Christopher Smart

Reporter

Christopher Smart covers social-justice issues for The Salt Lake Tribune. He has been a journalist in and around Salt Lake City for more than 30 years. He enjoys meeting immigrants, traveling abroad and ethnic food.

(Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Savvanah raises her arms after she and other volunteers had finished sorting socks to be included in care packages for LGBT+ youth experiencing homelessness in the area, Thursday, December 14, 2017, as Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation hosted an event at the Maverick Center to assemble the gifts.
Savannah has been collecting donated blankets, toiletries, backpacks and other essential items for the care packages, and Lady GagaÕs fans will be invited to support her efforts by donating such items at her Salt Lake City concert that evening.

Lady Gaga’s foundation recognizes Utah girl who came out to her LDS congregation and a refugee organization for women

By Christopher Smart | July 11, 2019, 7:50 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Renee LaGrant works with at-risk women and girls for Journey of Hope in Salt Lake City, Thursday, May 10, 2018.

Sex trafficking survivor now helps Utah women escape the same abuse

By Christopher Smart | May 15, 2018, 2:52 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Lex Scott, founder for the civil rights organization United Front Party, leads a march to demand justice for the killing of Patrick Harmon, who was shot by police on Aug. 13 when he tried to flee after being stopped on his bicycle. Around 150 people gathered for the rally at the Salt Lake City Public Safety Building on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017, demanding Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill be fired for his "justified" ruling in the case.

Black Lives Matter’s Utah chapter has a plan to reduce police shootings

By Christopher Smart | May 14, 2018, 6:55 p.m.

(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) INN Between resident Linda Liminieux, right, gets a hug from Janet Jackson, public relations volunteer for the Inn Between, following a news conference announcing a new home for INN Between, a hospice for the homeless in Salt Lake City. The INN Between will be moving into an existing assisted living facility at 1216 E. 1300 South, where a news conference was held on Thursday, May 3, 2018.

New Salt Lake City hospice center for the homeless aims ‘to end needless deaths on the streets’

By Christopher Smart | May 4, 2018, 7:30 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Our Homes, Our Voices, a campaign to bring more attention to the affordable housing crisis across the country showcases one of the solutions being presented by small house specialist Jeff White in Sat Lake City on Wed. May 2, 2018. White has been investing his time now for several years on shipping container prototypes, including a 432 square foot experimental home he built inside a warehouse in Salt Lake that would cost about $36,000 and be easy to assemble on a lot.

Tiny, affordable homes could help dire housing shortage in Utah

By Christopher Smart | May 3, 2018, 3:32 a.m.

(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) Griselle Trujillo with her 19-month-old daughter, Luna Faith Fernandez, in Heber, Tuesday April 24, 2018. Trujillo's husband, Jose Fernandez, was killed by an acquaintance with a handgun after an evening of drinking.

Utah widow seeks a good life for young daughter after her husband was shot to death

By Christopher Smart | April 30, 2018, 1:55 p.m.

(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) Griselle Trujillo with her 19-month-old daughter Luna Faith Fernandez, holds a photograph of her husband Jose Fernandez, in Heber Tuesday April 24, 2018. He was killed by an acquaintance with a handgun after an evening of drinking.

As gun deaths continue to rise in America, social scientists wonder why so many feel the need to carry firearms

By Christopher Smart | April 30, 2018, 1:53 p.m.

(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) Katherine and Ronald Barrett Jr. talk about being homeless and the difficultly they have trying to find a place to sleep, including on the grounds of the Salt Lake City Main Library, in Salt Lake City Monday April 16, 2018.

Homeless people at Library Square say they’ve had enough of Salt Lake City’s no camping ordinance

By Christopher Smart | April 18, 2018, 1:44 a.m.

(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) Kirsti Rinne talks about her experiences after returning from South Sudan, where she was a midwife for Doctors Without Borders and ran a 24-bed maternity unit. She spoke from her home in Salt Lake City, Thursday, April 12, 2018.

Utah midwife returns from war-torn South Sudan a changed person

By Christopher Smart | April 17, 2018, 1:34 p.m.

(Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Volunteer Sala Asiata of the Utah Food Bank helps pack food boxes in the parking lot of the LDS Church at 1860 S. 300 E. in Salt Lake City Friday April 13. It's one of 18 locations the bank operates to get food out to the food insecure. An army of volunteers make the distrbution system work. Walmart, Feeding America and Utah Food Bank are teaming up during the month of April to fight hunger through an online and in-store donation campaign.

Hunger is invisible, but the Utah Food Bank knows it’s all around us

By Christopher Smart | April 14, 2018, 12:34 a.m.