Two topless women at the University of Utah football game against Southern Utah University, Saturday, September 10, 2022. (Fan tailgating before the game)
SALT LAKE CITY — Two women who were topless at the University of Utah football game on Saturday could face charges. And if they are students, they may face punishment from the school.
A woman at the game, Melea Johnson, used Instagram to voice concern about the topless women. Johnson tells KSL NewsRadio she was behind the women in line waiting to get into Rice Eccles Stadium. She took issue because she had her kids with her.
“It looked like a very quick paint job,” she said, “just haphazardly thrown on. The paint was see-through.”
Other witnesses tell KSL NewsRadio they believed the women had pasties on.
“The women I saw were topless, had white tank tops painted on their bare chests with a red ‘U’ and had pasties,” said one Twitter user who declined to comment further. “I saw them on Guardsman Way.”
The University of Utah said the women at Rice Eccles Stadium were “topless with body paint on their torsos.” According to the University, two female police officers asked the women to put shirts on, which they did.
Johnson said she was surprised that the women got as far as they did into the stadium.
I was like ‘these girls are topless, what is going on?’ Thought they would stop them at the gate, they didn’t. I thought that security would stop them. They didn’t. The police officers didn’t stop them, and I was just appalled.”
In a statement, the school said that detectives will screen for any potential charges.
If the women are students at the University of Utah they could also face school punishment including “losing the privilege and access to future university events.”
Simone Seikaly contributed to this report.
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