Editor,
On July 20th, my son took his girls on one last camping trip down to the Swell, this was very important to them because the girls will be going back to school soon and his visits will change.
While enjoying their time with Daddy an Emery Country Officer arrived at their camp site. A concerned citizen had called because there was some overly tattooed white guy wearing a white tee shirt and driving a silver Chevy car. This suspicious person had two little girls with him.
There was no mention of and suspicious activity pertaining to the girls. They were climbing hills, collecting rocks, getting dirty and cooking Hobo dinners. No reports of screaming, crying or fear displayed by the girls except for the fear of the cop when he showed up.
I hope you enjoyed the results of your action. You accomplished three things. First you wasted the officer’s times, making him have to come all the way out to the Wedge to check on a nonexistent claim when he could have been investigating real crimes. Second in passing judgement because of my son’s appearance you labeled him without knowing him and you showed your true colors, you are a bigot, judging people that you do not even know based on appearance. Did you get close enough to see his tattoos they are scenes of the mountain’s and desert, of his home that he was very proud of, not so much now.
Thirdly, you cut the girls visit and camping fun short because he did not feel comfortable at that camping site. The description was way too detailed not to be meant to cause trouble for them and since when it has become a crime for a single dad take he girls camping and when did the dress code change to Sunday best?
I hope that you never have to deal with this kind of bigotry and biases and that your young ones never have to be scared to death when a cop walks into your campground. Karma can be brutal. Next time you feel like making a call to the cops, at least make sure you have your facts straight.
Nikki Hayward
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