4w ago

Protester shot and killed at ‘No Kings’ rally in Utah, police say

Protester shot and killed at 'No Kings' rally in Utah, police say

A man who was believed to be part of a peacekeeping team for the “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City shot at a person who was brandishing a rifle at demonstrators, striking both the rifleman and a bystander who later died at the hospital, authorities said Sunday.

Police took the alleged rifleman, Arturo Gamboa, 24, into custody Saturday evening on a murder charge, Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said at a Sunday news conference. The bystander was Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, a fashion designer from Samoa.

Detectives don’t yet know why Gamboa pulled out a rifle or ran from the peacekeepers, but they accused him of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death. The Associated Press did not immediately find an attorney listed for Gamboa or contact information for his family in public records.

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4w ago

Protester shot and killed at 'No Kings' rally in Utah, police say

apnews.com /article/utah-no-kings-protest-shot-killed-75c777eeedd59c80c85695c45385c507

87 comments

What I'm reading is that the guy with a rifle, Gamboa, has attended protests armed before. It looks like the peacekeeper thought he was a shooter, but there's no evidence so far Gamboa did anything illegal.
- That is what I'm thinking. At first I went along with the speculation that Gamboa was intending to shoot into the crowd. But after reviewing the video, it looks more like he was just walking and open carrying with the rifle pointed down. It might not have been the best move in hindsight, but he had the legal right to do so.
  Also after listening to his Slugmag interview I'm just not seeing the motivation for a mass shooting. Unless maybe he intended to shoot cops or something. He just doesn't seem to fit the profile & ideology of a mass shooter.
  Edit: the interview if anyone is curious https://www.slugmag.com/soundwaves/episode-364-rade/
  
  Which video are you talking about? Please provide a link.
  EDIT: I think this is it. The short snippet shows the barrel pointed down. Having a masked gunman in a crowd of people is terrifying af!
  https://imgur.com/a/z3J25EB
  
  Helpful link, thank you
  
  Dressed in all black with a mask and a gun walking briskly toward a crowd...
- It looks like the peacekeeper thought he was a shooter
  As he should.
  Brandish a firearm in public, you are attempting to intimidate others, so you'll get treated like the terrorist you are.
  
  Brandish a firearm in public
  Be real careful applying the term "brandish".
  Utah is a constitutional carry state, meaning anyone 21+ who can legally own a firearm can carry it concealed or openly without a permit.
  In my state, Minnesota, you have to take a class and qualify to carry a firearm and during the state approved training your told to follow these steps:
  No force - avoidance, retreat or de-escalating
  No force - Telephone for help, Verbal warning
  Unarmed self defense
  Less than lethal - exposing firearm
  Deadly force - pointing the firearm at another person, shooting at someone, shooting and killing someone
  
  Isn't this what the NRA wants? Sounds like a good guy with a gun stopped a potential mass shooting.
  
  That's not the law, or reality in America. It's a regular occurrence at certain protests for people to open carry weapons. Not saying I would do it, but it's not sufficient cause to shoot someone.
- Yeah in another thread there's an interview of the rifleman from his time in a punk band talking about the system. This is likely going to be a shit show when the partisan pundits pick it up
- Yea what I read was that he was "pointing a rifle at protesters".
  Don't aim a gun at a person if you are not ready to fight and die.
  I would argue this is not only self defence, but public defence.
  Edit: looks like its not completely clear if he was brandishing the rifle or just open carying, obviously my argument doesn't technically hold water if he was just open carrying.
  I would also argue that open carying a weapon well know for use in mass shootings right next to a large crowd is probably a dumb idea even if it's legal to do.
- Exactly. The peacekeeper who shot into the crowd should be charged instead.
  
  I dunno about that. The peacekeeper saw the dude go retrieve a rifle, confronted him, and he ran aiming the rifle at the crowd.
  I suppose your argument is that the guy hadn't actually pulled the trigger when the peacekeeper acted? That seems insane to me.
  The shooter and another person in a neon vest allegedly saw Gamboa separate from the crowd of marchers in downtown Salt Lake City, move behind a wall and withdraw a rifle around 8 p.m., Redd said.
  When the two men in vests confronted Gamboa with their handguns drawn, witnesses said Gamboa raised his rifle into a firing position and ran toward the crowd, said Redd.
Oh look. A conservative traitor instigated the violence.
I am many shades of unsurprised.
Domestic terrorists folks. Every last one. Because they've all chosen to support it despite knowing. Time to start treating them like the terrorists they are.
- It's being reported that Arturo is an activist who regularly open-carries in support at protests. Meanwhile you're making confidently incorrect claims that he is a conservative traitor and terrorist. Stay classy.
  
