Widow of man shot and killed during Salt Lake protest wants accountability for his death

Police rush to respond to a shooting during a “No Kings” protest and march in Salt Lake City on June 14. The widow of a man shot and killed during the protest is calling on Salt Lake City to hold accountable those responsible for her husband’s death. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News SALT LAKE CITY — It’s been over four months since Laura Ah Loo’s husband was shot and killed while peacefully participating in the “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City. As of Wednesday, no criminal charges have been filed against anyone in connection with the death of 39-year-old Arthur Folasa “Afa” Ah Loo. “Staying silent would be easier, but silence won’t bring him back. And silence won’t protect the next event from a similar incident, or the next family from getting the kind of call that shattered my world and my kids’ world. Everyone thinks a shooting won’t affect them directly until it does,” Laura Ah Loo said. On Wednesday, Ah Loo joined attorney Jim McConkie and members of his team, including attorney Brian Stewart and retired federal prosecutor Richard Lambert, who called on Salt Lake City to hold accountable those responsible for Ah Loo’s death. “We are here not only to mourn Afa’s loss, but to hold to account each party whose failures contributed to that loss. It is our duty — and now our mission — to ensure this tragedy is understood fully, so it will never be repeated,” Stewart said. Laura Ah Loo and her attorneys are calling for an independent investigation as well as reform in how protests in Salt Lake City — “especially around volatile political issues — are permitted, staffed, policed and overseen.” McConkie said he anticipates filing a wrongful death lawsuit in the next few weeks against the alleged “peacekeeper” who shot and killed Afa Ah Loo, and possibly others as information is collected. RELATED | Tears and laughter: Community celebrates colorful life of Utah designer killed at No Kings rally Laura Ah Lo speaks Wene, Oct. 29, 2025, about the shooting death of her husband, Arthur Folasa “Afa” Ah Loo, during a “No Kings” protest in June in Salt Lake City. Her attorney, Jim McConkie, looks on. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News “My husband Afa’s death was the result of individual, organizational and systemic failures. My intention with this lawsuit is to put my words to action, to create impact for accountability, where responsibility was absent and where negligence cost my husband his life. We all deserve to be protected by responsible policies, organizations, and safeguards that prevent senseless and avoidable violence in public spaces,” Laura Ah Loo said. Although police have not named the man who shot Laura Ah Loo’s husband, her attorneys on Wednesday said Matt Alder was the one who fired the shots. “I’ve never known a situation of this magnitude of public concern and public impact where a public person who signed on to be a player in providing security in a public event after firing a fatal shot into a crowd while trying too kill another person, that that person’s identity has somehow not been revealed or made public,” Lambert said. “Doesn’t the public have a right to know what went wrong back in June … and what steps have been taken … to insure such a thing will never happen again? “And this is not a ‘whodunit.’ We know who did it. We know who fired the fatal shot that took Afa’s life. It was Matt Alder.” RELATED | Utah ‘No Kings’ protest: What we know about the fatal shooting On June 14, police say Arturo Gamboa, 24, was carrying a rifle during the large No Kings protest in downtown Salt Lake City as an estimated 10,000 people marched on State Street. Two men who police say described themselves as part of a “peacekeeping” group for the rally spotted Gamboa near 151 S. State. One of the men says he watched Gamboa move away from the main crowd to a secluded area behind a wall. Although Gamboa never fired a shot — and his attorney says his rifle was not loaded — one of the so-called peacekeepers fired three rounds into the crowd. Gamboa was hit and injured. But Afa Ah Loo, an innocent bystander, was killed. Although Gamboa was initially arrested for investigation of murder, he was released after the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office determined there was not enough evidence at that time to charge him. The shooter and peacekeeper was not arrested. As of Wednesday, no formal charges have been filed in the case. Arturo Gamboa is taken away in handcuffs on a gurney. He was shot during the “No Kings” protest and march in Salt Lake City on June 14. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News “The shooter was either justified in firing his gun multiple times or he was not. The weight of the evidence of which we are aware supports the conclusion that the self-styled peacekeeper was not justified in firing his gun at Arturo Gamboa, who, I repeat, possessed an unloaded rifle which he kept pointed toward the ground,” Lambert said. “We believe a reasonable person familiar with Utah law would not have fired those shots.” The former federal prosecutor further added, “Prosecutors know very well that the peacekeeper, Mr. Alder, was trying to kill Arturo Gamboa, a different rally attendant who was lawfully carrying a rifle.” RELATED | ‘Safety volunteer’ who fired shots during ‘No Kings’ protest is a military veteran, Utah organizers say Lambert says Laura Ah Loo and her family would also like more communication from the district attorney’s office, while McConkie added it is “somewhat incredible” that four months have passed and she has had no official word on the status of the case. “The prosecution has a duty to move these cases along,” McConkie said. “(The family) a right to know the state is seeking justice and doing the right thing,” “They have surely been puzzled why the man who fired three shots endangering the crowd and killing Afa still has not been named, as if he is a victim,” Lambert added. McConkie says his team is seeking three things: cooperation from Salt Lake City officials on the release of documents; “appropriate charges” filed; and to find out what happened and what went wrong so that appropriate changes are made for future protests. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill released a statement following the press conference with Ah Loo, stating, “We sympathize with the pain and loss suffered by the Ah Loo family. We met with them early in the process and explained that this review would take time. We have been open and available to any reach in from their counsel from our first meeting and continue to be. We are carefully working through a complex and nuanced legal analysis. We expect to reach a decision soon.” Stewart says organizers of the protest were warned that having armed peacekeepers at the protest would be a bad idea as the volunteers “lacked clear authority, training, or structure consistent with how policing and crowd control should operate.” He added that he and his colleagues are not simply trying to criticize what happened, but also to learn from it. “No single failure alone caused Afa’s death. This tragedy occurred at the intersection of a series of flawed decisions, inadequate protocols, poor communication, and negligent acts — each of which must be scrutinized,” Stewart said Wednesday. “We call for openness and assistance from city and state officials, law enforcement, protest organizers, participants and witnesses. We ask for your cooperation in this effort to ensure that Afa’s death will not be in vain — but rather a catalyst for positive change.” Laura Ah Loo applauds a performance at the celebration of life for her husband Afa Ah Loo, who was shot and killed as an innocent bystander during a No Kings protest, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on June 27. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Laura Ah Loo says her husband was passionate about activism. “He believed in justice, compassion, and the power of people coming together to effect change for good,” she said. “To Afa, talk was cheap and came across as hollow unless you were actually willing to do something about it and be about it. He went about doing, serving, and putting his ideas and words to action. Thoughts and prayers and hoping things will change can only go so far unless accompanied by actual meaningful action.” Now, she says, “the world is watching.” “Let me be very clear: This is not a debate over rights. The very fact that my husband was at a protest is a protected First Amendment right and is something people should be able to do without having to fear for their lives while doing so in a public space. This is about responsibility and a call to real action. We need to not only disagree better, but also to deliver better.”The post Widow of man shot and killed during Salt Lake protest wants accountability for his death appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com