their nature," Thorell said. "I took down 17 of them in our neighborhood."
Thorell believes his house was chosen because of the LGBTQ signage his family displays. Other houses in the neighborhood with LGBTQ flags and signs had posters outside.
"It made me feel like our community is under some sort of attack," he said. "It made me nervous for the kids in my neighborhood. It's one of the most affected community groups of our youth in our state. And these kids are very vulnerable to this sort of thing."
In nearby Providence, a few individuals found similar items that they thought were concerning, and they reported it to the authorities there on Sunday.
"It was intentionally placed there, and it was a Ziploc bag with a rock in it, and a flyer depicting some hate speech, is what I'm going to determine it as," said resident Dayne Teigeler. "And, as we went further along, we were able to find more of these bags along the way."
Teigeler came across three bags with a rock and a flyer that advertised the same website, belonging to a white supremacist organization, written on the poster in North Logan. His friends and neighbors found several more of the bags around town. They said they were mostly in the middle of the street, some had landed on private property.
"It definitely sounded like a more coordinated effort that this was to be done all at once," he said. "Maybe because it is the start of Pride month, that effort was stepped up by this organization to do this, and several places were hit all at the same time."
The North Park police chief told KSL he's investigating the posters and working with the Cache County Sheriff's Office to see if these incidents are related.
Teigeler said he thinks the messaging on the flyer is hate speech, and his neighborhood won't stand for it.
"This kind of thing does not divide us," he said. "It makes us come together to come against this kind of hate speech and this kind of feeling in a community, as we want our community to be a safe spot."
He and Thorell said they're hopeful authorities will be able to track down the person or people behind the flyers and posters.
"I'm very grateful that our country stands up for First Amendment rights," Thorell said. "But this is a great and obvious line between First Amendment rights and targeting."
North Park police is looking for videos or images of the person or people behind these incidents. The chief said the Cache County Attorney's Office determines which, if any, charges will be filed.