  Fox news? Lmao
- You mean the thugs hired by 50501?
  I know Arturo, and if you did any sort of due diligence, you’d know he’s a hardcore leftist.
  If you think Arturo was a ‘conservative traitor’, I think you have more problems with simply accepting what our right wing media apparatus chooses to push.
Maybe guns are bad, and maybe if you bring a rifle to a high tense situation and hold it in any manner that may seem threatening, you deserve to get shot. Super sad that an innocent died. Had the "good guy" with a gun hit the target only, then at least there would only be one less moron carrying an AR-15 today, not a sad casualty.
- Yup. If you brandish a firearm in public, you are clearly trying to intimidate others. You deserve to be shot down.
  
  Does this apply to the people that open carry AR-15s when they go to McDonalds?
  
  I can't tell if there's a /s missing there or not, but if there is, this person allegedly pointed the gun into a crowd and advanced showing intent. I would also agree that even in jest, if you brandish, you are signalling intent and immediately forfeit your right to life.
- Maybe guns are bad, and maybe if you bring a rifle to a high tense situation and hold it in any manner that may seem threatening, you deserve to get shot.>
  Maybe guns are tools, and maybe if the majority of protesters were visibly armed then the police would not escalate tense situations to high intensity riot conditions and beat the protesters. Had the state had to hesitate to use violence on peaceful protesters, at least there would be a bunch less abuse of the media and civilians.
  The Black Panthers proved this, which is why Reagan started gun control. Modern open carry armed protests have also proven it's still true. Cops are cowards, Uvalde proved that, even with superior equipment they will find a reason not to start. Getting the left to disarm and put their protection into the hands of the very governmental authority they continually protest against has got to be the biggest con job in history
Welcome to a country where "protest peacekeepers" carry guns, and can shoot into the crowd and put the blame on someone else whi just happened to be armed as well.
Do you, American brothers, realize the sheer level of insanity you live in?
I assume the national guard and marines will roam the syreets of SLC now.
The comments are too fucking confusing. Who shot who?
- I think it was like this: A was protesting, B takes out a rifle and aims at protesters. Police (or whatever the 'peacekeeping team' consists of) start shooting at B but they missed aim training on thursday so they kill A instead.
  
  Not correct. Person C is the volunteer who is part of 50501 or whatever local organizers put this part of the protest together. B takes out a rifle and runs towards A. Person C shoots person B because Holy Shit What Is B Doing, and hits B but accidentally hits A as well.
Really? Come on man…
~~so gamboa pulled out a gun, aimed it at protesters,~~ Gamboa was protesting while legally open carrying his rifle at the protest, in support of the protesters, and got shot. the person who shot him also shot a bystander. gamboa is being charged with murder, because of the weird federal murder laws in america.~~ i've read that gamboa is a leftist, so why did he brandish his rifle at the protesters?~~
- I’ve protested standing directly next to the man and his guns multiple times, the official story here is a bunch of horseshit. Only one person committed gun violence and it wasn’t the well known gun rights and safety advocate.
- weird situation indeed
  
  apparently, the guy wasn't brandishing his weapon, he was open carrying in support of the protesters, in case the police got violent. the "peacekeeper" (I'm guessing it's a right winger), saw him with his weapon and shot into a crowd of people and killed a protester.
As always, ACAB.
- Why bring up ACAB in this situation? The police were not involved in either side of the shooting. Per the article’s description the rifleman pulled out a rifle and appeared to be readying to fire before a protest peacekeeper (not police) shot and injured him using a handgun. Unfortunately in the cross fire one protester was killed by the peacekeeper but it looks like this prevented a potential mass shooting event.
- Doesn’t actually look like the cops were involved in the situation at all.
- You posted this and even you didn't read the article?
  
  2025 in a nutshell.
  
  I based my comment on the following: the peacekeepers weren't supposed to be carrying weapons, yet one who did AND shot into a crowd - killing an innocent bystander - isn't charged. But they do charge another guy who had a weapon but never fired a shot.
  So again, as always, ACAB.
  Maybe next time, instead of assuming, you could just ask.
- Sounds like the cops are in the right here...
  Gamboa was the idiot who pulled his rifle on a crowd of peaceful protestors.
  The protestors, being smart, had peacekeepers who were defensively carrying.
  One of the peacekeepers shot at Gamboa, and ended up hitting Ah Loo, who was (apparently) an innocent bystander.
  Gamboa broke the cardinal rule of carrying a gun: don't point it at anything that you aren't planning to kill. Defensive peacekeeper took the appropriate action in disarming a very valid threat (especially considering the actions that MAGAts had been taking on protestors lately). Cops arrested Gamboa.
  I've got sympathy for Ah Loo (and the peacekeeper that shot him)...but that death is on Gamboa. That's felony homicide right there. FAFO, Gamboa.
- Lol. You are one dumb loser.

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