Two men associated with the now viral video of them toppling a rock formation in Utah’s Goblin Valley State Park say they are receiving death threats, according to the Associated Press/ABC News.
Two Utah Boy Scout leaders who purposely knocked over an ancient desert rock formation in a state park say they’ve received death threats since a video of the toppling went viral.
In the video shot by Dave Hall of Highland, fellow Scout leader Glenn Taylor pushes a large boulder from its delicate perch, sending it tumbling down a small embankment as the men cheer and high-five.
Hall said they’ve received more than 100 online death threats from people who disapproved of their Oct. 11 action in Goblin Valley State Park. The central Utah park is dotted with thousands of the eerie, mushroom-shaped sandstone formations.
“I’ve gotten death threats from people in Germany and Spain and New Zealand … I mean hundreds and hundreds of hateful messages,” Hall told the Deseret News.
The men have insisted they toppled the rock for safety reasons, describing that it was unstable and they feared it would fall and hurt some of their scouts and other visitors. Hall has since said that he now understands that they should have instead notified park authorities.
Authorities meanwhile are still reviewing the incident and determining whether or not to take any action, according to FOX News.
Brent Langston with the Emery County Attorney’s Office said his agency is aware of the incident has not yet started evaluating whether they’ll file charges.“The county attorney’s office has spoken with the state park representative but as of this date, no reports have been submitted and no charges have been filed. The county attorney’s office will review the case upon completion of the investigation and determine what action to take at that point,” the office said in a press release obtained by ETV 10 News Friday afternoon.
Regardless of whatever the situation may be in any given news story, I will never understand what makes some people think that death threats are an acceptable response.
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