SALT LAKE CITY — Utah authorities are mulling whether to press charges against a Boy Scouts leader who purposely knocked over an ancient Utah desert rock formation and the two men who cheered him on because they posted video of the incident online.
Two of the men, who were leading a group of 14- to 16-year-old Boy Scouts on a trip, said the top of the rock formation was loose and they feared it was dangerous.
“This is about saving lives,” said Dave Hall, who shot the video. “One rock at a time.”
The rock formation in Goblin Valley State Park is about 170 million years old, Utah State Parks spokesman Eugene Swalberg said. The central Utah park is dotted with thousands of the mushroom shaped sandstone formations.
In a video posted on Facebook, Glenn Taylor of Highland, Utah, can be seen on Oct. 11 wedging himself between one formation and a boulder to knock a large rock off the formation's top. Taylor and his two companions then can be seen cheering, high-fiving and dancing.
“This is highly, highly inappropriate,” Swalberg told the Salt Lake Tribune. “This is not what you do at state parks. It's disturbing and upsetting.”
Boy Scouts of America spokesman Deron Smith confirmed the men are members of the organization, saying in a statement that the organization is “shocked and disappointed by this reprehensible behavior.”
