Utah Governor Gary Herbert has thanked
a man credited with stopping an anti-gay mob.
The incident happened after Salt Lake
City's Pride festival. The mob shouted homophobic slurs as they
chased a gay couple into a downtown ice cream shop, where Terrance
Mannery was working. When Mannery tried to block the mob from
entering the store, the mob attacked him. He suffered a cut on his
face.
Detective Greg Wilking said that the
incident occurred at around 10:30 PM on Sunday, June 10. He said
that a group of between seven and 15 men approached the male couple
from an alley.
Herbert said on Twitter that he had met
Mannery and called him a local hero.
“Had the pleasure of meeting Terrance
Mannery, a local hero from the incident @utahpridefest, tonight,”
Herbert tweeted. “Thank you for coming to the defense of others,
for supporting members of the LGBTQ+ community when they were in
peril, and for making Utah a better place for everyone.”
The Utah Gay and Lesbian Chamber of
Commerce (UGLCC) is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading
to an arrest and prosecution.