Utah
‘BlacKKKlansman’ Stallworth writes about policing Utah’s Mormon gangsters
SALT LAKE CITY — As Ron Stallworth tells it, gang members thought Utah police were a joke.
“One kid,” Stallworth recalled in an interview with FOX 13 News, “even said, ‘Coming to Utah and dealing with you guys is like going to Disneyland,’ which really pissed me off.
“I probably violated his rights a little bit when I grabbed him by the neck, pushed him against the wall and told him to never talk to me or any other Utah cop in that manner.”
To Stallworth, the badge was a tool to make a difference. Stallworth’s difference was… different.
His infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs, Colorado, became a book that Spike Lee turned into the film “BlacKKKlansman,” a somewhat-fictionalized account of the Black cop Stallworth fooling America’s foremost bigots.
Stallworth’s new book, “The Gangs of Zion: A Black Cop’s Crusade in Mormon Country,” picks up a few years later, mid-1980s Salt Lake City. It reads like a Western as much as a memoir. In so many words, Stallworth is the confident stranger who arrives to clean up the town, if not the whole state.
GANGSTERS: UTAH STYLE
The Utah Department of Public Safety hired him to be a narcotics officer. After seeing Utah had burgeoning gangs, which Stallworth credits himself as recognizing before others, Stallworth ditched the undercover work for on-the-streets regulating.
“I knew I was right,” Stallworth said of the self-confidence that runs through the book. “I knew I could back up the things that I was saying.
“I never said anything that I wasn’t prepared to get on the witness stand, put my hand on the Bible and say, ‘I do’ to the judge.”
Stallworth writes in the book about seeing Bloods and Crips from Los Angeles arriving in Utah. They created new crack markets.
A report Stallworth sent his superiors circa 1987 recommended that the state start an anti-gangs task force. That task force exists to this day. Stallworth was assigned to it.
Stallworth soon noticed a made-in-Utah shift — young white men claiming to be Bloods and Crips.
“And my partner, who is a devout Mormon,” Stallworth told FOX 13, “cracked up when he heard it, and I was cracking up with him because we had never heard of white Bloods and Crips.”
“They also say they’re Mormons.”
That partner was Salt Lake City police officer Kevin Crane. He died in 2016. Stallworth dedicates “Gangs of Zion” to him and compliments Crane throughout.
In video below, Stallworth talks about his partner on the gang task force, Salt Lake City’s Kevin Crane.
Stallworth talks about Crane
But in a Western, for every great partner, there’s a crop of locals who are more hinderance than asset. That’s how a lot of Utahns come off in “Gangs of Zion.”
CHECK YO SELF
Stallworth writes about a visit to Price where he found gang graffiti all over town, including near the rear door of the police headquarters where the chief entered every day.
That chief, Aleck Shilaos, spoke to FOX 13 News by phone. Shilaos contends that no one, including Stallworth, actually found gang members in Price. And that’s a point of pride for the long-retired chief.
Price had gang prevention efforts in place, Shilaos said, that included communication with the school district and speaking with parents every time a kid was caught drawing a gang sign on a wall.
“And it worked,” Shilaos said. “But we did have wannabes — don’t get me wrong — at the junior high level.”
Salt Lake Tribune
To Stallworth, Price was an example of what he saw across Utah. Leaders were applying for grants targeting gangs while also telling the public they didn’t have a gang problem.
“They kept falling back on the old dodge,” Stallworth said. “‘This is Utah. Utah is white. Utah is conservative. Utah is primarily Mormon.’”
Speaking of that last point, Stallworth describes one co-worker’s effort to convert him to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Stallworth responded with some pointed questions centered on race.
Let’s just say there was no further attempt by that co-worker to add Stallworth’s name to the membership rolls.
“Gangs of Zion” also touches on Stallworth becoming an authority on rap lyrics, complete with testimony before Congress. There’s a cameo by Ice Cube during a concert stop in Utah.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The memoir does not have a storybook ending.
Stallworth was removed from the gang task force in 2000 over what he describes as bias. It wasn’t the racial kind.
Stallworth contends that his superiors at the Utah Department of Public Safety favored cops who came up through the state trooper ranks. Stallworth was re-assigned to the state’s concealed firearm permit program.
