Veteran kneels for nine hours in silent protest in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Marine Corps veteran knelt for nine hours at the Utah Capitol to call attention to racial injustice, police brutality and mental health.

Shane Brooks said people of color with mental illness are “looked at as if they have already committed a crime” and some end up dead in encounters with police, KTVX-TV reported.

Brooks said his marathon silent protest Thursday was inspired by Bobby Duckworth, a 26-year-old who was shot and killed by police in Wellington, Utah, in 2019.

Officers responded to a report of a suicidal person. Authorities said they fired after Duckworth advanced toward them with two knives in his hands.

“When I first heard his story it touched me because I have had a very similar story to Bobby’s I’ve been very suicidal myself,” Brooks said. “I’ve had run-ins with police but I’m still here I’ve been able to get taken to the help I needed.”