Gov. Spencer Cox said Tuesday that he supports President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops to quell protests in Southern California and warned that anyone in Utah who instigates violence will be held accountable.
“I want Utah to be the best place in the United States to protest,” Cox said during a news conference. “I also want Utah to be the worst possible place to riot. The minute you start to spray-paint the Capitol, the second you implement violence or property destruction, we will arrest you and hold you accountable and break up the disturbance that is happening.”
Anyone who has those intentions, he said, should “go to California.”
Cox’s sentiments echo comments from Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall earlier in the day.
Speaking at a ceremonial Juneteenth flag-raising ceremony at City Hall, she said that peaceful protests and expressions of free speech were welcome in Utah’s capital, but “violence and destruction will not be tolerated to any extent in Salt Lake City.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mayor Erin Mendenhall speaks at a celebration of Juneteenth National Independence Day at City Hall in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. She says police will be prepared for this week's protests.
The mayor said she was confident in her review of the city Police Department’s latest plans for keeping any upcoming demonstrations civil and reiterated the comments of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass: “Don’t take the bait of the Trump administration. Protest peacefully.”
Cox glad Trump took action
Cox said he believes Trump has the constitutional right to deploy the National Guard and Marines in response to some of the rioting that was sparked this week by a series of immigration sweeps in California.
“Whether it’s wise or not, when things get out of control, somebody has to stop it,” the Republican governor said, “so I’m grateful that we have a president who’s willing to act to help stop that.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has said that Trump overstepped his authority by deploying more than 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines without a request from the governor or without consulting with him.
(Philip Cheung | The New York Times) Los Angeles Police Department officers confront demonstrators during a protest against ICE raids in downtown Los Angeles, June 9, 2025. Experts who study protest movements say the scenes unfolding in California broadly follow a script that has played out many times in other countries — sometimes with deadly consequences.
It was the first time in 60 years that a president has deployed the Guard without a request from a governor.
Newsom said Trump’s response fulfilled “the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial president” and that the presence of the troops has instigated more violence and endangered lives. The state is suing the administration, asking courts to order Trump to withdraw the soldiers.
On Saturday in Salt Lake City, “No Kings” protests are scheduled at the University of Utah and Pioneer Park. Similar rallies are planned around the state.
In response to the unrest in California and in anticipation of the upcoming planned protests, the Utah Department of Public Safety has elevated its emergency operations from Level 5 to Level 4, which allows for more monitoring as events unfold, according to a spokesperson for the department.
“We are going to be overprepared,” Cox said, “and just a word of warning to anybody who is thinking about any type of violence or chaos or property damage or vandalism: It will not happen here, and you will be held accountable.”
The governor said he has not been contacted by the Trump administration about sending Utah National Guard troops to California, but the state has coordinated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help with transporting undocumented immigrants to the nearest ICE detention facility in Las Vegas.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Gov. Spencer Cox speaks during his monthly news conference in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
When the Utah Guard was used
Utahns have seen the state’s National Guard troops out in force many times over the decades — always on the orders of whoever was governor at the time.
Utah National Guard forces aided law enforcement during flooding in Salt Lake City in 1983, helped provide security during the 2002 Winter Olympics, assisted public health efforts in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and helped enforce a curfew after 2020 demonstrations downtown turned violent in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minnesota.
Guard forces from Utah also have gone to war several times, according to the Guard’s own history: Defending the Mexico border in 1916, protecting the California coast after Pearl Harbor, taking part in the invasion of the Marshall Islands in 1944, operating cannons in Oahu during World War II and Korea during the Korean War, flying refueling missions over Vietnam, and bolstering military forces in the first Gulf War and the Iraqi invasion after the 9/11 terror attacks.
— Tribune editor Sean P. Means contributed to this story.
