Salt Lake City, USA - Members of the polygamous FLDS sect staged a mass gathering Wednesday to show a united front opposed to the dismantling of a property trust once controlled by the polygamous sect.
People of all ages gathered on the steps of the Matheson Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City Wednesday morning to speak out. It was the second such rally in nine months.
"We're opposed to the sale of our church property," said Trevor Barlow of Colorado City, Ariz. "My grandfather and great-grandfather both put land into that trust. I don't think either one of them would be happy with what is going on today."
"They knew what they were doing when they put property in the church's hands. That is where it should stay. I'm sure every person here has the same feeling," Barlow said.
Because of limited courtroom seating -- only seven public passes were available -- most of the community is excluded from this morning's hearing on the proposed sale of a historic farm that is part of the United Effort Plan Trust. Third District Judge Denise Lindberg is presiding over the trust case.
Instead, members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are gathered on the sidewalk and steps in front of the Matheson Courthouse. People are also sitting on the lawns of the historic City-County Building -- a fitting backdrop to the conservatively clad men and women in signature ankle-to-wrist dresses.
Most traveled from Arizona Strip area, but some came from surrounding states and as far away as British Columbia. Many of the youth in the crowd made their first trip to the state's capital city.
Young girls sat in chairs with sunglasses listening to their I-pods and men chatted with each other as the crowd continued to grow.
"We're here to represent our lands that are in jeopardy today," said a man outside the courthouse, who declined to give his name.
A woman holding an infant offered a similar reason.
"I came in defense of our land," she said.
The UEP Trust holds virtually all property in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. It also has holdings in British Columbia.
The case has lumbered through court since 2005, when the Utah Attorney General's Office argued its assets were jeopardized by civil lawsuits filed against the sect and accused former trustees of mismanagement.
Salt Lake City accountant Bruce R. Wisan has overseen the trust for the past four years and wants to sell the farm property to solve the trust's "liquidity" crisis. The trust has debts of about $3 million, mostly in fees owed to Wisan's firm and that of his attorneys.
Now, the trust saga is drawing support from other fundamentalist Mormons and groups, who have followed the case with growing alarm.
Heidi Foster, a member of the Davis County Cooperative Society, said Lindberg's comments about plural marriage and property rights were troubling.
"People should have a right to have a religious trust," she said. "Any time someone says polygamists don't have the right to have property that should be a concern. We should have the same fundamental rights everyone else has."
Lindberg rejected proposals crafted by the Utah Attorney General's Office and the sect aimed at settling litigation over the trust, saying the plans were not religiously neutral and violated trust law because they gave property to church that supports an illegal practice.
Mary Batchelor, a co-founder of the pro-polygamy group Principle Voices, urged other fundamentalist Mormons to support the rally, too.
In a press release, she said the group would not take a position on sale of Berry Knoll Farm; the potential buyer is a member of a separate polygamous community with historic ties to the FLDS.
But she said her group opposes any ruling that deprives polygamists of the right to organize or manage a trust, or declares trust set up by such polygamists invalid "simply because the organizers embrace plural marriage."
"By extension, substitute the name of any other group such as the Kingstons or the AUB, etc. in place of FLDS," she said in the statement. "We oppose any ruling or government action that would deprive any of those communities of their rights."