This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A row of hand-painted prayer flags bobbed in a slow breeze Tuesday night as neighbors, friends and the aroma of barbecue filled the street where James Barker died.
"James would have loved this," his friend Kami Hardcastle said tearfully as she celebrated Barker's birthday, eight months after he was shot to death by police in his Avenues neighborhood. "Seeing the community together, all of his friends — he was the person who always tried to bring the community together."
About 50 people arrived for the "Big Love Block Party" at Second Avenue and I Street, organized by Barker's longtime girlfriend Heidi Keilbaugh to celebrate Barker's life — and, she hoped, allow neighbors to get to know one another.
Barker was shot in January during a fight with a Salt Lake City police officer who was sent to investigate him after a neighbor, who apparently did not know Barker lived nearby, reported Barker was suspicious and appeared to be prowling the neighborhood.
"Let's get out and meet each other so we don't call 911 on each other," Keilbaugh said.
Barker was knocking on doors and offering to shovel snow on Jan. 8, when a neighbor called 911. The neighbor said the offer to clear snow was suspicious because the snow had melted, at least on his side of the street, and he believed he had seen the same man looking into car windows in the neighborhood one day earlier.
That wouldn't have been out of character, said neighbor Susen Sawatzki, as she chatted with friends at the party. Sawatzki said Barker routinely circled the neighborhood, looking for odd jobs. A handyman and guitarist who was passionate about community arts and the environment, Barker had suffered brain damage from an illness in recent years, Keilbaugh has said. Sawatzki said she noticed Barker's inquisitive, almost childlike personality when she began asking him to help around her house. She recalled him peeking into her car window and asking about its condition or noticing her daughter's guitar inside.
"He was just curious. If anybody knew James, you would not say, 'Watch out for him,' you would invite him in," Sawatzki said. "His greatest desire was to be a meaningful member of the community."
Acquaintances have said Barker often could be found setting up displays at arts events, prepping for the annual Burning Man festival or working on projects like a biofuel vehicle and his solar-powered DJ stand, which friends brought out for Tuesday's party. Sawatzki said she believed Barker's frequent quests for jobs in the neighborhood was an extension of that.
Sawatzki suspects that when officer Matthew Taylor approached Barker on the porch of a nearby house and questioned his purpose in offering to shovel neighbors' snow, it may have been particularly invalidating to Barker.
What happened next was caught on Taylor's body camera: As Taylor asks Barker to identify himself and challenged him to produce a business license, Barker initially offers to leave. But as the confrontation continues, he quickly grows upset and begins screaming. Taylor's hand can be seen reaching toward Barker, who jumps back and then swings his snow shovel at Taylor, breaking the body camera.
Taylor has said Barker continued to strike him with the snow shovel, breaking bones in the officer's arm and foot before Taylor shot him. Prosecutors deemed the shooting to be legally justified, but it led to protests from community groups who demanded more training in de-escalation for police officers.
Back at Second and I, residents have mixed feelings about the shooting, but agree that it affected everyone who lives there. Keilbaugh said she has grown far closer to her neighbors in the months since Barker died. One of them suggested the block party, Keilbaugh said. She then approached another neighbor, artist Barbara McCullough, to design the invitation poster. She and McCullough had spoken only once before in several years as neighbors.
"We listened to some of James' music," McCullough said. "We had a session where we asked James to guide us, and we prayed.
"Heidi is a new great friend," she added.
At the block party, guests painted prayer flags with doves, hearts and colorful patterns and messages. In two weeks, they'll be taken to Burning Man in Nevada and hang in the temple of remembrance, Keilbaugh said. She said she also has learned that Barker's name will be etched in the festival's eponymous effigy itself.