DRAPER, Utah — Saturday night was the Salt Lake County Republican Party’s biggest fundraiser, being held inside the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium. However, while that was taking place inside, a handful of protesters were waiting outside.
Many of them were protesting the Trump administration, along with the fundraiser’s guest speaker, Utah native and right-wing influencer Nick Shirley.
“We want everybody to know what they’re up against, what we’re all up against,” said protester Tammy Ames. “The aquarium has to know who they are representing; they have to know that this is a bad kid and it’s not right.”
Salt Lake County Republican Party Chair Michael Carey said he knew there might be protesters.
“I think it's great — they're allowed to protest," he said. "Even though I don't agree with them, I think it's fantastic; they're allowed to speak their mind.”
A representative for the aquarium told FOX 13 News that they’ve received some backlash for allowing the event. They released the following statement:
"Loveland Living Planet Aquarium rents event spaces to outside organizations for privately organized events. The event you referenced is hosted by an outside group, and the Aquarium is not involved in the planning, programming, or viewpoints of the guest speaker.
"As a community gathering space, we host a wide range of private events organized by external groups. While these events take place at our facility, the perspectives shared by guest speakers do not represent the views of Loveland Living Planet Aquarium.”
Clifford Rosky, a professor of law at the University of Utah, said political speech is protected by the First Amendment, which includes businesses.
“Legally, there's no issue for them unless it's like a criminal gathering, or somebody gets hurt, or whatever,” he said. "With respect to their political speech, there's no issue here, so the only issues they have are the private opinions of the private investors and private customers… You can have any opinion you want, but that doesn't mean your neighbors are going to like it."
Each party, however, had its own thoughts about the backlash.
“I don't know why the venue would catch any heat,” Carey said. "Any organization can have an event here. We're no different.”
“The aquarium should get backlash for this,” Ames said. "Anybody who stands by somebody that causes this much hate and discontent, they should get backlash too."
Rosky said that during a very heated political climate, businesses may see this kind of response.
“We’re in an age of polarization, more polarization than usual. The country hasn't been this polarized in a long time, and that means that whenever you do something to support one side, the other side is more likely to get upset about it,” he said.
