SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Matt Aune and Derek Jones claim they were assaulted by security guards outside the Salt Lake City Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Their disgust with us was clear,” says Aune.
"We were actually side-by-side and Matt stepped in, gave me a hug and kissed me on the face," says Jones. Both men say it happened Thursday night when they were walking downtown and cut through church property near Main Street. They say they were assaulted when LDS Church security told them to leave, but they refused and asked why.
“The next thing we know, I'm being forced onto the ground on my stomach, my face is on the pavement, they handcuffed me and they grab Matt and try to get him into handcuffs," says Jones. "This is from handcuffs? Uh huh, yes,” says Aune. “And some marks here on this arm as well. But they weren't the police so they had no business restraining us."
A spokesperson for the LDS Church issued a statement to ABC 4. "Two individuals came on Church property and were politely asked to stop engaging in inappropriate behavior – just as any other couple would have been. They became argumentative and used profanity and refused to leave the property. They were arrested and then given a citation for criminal trespass by SLPD."
Both men say they're aware the Church owns the property that was once public. But since 2003, the Church has the authority to ask anyone to leave for any reason.
"We weren't doing anything lewd, just anything any other couple would do, which I have seen on that easement before," says Jones.
An ABC 4 camera captured other couples holding hands and even one sharing a brief kiss near the property that Aune and Jones say they’re now banned from for six months. “It was ridiculous, we were walking home. We weren't hanging out, not loitering. We weren't even admiring the sites, we were just going home," says Jones.
Both were released from custody by Salt Lake City Police who were called to the scene. They were each cited with a Class C misdemeanor which is the lowest possible charge. A police spokesperson says it is punishable with a fine.
