Utah governor thanks man credited with stopping anti-gay mob

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
JUNE 15, 2018 AT 12:22 PM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is thanking a man who’s being credited with fending off an anti-gay mob during the Utah Pride Festival.

Herbert said on Twitter late Wednesday that he had met with the dessert shop worker. Herbert called him a local hero.

Police say two gay men leaving the Utah Pride Festival were chased by a mob and ran into the shop where Terrance Mannery was working last week. The mob of seven to 15 men was allegedly making homophobic slurs at the couple.

Police say Mannery blocked the mob from entering his shop and was involved in a scuffle to keep them out.

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http://kslnewsradio.com/1691853/utah-governor-thanks-man-credited-stopping-anti-gay-mob/

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Ice Cream Shop Worker Protects Gay Men Leaving Utah Pride Festival From Angry Mob06:46
June 08, 2018Updated Jun 10, 2018 3:39 PM

Terrance Mannery was closing the Doki Doki dessert shop in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday night when four distraught men burst in. Behind them, Mannery saw a group of about 15 people, who witnesses say were shouting anti-gay slurs. The men had just left the Utah Pride Festival.

Mannery barricaded the door with his body, sustaining at least seven punches as the mob tried to enter. Eventually they fled.

Here & Now's Robin Young talks with Mannery about his actions, and the climate for the LGBTQ community.

Interview Highlights:
On his initial reaction to the mob:



Terrance Mannery. (Courtesy Terrance Mannery)


"I was surprised because I thought, like, as a community we were moving forward. When I first came out to Utah a few years ago, I went to Pride, I saw a couple signs out there but I didn't hear about anything violent going on and it just seemed like in the past few years that everyone was becoming more accepting and everyone was coming together more. So this really surprised me that we had people out there, that Saturday night, who were taking actions like that."

More:
http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/06/08/utah-pride-festival-mob-gay-men