Grand County has filed formal charges against Moab man Christian Langdon Wright, who was arrested on Feb. 17 after a police investigation into anti-UTV stickers uncovered threats of violence.
The investigation began last year after numerous anti-tourist and anti-UTV stickers began appearing on signs around Moab. After multiple eyewitnesses identified Wright as a person putting the stickers up, police searched his home and found thousands of stickers and “five assault rifles, two shotguns and two hunting type rifles, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition,” according to a City of Moab press release. Police also found THC gummies and Psilocybin mushrooms in the home.
Charges filed on Feb. 27 include felony production/dispensing/manufacture of a controlled substance; four counts of misdemeanor possession or use of a controlled substance/drug paraphernalia; felony criminal mischief; and seven counts of purchase/transfer/possession of a firearm by a restricted person.
The following day, charges of criminal solicitation, misdemeanor threat of violence, and felony threat of terrorism were also filed against Wright.
The charge of felony solicitation is based, according to police documents, on reports from multiple parties that Wright asked them to join him in various causes or ‘movements’ but alarmed them when making threats and plans of violence. In 2022, then-Grand County Attorney Christina Sloan and two of Wright’s friends separately reported being alarmed by the violent nature of Wright’s language, which included threats of murder and plans to destroy a UTV business near his home.
In police documentation of Wright’s arrest, one friend was quoted as contacting authorities after becoming “aware that Christian’s mental health has deteriorated and she now has very real concerns that Christian is going to hurt someone.”
After his arrest, police questioned Wright about his correspondence with Sloan, which included a threat to murder local UTV business owners. Wright stated he “may or may not” have been drunk when he sent the messages.
Wright is a published labor historian, conservation activist, and river guide who became outspoken over UTV noise in recent years, including writing letters to the editor published in these pages and attending local government meetings.
The legal filing also discloses that Wright was interviewed by the FBI in 2018 after he made reference on Facebook to “shooting up” the National Rifle Association convention, the Republican Party, and Congress.
A charge is merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
