Before There was George Floyd, There was Alvin Itula

   Before there was George Floyd, there was Alvin Itula. In Utah.
  Place the stories side-by-side, and go ahead and marvel a little at how the stories mirror each other.
   Four officers were involved in both arrests
   In both, an officer placed a foot on the victim's neck.
   In both, the victim pleaded repeatedly that he couldn't breathe.
   In both, the victim then quit moving and was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.
   Somewhere in heaven, perhaps, George Floyd and this Utah man, Alvin Itula, are comparing notes.
    We can say it couldn't happen in Utah, but it did. We can say Utah officers are trained better than this, but they weren't.
    Floyd's killing is fresh on the nation's mind, and the nation is roiling in outrage and protest. Itula's? Long forgotten and didn't make much of a ripple. Way back in 2006. If there were any public protesting, it is not to be found on an Internet search.
    Tell me, though, would this not be a moment to pay tribute to Alvin Itula? To remember him? To allow him to be added him to the cause for outrage? Often, as we read the signs of protesters here at the Salt Lake City protests, the names of racial victims of police brutality are listed. "Say my name," the signs say, and they list name-after-name without mentioning Alvin Itula, one of Utah's own.
   Justice for George Floyd? I say, let's also have justice for Alvin Itula. Let's demand that police agencies in Utah be cleared of any officers who would use excessive force on people of color or anyone.