"Shame on Texas. Free the kids."

That was the chant from about 60 people outside EnergySolutions Arena Thursday evening, protesting the treatment of Fundamentalist LDS Church members by Texas officials.

On a day when Texas Child Protective Services moved another 63 FLDS children into foster-care facilities, the protesters likened the situation in Eldorado to the civil-rights abuses of the 1960s and even the Holocaust.

"It's right along those lines," said Ethan Tucker, a Salt Lake man holding a sign that asked, "Is this America?"

Protesters waved signs that overlaid swastikas on the Texas flag and accused the state of stomping out "religious freedom."

As the Utah Jazz prepared to take on the Houston Rockets in the NBA playoffs, protesters said the venue was a fitting place to raise awareness of the situation in Eldorado, and some even demanded the game be canceled in a show of solidarity.

But as fans filed into the arena, many seemed unimpressed with the message.

"Give the kids to the court," one woman shouted at the protesters.

Bob Breeze, the Salt Lake defense attorney who organized the rally, said the Texas court has trampled the rights of the FLDS members by not handling each case and allegation of abuse individually.

Breeze, who used to work juvenile cases as an attorney, said he has "seen the tyranny" of the Department of Child and Family Services. "They have the power to destroy lives."

Tucker, who said his wife came from an FLDS family, said he believes the accusations of abuse within the FLDS ranch are a ruse used to attack the religion.

"I'm a supporter of people being able to do what they think is right," Tucker said.

Bonnie Whitmill, of Salt Lake City, circulated a petition among the protesters demanding Texas return the children to their parents.

"They don't have any proof of abuse," she said. "The phone call (that led to the search warrant) was a hoax."

Another protest is being planned for Saturday evening outside EnergySolutions Arena before the Jazz game.

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E-mail: afalk@desnews.com