PROVO, Utah — A woman who said she was injured by a sheriff’s deputy who removed her from Tuesday night’s Utah County planning commission meeting spoke to FOX 13 News about the incident.
Aspen Azalea said she’s from Salt Lake County and was among the group of protesters who came to rally against a data center ordinance being discussed at the meeting.
That ordinance looks to set regulations for data centers in the county’s zoning code. But many, Azalea included, wanted to voice their concerns about having any of these developments move into their communities.
"We don't want groundwork laid for data centers in general," Azalea said. "That's the biggest thing here."
But they left with much different concerns after things got physical. When the vote passed without public comment being held, the frustrated crowd got vocal and multiple people were asked to leave.
"I yelled ‘moratorium’ three times,” Azalea said. “It was chaos. Everyone was yelling. But they singled out me and my friend because I was sitting next to my friend who stood up."
Azalea was in the same meeting room a couple of weeks ago to protest the ordinance during a Utah County Commission meeting, and she was removed from that meeting, too. So Azalea also claims she was singled out because they recognized her from before.
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office said Azalea refused to leave the room, but she was eventually grabbed by deputies and removed.
The sheriff’s office then claims Azalea struck the deputy in the groin, but she denies hitting him at any point.
“No, I never kicked him,” Azalea said. “I absolutely didn’t kick him."
The deputy is identified in court documents as Phillip Crawford.
Azalea then described what she said happened when they moved out into the lobby of the building, a moment that’s been shared widely through videos on social media.
"When he turned the corner, he pushed some momentum into me and threw me to the ground, and at that point, he also had control of my hands,” Azalea said. “So the sound you hear in the video — that's my chin."
“What really scares me about that situation is that he could have killed me because there was a bench,” Azalea continued. “If he threw me into that bench, I don't think I'd be here today."
Azalea now faces misdemeanor charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and disrupting a meeting. But she’s still angered by the way the situation unfolded and she’s calling for the sheriff’s office to take action.
"Bare minimum, Phil Crawford needs to be fired, bare minimum,” Azalea said. “This is assault. He did throw me to the ground."
Late this afternoon, Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith released a statement, saying in part:
"During last night’s incident, individuals who refused to leave after being directed to do so were escorted from the meeting by sheriff’s deputies. During that process, one individual allegedly assaulted a deputy. Violence against law enforcement officers is unacceptable, and our deputies deserve to perform their duties without being subjected to physical assault. The circumstances will be addressed through the appropriate legal process."
Members of the planning commission declined to comment on the situation. But county officials said that since their vote passed, the county commission will next take up the data center topic some time next month.