Below, Stallworth discusses his final five years — or was it four? — as a police officer in Utah.
Final years with DPS
Meanwhile, Stallworth and his wife, Micki, were raising their two children in Davis County. Micki Stallworth, who met her husband in Colorado Springs, died of cancer in 2004. Stallworth describes an episode at work in the midst of grieving that aggravated his anguish.
His 19th and final year at the department — there was supposed to be a 20th — concluded not so much in a ride into the sunset as a hop onto a stagecoach that was going anywhere but where he was. While he still has family in Utah, Stallworth has remarried and moved to El Paso, Texas, where he grew up.
Now age 71, Stallworth isn’t on any book tours.
“I’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” he told FOX 13 News. “I’ve had surgery. It’s stage one.”
“The bottom line is,” Stallworth added, “there are too many people in the world left for me to piss off, and I’m going to write another book and address it all.
“And I’m not going anywhere.”
Utah
5 vehicles hit exercise equipment on I-15 near Arizona-Utah border
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Five vehicles collided with a piece of exercise equipment on I-15 near the Arizona-Utah border on Friday, according to Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire Department.
At around 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 9, fire personnel responded to an incident involving five vehicles on I-15 Southbound at Mile Marker 17. Crews arrived on scene to find “slightly used exercise equipment” in the middle of the road, officials said.
A total of 14 people were involved in the collisions, though only one was taken to the hospital, St. George Regional, as a result.
“Please drive defensively; Keep your eyes on the road,” a social media post from Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire states.
No further information is available at this time.
Utah
Analysis: Utah’s fight was there against No. 9 BYU, but the little details cost Utes a shot at the upset
Utah couldn’t get enough defensive stops Saturday night against No. 9 BYU in the latest rivalry matchup at the Huntsman Center.
The Runnin’ Utes, though, made the Cougars work for the victory, even as a heavy underdog.
There are no moral victories in this bitter rivalry, but if Utah can show progress moving forward from BYU’s harder-than-expected 89-84 victory, this kind of effort won’t go in vain.
“I think it was, there was a lot of little things, a lot of game plan things, little details that I don’t know if we just forgot or didn’t pay attention to,” Utah first-year coach Alex Jensen said about what cost Utah against the Cougars.
“Down the stretch, we’ve talked about it for a while because we’re going to give up size to other teams, but giving up the offensive (boards), it’s hard to get a stop and then they get the offensive rebounds. It’s a hard thing to come back from, especially the last few minutes.”
Jensen lamented his team’s defensive effort against the Cougars multiple times in the postgame press conference — BYU was able to shoot 50% in the game, and the Cougars held a 41-33 rebounding edge.
Senior Richie Saunders, who had never beaten Utah in the Huntsman Center until Saturday, was especially destructive on the boards. He had 14, including six on the offensive end, and helped BYU have a 16-10 edge in offensive boards and 19-14 in second-chance points.
“It’s hard to give up 89 points and win, right?” Jensen said. “And if you look at all the good teams in college that win, (they) are the other teams that defend and rebound.”
Utah has made giving BYU headaches in the Huntsman a routine thing. Even though the Cougars are the program on the ascent, the Utes still won their last two games in the series played at the storied venue.
Utah even pumped some belief into the packed house multiple times over the course of the game that it could stun BYU again.
The Utes got out to a 7-0 start in the game, then matched BYU punch for punch in the first half before going into the break down two after a questionable foul call resulted in two free throws from AJ Dybantsa just before the half.
Though BYU eventually built a 13-point lead in the second half, the Utes fought back again and made it a one-possession game multiple times down the stretch.
That included cutting it to 81-80 on two Terrence Brown free throws with 3:15 to play.
Then, the Utes had a defensive stop in the final minute down three, but a costly turnover — just Utah’s ninth of the night — gave BYU the ball back with eight seconds remaining.
Two Saunders free throws followed that turnover from Brown, and with that, the Utes’ fight came up short.
Brown and Don McHenry showed up well in their introduction to the rivalry, as the dynamic scoring guards accounted for more than half of Utah’s points.
Brown had a game-high 25 points to go with five assists, three rebounds and two blocked shots, while McHenry had 21 points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal.
