Gill and idiocy | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

"It leaves one wondering how to even respond to that. It's really too bad that when you do your job we have to reduce conversations to personalized hate or political rhetoric." This was Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill's response to accusations that he is a "cop hater" made by Salt Lake County Republican Chairman Chad Bennion, upon Gill's ruling that two West Valley City police officers, detectives Shaun Cowley and Kevin Salmon, were unjustified in killing Danielle Willard.

Bennion also brought race and ethnicity into the fray, claiming that Gill's Indian heritage "tainted his handling of use of force issues." Attorney Bret Rawson, who represents both Salmon and the Fraternal Order of Police, stated that Salt Lake County needs a DA "who has an understanding of force science principles." Say what? Are you kidding me? Are Bennion and Rawson making deliberate attempts to be idiots?

Gill was proud and humble in both the investigation of the shooting itself and of the defamatory accusations made concerning his heritage and competence on the job. Sim Gill is a class act.

Robert T. (Bob) Smith

Salt Lake City