A Utah woman who was slammed to the ground by a sheriff's deputy after protesting a data center at a public meeting has denied injuring the official during the scuffle.
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who → slam → scuffle
Aspen Azalea was one of many concerned locals who attended the Utah County Commission meeting on Tuesday evening in Provo when things quickly turned ugly.
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things → attend → Provo
Azalea, from Salt Lake County, joined other protesters rallying against plans for a data center ordinance that would result in regulation being added to the county's zoning code for the controversial facility, she told Fox 13.
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she → join → facility
But after a vote was passed to move the ordinance forward without public comment, the crowd grew visibly frustrated and emotional.
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crowd → pass → comment
'I yelled "moratorium" three times.
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I → yell → moratorium
Everyone was yelling.
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Everyone → yell → ?
But they singled out me and my friend because I was sitting next to my friend who stood up,' Azalea recalled.
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Azalea → single → friend
After she did so, Azalea was escorted out and slammed so hard on the ground that she thought her teeth had flown out of her mouth, dramatic footage shared by UT vs Tech Billionaires showed.
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footage → do → Billionaires
The sheriff's office claims that she struck the Utah County Sheriff's Deputy Phillip Crawford in the groin, but Azalea insists that never happened, and she was the one who was left injured from the incident.
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who → claim → incident
'No, I never kicked him.
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I → kick → him
I absolutely didn't kick him,' she told the outlet.
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she → kick → outlet
Aspen Azalea was thrown to the ground by a sheriff's deputy on Tuesday after a Utah County Commission meeting in Provo, Utah
Dramatic footage captured the moment Azalea was slammed so hard on the ground that she thought her teeth had flown out of her mouth
The now-viral clip showed Crawford turn the corner into the lobby as he slammed Azalea to the ground.
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he → throw → ground
As he did so, Crawford kept one hand on the back of her neck and the other on her hand, the video showed.
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video → do → hand
Several bystanders screamed in terror while others, including a woman with long curly hair and a skirt, recorded the moment and screamed: 'Hey! Do not restrain her!'
The video then panned over another person who was face down on the ground as another deputy detained them.
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deputy → scream → them
At the same time, Azalea was heard telling the deputy: 'I'm not doing anything.
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I → hear → anything
You just threw me to the ground!
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You → throw → ground
You literally threw me to the ground, my jaw hurts!
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jaw → throw → ground
'You literally threw my face to the f***ing ground,' she added.
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she → throw → ground
Crawford and another male deputy then escorted a handcuffed Azalea out as the clip ended.
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clip → escort → Azalea
Azalea further detailed the injuries she sustained in the commotion.
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she → detail → commotion
'When he turned the corner, he pushed some momentum into me and threw me to the ground, and at that point, he also had control of my hands.
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he → turn → hands
So the sound you hear in the video - that's my chin,' she said, adding that she thinks it could have ended worse.
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it → hear → video
The clip also caught another protester being detained by a sheriff's deputy
'
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protester → catch → deputy
What really scares me about that situation is that he could have killed me because there was a bench.
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he → scar → me
If he threw me into that bench, I don't think I'd be here today,' the protester told the local outlet.
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protester → throw → outlet
She is now facing charges for assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and disrupting a meeting, which are all misdemeanors.
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which → face → meeting
But Azalea believes that Crawford should face consequences too.
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Crawford → believe → consequences
'Bare minimum, Phil Crawford needs to be fired, bare minimum.
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Crawford → need → ?
He did throw me to the ground,' she said.
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she → throw → ground
Since the altercation, a Change.org petition has been launched that demands that Crawford's 'excessive force' is investigated.
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force → launch → altercation
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 430 people signed the online petition.
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people → sign → petition
Others who are in support of Azalea also descended on the Utah state capitol on Wednesday, calling for the charges against Azalea to be dropped.
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charges → descend → Azalea
She is now facing charges for assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and disrupting a meeting, which are all misdemeanors.
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which → face → meeting
But Azalea believes that Crawford should face consequences too
'If we had a word in, I do not think it would have escalated that way,' a demonstrator told ABC4, referring to public comment at the meeting happening after a decision was made about the data center ordinance.
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decision → believe → ordinance
Meanwhile, the Utah County Sheriff's Office released a statement online condemning the chaos that night.
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Office → release → chaos
'The event at last night's Planning Commission meeting serve as an important reminder that protecting the right to speak does not mean abandoning the responsibility to maintain order,' the agency wrote.
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agency → serve → order
'Violence against law enforcement officers is unacceptable, and our deputies deserve to perform their duties without being subjected to physical assault.
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deputies → deserve → assault
The circumstances will be addressed through the appropriate legal process.'
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circumstances → address → process
The Daily Mail contacted Azalea and the Utah County Sheriff's Office for comment.
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Mail → contact → comment
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