ST. GEORGE, Utah — A man who once put murderers in prison is now willing to go to trial rather than pay a small fine over his right to honk his car’s horn during a "No Kings" protest in St. George.
"Well, I think it’s a normal horn. It's not a train horn or one of those wild ones," said Jack Hoopes.
On March 28, Hoopes was ticketed for honking his horn as he drove by the protest next to Vernon Worthen Park.
"We went past, and I saw two people that I knew and hadn't seen at the rally, and I beeped my horn," Hoopes explained. "And right then, the cop car spun around, turned his lights on, and I told my wife, "I think I'm getting picked up.'"
"Right at that time, a car went by on this side street, honking its horn. And I said,
'Why don't you pick him up?' And [the officer] said, 'I've been trying to be nice to you, and I'm giving you a ticket."
Police told Hoopes that he violated the Utah code on horns and warning devices, and added that Flood Street is considered a highway, with state law prohibiting drivers from using their horn on a highway.
However, FOX 13 News checked city, county, and state records, and Flood Street is not designated as a highway, and there are no signs on the street claiming it is.
Hoopes, who lives part-time in Ivins, already had his first hearing on the charge of violating Utah’s state code on horns and warning devices, but the judge had to recuse himself because he knew Hoopes.
In his native Fremont County, Idaho, Hoopes used to be on the other side of the law as a prosecutor.
"They said nothing happened in that county, and I had three murder cases my first year," he said.
So now, a man who put murderers behind bars is willing to go to trial rather than pay the $50 fine if convicted.
"At my arraignment the other day, when I came out, my phone beeped," recalled Hoopes, "and it was a national thing saying the DOJ was dismissing more cases from the January 6 riot, and I was thinking, what's wrong with our country when we'll dismiss cases where police officers were killed?"
