Boy Scout Leaders Express Regret Over Vandalizing Goblin Valley State Park

A pair of Boy Scout leaders are facing death threats and possible legal repercussions for deliberately toppling a 200-million-year-old rock formation at Goblin Valley State Park in Utah.

In a Facebook video that has since gone viral, two men and a teenager are shown gathered around one of the park's hoodoos. The mushroom-shaped rocks, colloquially referred to as "goblins," were formed after eons of erosion; their distinctive shape is a result of the erosion-resistant top rock holding out over softer sandstone beneath.

In the video, the filmmakers said they believed the hoodoo was close to toppling over and that it could easily kill anyone who happened to be in its path when it fell, an event they claim was going to happen in a matter of hours. They appeared to consider their actions a good deed, and when the rock toppled they celebrated it as a victory, with Hall jubilantly singing the lyrics to 2 In A Room's 1990 hit "Wiggle It."

The Salt Lake City Tribune named Glenn Taylor as the person pushing the rock over, while the cameraman is reported to be Dave Hall, both of whom are scout leaders for the Varsity Scout team sponsored by that Latter Day Saint's church ward in Highland, Utah.

The third person in the video is reportedly Taylor's son.

"Some little kid was about ready to walk down here and die and Glenn saved his life by getting the boulder out of the way," Hall said to the camera as he filmed the event. "So it's all about saving lives here at Goblin Valley."

But officials don't view the act as a service to anyone.

Goblin Valley State Park, in a remote region in central Utah, is home to thousands of hoodoos, all of which have stood in place, slowly eroding since the Jurassic period.

Eugene Swalberg, a spokesman for Utah State Parks, told the Tribune the men would face consequences and that a criminal investigation is underway.

"This is highly, highly inappropriate," he said. "This is not what you do at state parks. It's disturbing and upsetting."

After the video spread around the world and event was picked up by international media, Hall was quick to react.

"I think we made the right decision, but probably the wrong method," Hall said Friday, a day after the video went viral. Hall said he has received more than 100 death threats online, the Tribune reported. "We take full responsibility for whatever mistake we made, and we're open to whatever that means from the state, from the Boy Scouts' office, etc.," Hall said, adding that he hopes the incident will serve as a teaching experience, "not only for ourselves but also other scoutmasters and for the Boy Scouts themselves."