By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The widow of a beloved Utah fashion designer who was fatally shot during a June “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City demanded Wednesday that someone be held accountable for her husband’s death after more than four months without any charges filed in the case.
Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, known as Afa, died June 15 when a man who was part of a volunteer peacekeeping team for the protest fired three rounds at a man who allegedly brandished a rifle at demonstrators. One round injured the rifleman, who did not fire any shots, and another struck Ah Loo, a protester who later died at the hospital.
The sign Ah Loo was holding that day read, “The world is watching,” said his wife, Laura Ah Loo.
“Afa always stood for those who needed justice the most,” Laura Ah Loo said during a Wednesday press conference. “And now I stand for him, on his behalf, for his sake and for all of us. The world is watching.”
Officers arrested but never charged Arturo Gamboa, the man with the rifle, saying at the time that he created the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death.
Police have not charged or publicly identified the safety volunteer who shot at Gamboa and fatally struck Ah Loo. But authorities have said they’re investigating whether that man was justified in firing his handgun.
Salt Lake City’s participation this month in another round of “No Kings” demonstrations — a nationwide mobilization against what participants see as a shift into authoritarianism under President Donald Trump — brought renewed attention to the open-ended case.
Thousands rallied outside the Utah State Capitol on Oct. 18 to share messages of hope and healing, and demand justice for Ah Loo and his family.
Attorneys for Laura Ah Loo said they will pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the unidentified volunteer in coming weeks.
But legal experts say criminal charges are unlikely.
Utah gun laws expert and personal injury attorney Mitch Vilos has been following the case and does not expect criminal charges against either the safety volunteer or Gamboa.
The right to self defense and the right to carry a firearm are both strong in Utah, Vilos said, and prosecutors would face a high bar in trying to prove criminal charges against either man.
“It’s like friendly fire. It can happen,” he said. “It happens with the military, it happens with police.”
Prosecutors in a criminal case must convince a jury beyond reasonable doubt that a crime occurred. But the bar in a civil lawsuit would be much lower, Vilos added, requiring simply a preponderance of evidence that a defendant was in the wrong or acted negligently.
Gamboa did not fire his rifle. It is unclear what he intended to do with it.
A lawyer for Gamboa has said he was attending the rally as a supporter and was lawfully in possession of the unloaded weapon. Gamboa was walking with it pointed at the ground before he was shot in the back by the volunteer, lawyer Greg Skordas said.
Brown reported from Denver.
