Utah
Utah investigating bar run by failed mayoral candidate for implementing ‘no Zionists allowed’ policy
A Utah bar has implemented a “No Zionists allowed” policy, and is being investigated for alleged discrimination.
Failed Salt Lake City mayoral candidate and bar owner Michael Valentine announced the new policy for his newly opened bar on social media over the weekend — claiming the pro-Israel belief is hate speech akin to “neo-Nazis.”
“As many are, we are horrified by the ongoing genocide in Gaza and are even more horrified to see so many Americans ignore and rationalize ethnic cleansing,” he posted on the Instagram page for the Weathered Waves bar on Sunday.
“That is why we are pleased to announce we are banning all Zionists forever from our establishments,” wrote Valentine, who also owns the local Six Sailor Cider group.
“Zionism is hate speech. It is white supremacy and has nothing to do with the beautiful Jewish faith.”
In the days since Valentine made the incendiary post, the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services received “several comments from members of the public” and requested that the state Attorney General’s Office investigate whether the bar is violating anti-discrimination laws, a spokesperson for the agency told the Salt Lake Tribune.
The department is also reviewing its own legal options, after just granting the Weathered Waves bar its liquor license last Thursday, the spokesman said.
Jewish Utahns claim the new policy is just thinly veiled antisemitism.
“I think it is a smoke screen for open Jew hatred,” Rabbi Avremi Zippel, of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, told KUTV.
He argued that there is no way for bar staff to distinguish between Zionists and Jews.
“When someone comes into your place of business to order food or beverage, how are you able to ascertain what their political ideologies are?” he asked the Tribune.
“Zionism is a political ideology. It’s a philosophy. How exactly is a place of business supposed to determine who is and who is not a Zionist.”
His conclusion, he said, is that “the emptiness of the policy and the inability to enforce that policy without openly discriminating against the religion shows what the real motivation behind that is.”
The United Jewish Federation of Utah also condemned the “biased policy,” and said it had reached out to local, state and federal leaders to investigate the watering hole, ABC 4 reports.
It said the policy applies a “double standard to Israel” and the Jewish community, and could lead to the acceptance of discrimination and violence.
But amid the backlash, Valentine says he is the one being targeted.
He claimed the bar has received an arson threat and is the victim of “review bombing,” he told the Tribune.
Valentine has also denied that his new policy is antisemitic, writing in a follow-up Instagram post: “For the record, we are banning Zionists, not Jews. The exact same way we ban neo-Nazis and white supremacists, and not Christians.”
“Being religious is not an excuse or open license for racism, hate speech, and xenophobia. [We] have zero tolerance for it and won’t abide,” he wrote.
He claimed the policy is necessary to foster an inclusive environment, telling the Tribune how the bar is decorated with trans flags and Palestinian flags.
“I’m against hate speech of all kinds — against trans people, against queer people, against Palestinians, against Jews,” he insisted.
“I don’t perceive how this could be seen as discriminatory,” he added to KUTV.
“We’re advocating for an inclusive environment by rejecting hate speech, which is quite the opposite of discrimination.”
The Post has reached out to Valentine and the Utah Attorney General’s Office for comment.
Utah
California man in Utah for National Guard duties accused of soliciting ‘teen girl’
SALT LAKE CITY — A California man in Utah, as part of his duties with the National Guard, is accused of trying to solicit sex from a young teenager.
Joshua Ruben Rodriguez, 29, of Fresno, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with attempted rape of a child, a first-degree felony, and enticement of a minor, a second-degree felony.
The investigation began when an agent with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation posed as a 13-year-old girl on a “popular social media site … in an attempt to locate and apprehend adults attempting to have sexual contact with children,” according to charging documents.
On April 16, Rodriguez sent the agent a message — believing he was talking to a teen girl — that stated, “I’ll be direct with you, I would like to get to know you and (have sex with) your mind into a daze to where you feel like a woman,” according to charging documents.
When the “girl” asked if he had a problem with her age, Rodriguez replied, “I don’t have a problem with your age,” the charges state.
The agent told Rodriguez to meet at an apartment complex in Salt Lake County where the girl lived, claiming her mother would be gone. When Rodriguez arrived, he was taken into custody, the charges state.
“(Rodriguez) does not have ties to Utah. He is a resident of Fresno, California. (He) was in town as part of his military service with the California National Guard,” prosecutors stated in charging documents while requesting he be held without bail pending trial.
Utah
One hospitalized in St. George after rollover crash south of Utah-Arizona border
ST. GEORGE, Utah (KUTV) — One person was hospitalized at the St. George Regional Hospital after a car rolled and caught fire just south of the Utah-Arizona border.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department in Arizona said its crews responded to the crash near the Black Rock Road exit – roughly two miles south of the state border – on Sunday night.
Upon arrival, crews put out the car fire and found the driver had left the scene. A single occupant, who was able to get out of the car on their own, was transported to the hospital by a Beaver Dam ambulance.
MORE | Crashes
Their condition has not been publicly released.
Details on what led to the crash and the condition of the driver were not immediately available.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department said law enforcement investigated the scene.
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Utah
Utah Jazz win coin flip, guaranteed to keep NBA Draft Lottery pick
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz missed out on the NBA Playoffs, but still scored a big win thanks to a coin flip.
In Monday’s tiebreaker coin flip to determine who had the fourth-worst record in the league last season, the Jazz came out winners over the Sacramento Kings, who had the same 22-60 record.
Had the Jazz lost the coin flip, they would have been fifth in NBA Draft Lottery odds. Only the worst four teams are guaranteed to remain within the top eight of the lottery.
If Utah had fallen to fifth, there would have been the chance they could have dropped out of the top 8 teams in the lottery, and owed the draft pick to Oklahoma City, which was top-8 protected in a previous trade.
The Jazz now have an 11.5 percent chance to win the first overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 10.
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