SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – The widow of a beloved Utah fashion designer who was fatally shot during a “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City in June demanded that someone be held accountable for her husband’s death more than four months after no charges have been filed.
Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, known as Afa, died on June 15 when a volunteer peacekeeper at the protest fired three rounds at a man who allegedly fired a rifle at demonstrators. One bullet wounded the gunman, who did not fire a single shot, while another hit protester Ah Loo, who later died in hospital.
The sign Ah Loo was holding that day read, “The world is watching,” said his wife, Laura Ah Loo.
“Afa has always stood up for those who need justice the most,” Laura Ah Loo said at a press conference on Wednesday. “And now I stand for him, on his behalf, for his sake and for all of us. The world is watching.”
Authorities arrested but never charged Arturo Gamboa, the man with the rifle, saying at the time he created the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death.
Police have not filed charges or publicly identified the security guard who shot Gamboa and fatally struck Ah Loo. But officials said they were investigating whether the man was justified in firing a 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 toward authoritarianism under President Donald Trump, has drawn renewed attention to the unfinished business.
Thousands of people on October 18. gathered outside the Utah state capitol to share a message of hope and healing and demand justice for Ah Loo and his family.
Lawyers for Laura Ah Loo said they will file a wrongful-death lawsuit against an unidentified volunteer in the coming weeks. They also said the volunteer should be charged and called for more transparency from authorities.
“This is not a fool,” said Richard Lambert, the lawyer for Ah Loo’s wife. “We know who did it. We know who fired the fatal shot that took Afa’s life.”
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Wednesday that he sympathizes with Ah Loo’s family and said criminal charges are still a possibility. His office met with the family early in the process and explained that the investigation would take time, Gill said.
“We carefully conduct a complex and nuanced legal analysis,” Gill said. “We hope to make a decision soon.”
But legal experts say criminal charges are unlikely.
Utah gun law expert and personal injury attorney Mitch Vilos has been following the case and does not expect criminal charges against either the security volunteer or Gamboa.
The right to self-defense and the right to bear a firearm are strong in Utah, Vilos said, and prosecutors will face a high bar in trying to prove a criminal charge against either man.
“It’s like friendly fire. It can happen,” he said. “It happens with the military, it happens with the police.”
Prosecutors in a criminal case must convince jurors beyond doubt that a crime occurred. But the bar would be much lower in a civil suit, Vilos added, requiring simply a preponderance of evidence that the defendant was at fault or negligent.
Gamboa did not fire his gun. It is unclear what he intended to do with it.
Gamboa’s lawyer said he attended the rally as a supporter and was legally in possession of an unloaded gun. Gamboa was walking with him facing the ground before the volunteer shot him in the back, attorney Greg Skord said.
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Brown reported from Denver.