“Coach was just just saying you should be excited to play in a game like this,” Brown said. “… It was just a good opportunity, and it was definitely exciting.”
Fifth-year forward James Okonkwo provided a spark in front of a raucous crowd, to the tune of 13 rebounds, four points and two assists.
“James has been great the last two games. It’s great because it leads us with a physicality and just his presence, and that’s kind of what we want from him as a fifth-year senior,” Jensen said.
“The last two games, he’s been great and hopefully we get that, that same James going forward.”
Speaking of the crowd, the Utes noticed just how much a packed house for the first time this season — call it the annual rivalry effect — brought an energy to an arena that is often far too quiet as Utah tries to rebuild a once-proud program.
“I think the MUSS did a really good job of, like energizing us. It was a different level of energy in the game today, and it was really encouraging,” Okonkwo said.
“We went out on a really good run to start the game, and you could just feel it. We were locked in and it was really fun.”
It wasn’t enough to best BYU’s Big 3. Dybantsa, the projected lottery pick, had 20 points, six rebounds and four assists, Saunders tossed in 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds (six offensive), while Rob Wright III added 23 points and six assists.
Can Utah learn from this game and take some lessons into the rest of Big 12 play?
Yes, the Utes are likely to lose the majority of their games the remainder of the season — they are the worst-ranked Big 12 team in the NET and KenPom, by a sizable margin — but Utah also showed that it’s progressing, even if incrementally.
“Honestly, like we have enough — we’re going to be so good when we clean up just a little mistakes,“ Okonkwo said. ”Honestly, that’s my opinion.
“That’s what (coach) was kind of harping on about in the locker room, just staying consistent. Just get better every day.”
Utah
Utah Jazz Run Into Familiar Face vs Charlotte Hornets
As the Utah Jazz look to take on the Charlotte Hornets for their second of two meetings for the season, it’ll mark the first time that a familiar face, Collin Sexton, returns to the Delta Center since his offseason trade to the East Coast.
Earlier in this past offseason, Sexton was sent to the Hornets along with a pair of future second-round picks in exchange for veteran center Jusuf Nurki. It was a deal that was a bit criticized from Utah’s perspective upon initially going down, but in the time since, has seen both players find their way into notable roles with their new squads.
While Nurkic is listed as questionable to suit up for the action against his former team, Sexton seems ready to go against his, and could even start back in Utah after having previously done so in the Hornets’ latest game against the Indiana Pacers; a game they fell short in 112-114.
So, not only will Sexton be looking for a bounce-back win off a loss, but he could have an extra chip on his shoulder to perform well against his former team as well.
Collin Sexton Returns to Utah as Jazz Take on Hornets
Sexton was a part of the Jazz for three seasons from 2022 to 2025 after initially coming aboard as a part of the extensive Donovan Mitchell and Lauri Markkanen trade as a sign-and-trade acquisition, and for the tenure that he was in Salt Lake City, was a pretty significant part of the roster––playing a total of 189 games, starting in 120 of them.
In that time, Sexton averaged 17.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists while shooting 48.8% from the field and 39.8% from three, being a consistent offensive piece in the backcourt next to a growing Keyonte George and, at the time, his fellow veteran guard, Jordan Clarkson.
However, the Jazz, during their latest offseason, made the inevitable shift to focus on their young talent in place of Sexton after three good years of being a core rotational piece, sending him to Charlotte for his third team since being drafted to the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2018.
Since being in Charlotte, Sexton has remained about as steady as he was in Utah––averaging 15.2 points a night on 48.3% from the field, paired with 2.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, filling in once again as a valuable locker room add and veteran teammate to help bring along the Hornets’ developing roster.
Last time he went up against the Jazz, it was on his new home floor in Charlotte, making for a pretty brutal game from the Jazz, as they were blown out by Sexton and the Hornets, 103-126 at the beginning of November, which also made for the first time Utah was without Walker Kessler after he was ruled out for the season due to shoulder surgery on a torn labrum.
The Jazz will try and even up their season series, looking a bit different from that two-month span, and will be forced to do so without the services of Lauri Markkanen (rest) and Ace Bailey (hip), thus giving a brighter green light for Keyonte George to have another explosive night scoring the ball, this time against his former teammate.
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