Carter Williams is a reporter for KSL. He covers Salt Lake City, statewide transportation issues, outdoors, the environment and weather. He is a graduate of Southern Utah University.
FARMINGTON — Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said she'll never forget the worst Mother's Day of her life.She and her family had fled their home for a hotel at the advice of Salt Lake police, as the agency had deemed online threats made against her and her family by a Farmington man were "legitimate and immediate.
" She and her husband told their kids the hotel was part of surprise plans for the weekend to hide the real reason.Nothing happened that weekend, but the fear lingered. Then, later that month, police barged into her office and warned her that the man behind those threats — Jason Guy Rogers — was standing outside the Salt Lake City-County Building.Mendenhall was aware of one last post he had made on social media, stating it was "time for action." She peered out of a small opening in her office window in City Hall and saw Rogers. He appeared to be tense, with his fists at his side as he looked up at the building, she recalled.She was stunned that he was there and immediately felt fear for others in the building at the time."Threats of political violence had never been so real for me," she told a courtroom, as Rogers was sentenced for stalking earlier this month."This was not a person in an isolated moment of rage. This is a man who, over multiple days and multiple times, publicly stated that my family and I needed to be killed," she said, according to a recording of the sentencing hearing. "He asked anyone, anyone to kill my family and me upon sight. He publicly asked for our address to do so. He then came to City Hall to take action on the political violence he had repeatedly called for."Rogers, 45, was sentenced to 60 days in jail and ordered to never contact Mendenhall or her family again, the latter of which he agreed to as part of pleading guilty to stalking in December.Mendenhall declined KSL's requests for comment while the case played out in court. She provided a clearer picture of what happened during Rogers' Jan. 15 hearing, beyond information that was made available after Rogers was arrested on May 20, 2025.The case serves as a stark example of crossing the line in political disagreement, said 2nd District Judge Michael Direda before handing down the sentence. It played out as political violence has become a major concern."People fought and died for the right to express our viewpoints. … What's not healthy is when ... the dialogue becomes threatening, where now people fear for the
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