MIDVALE, Utah — A Midvale man arrested for lighting fireworks on July 4 told a police officer that the ban prohibiting fireworks over the holiday violated his civil rights and was not the law.
Peter Ellison, 61, faces charges of violating a fire restriction order following his arrest Saturday.
A Unified Police officer first saw a person lighting fireworks in front of a Midvale home as a group of people watched, and warned the man of the ban that encompassed all of Salt Lake County. The man said he understood before the officer left the area.
When the officer later returned to the neighborhood, they found another man, identified as Ellison, lighting more fireworks. Ellison claimed that he was inside the home when the officer first drove by and was unaware of his verbal warning about the ban.
After he allegedly first denied knowledge of the fireworks ban, Ellison said he was aware that Gov. Spencer Cox had made the decision, but said "it was against his civil rights and this was not state law," according to court documents. When the officer reiterated the ban restricting fireworks, "Peter just wanted to continue arguing with me saying I was violating his rights."
Ellison refused to give the officer his personal information, claiming that because he had not violated any laws, he did not have to turn anything over.
The officer claimed Ellison continued to explain his rights for "several more minutes" before sharing his name and birth date, but refused to cooperate in giving a fingerprint for a citation. Ellison allegedly told the officer to "go ahead and take him to jail, he was going to do it his way or not."
Along with the fire restriction order violation charge, Ellison also faces a charge of failure to disclose his identity.
