First responders tend to a man injured in a shooting at the “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
After Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said state public safety officials had told Utah 50501 “No Kings” organizers that having “peacekeepers” during the protest was a “bad idea,” the organizers are contesting the governor’s comments.
“It appears Governor Cox has been grossly misinformed about an alleged conversation between the Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Utah50501,” the organizers said in a statement issued Thursday night to Utah News Dispatch through their attorney Mary Corporon.
“The organizers of Utah50501 are not aware of anyone having such a conversation with DPS in which they were ‘warned’ against having a volunteer safety team at events,” the statement added. “At no time did Utah50501 request or require any safety and de-escalation volunteers to carry weapons. No organizers in Utah50501 ever said to DPS, ‘we think it’s a good idea’ for our safety volunteers to carry weapons, and any claim to the contrary is false.”
The statement, however went on to say that “Utah50501 spoke with the Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) regarding protests at the Utah State Capitol when we asked whether people carrying weapons could be asked to leave the protest.”
The Utah Highway Patrol is a division of the Utah Department of Public Safety.
“UHP advised us that individuals have a constitutional right to ‘open carry’ or to carry a concealed weapon, and Utah50501 could not lawfully prohibit anyone from doing so at our events,” the organizers’ statement said.
While they said “we respect” the Second Amendment rights of protesters and Utah’s laws, “at no time did Utah50501 or any of its organizers encourage or request any participant carry a weapon to the protest.”
“The Governor is misinterpreting the law if he says Utah50501 had any lawful authority to prevent participants, whether volunteers or protestors, from carrying a weapon to a protest on public streets or in public spaces,” the statement continued.
Cox on Thursday did not say protest organizers should have restricted people from legally open or concealed carrying of firearms. He called himself a “big believer of the Second Amendment,” but also said he believed there were “a lot of good people that made mistakes” leading up to the shooting.
According to Salt Lake City police, the shooting during the June 14 protest happened after two men, who described themselves to police as “peacekeepers,” confronted 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, who was openly carrying an AR-15-style rifle during the protest.
One of the men, reportedly part of the event organizer’s volunteer security team, told police he thought Gamboa was acting suspiciously, which led him to fire three shots from a handgun, hitting Gamboa in the back but also inadvertently striking innocent bystander Arthur “Afa” Ah Loo, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Gamboa — the man who had openly carried the rifle during the protest but did not fire a shot — was arrested shortly after the shooting but was conditionally released from jail six days later, on June 20.
In the wake of the shooting, the national 50501 group that has organized “No Kings” protests across the country disowned the Utah chapter that organized the Salt Lake City protest, citing a strict “no-weapons policy” and saying the chapter had disregarded “our nonnegotiable values.”
The “peacekeeper” who was involved in the shooting was a military veteran, the protest organizers said last month. Neither police nor the organizers have publicly named him.
In their statement issued Thursday night, Utah50501 organizers said they coordinated with the Salt Lake City Police Department “to inform them of plans” per their event permit.
“Communications with law enforcement, whether it was UHP from previous events at the Capitol or SLCPD, have always been centered around crowd safety, and communication with SLCPD was continued throughout the protest on June 14th,” their statement concluded.
In response for more information about the communications between state public safety officials and the “No Kings” protest organizers, the Utah Department of Public Safety issued a statement to Utah News Dispatch Friday morning that DPS officials “communicated with the 50501 group from February through May to support public safety and property protection during their various events at the State Capitol.”
“During this time, the group requested that the Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) remove counter-protesters from their gatherings,” the DPS statement said. “We informed them that such action is not permissible, as all individuals have a constitutional right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.”
State public safety officials added that “the group also expressed interest in utilizing private security or safety volunteers.”
“We made clear that while they may designate individuals to assist with basic support, such as offering aid in cases of dehydration or minor medical issues, or helping de-escalate conversations, they do not have law enforcement authority and therefore cannot take enforcement actions or attempt to remove individuals from public spaces,” DPS said.
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DPS added: “When the group raised the idea of their private security personnel being armed, we did not tell them they were prohibited from doing so. However, we cautioned against it, explaining the risks and implications of individuals carrying firearms without law enforcement authority. DPS remains committed to ensuring the safety of all individuals exercising their rights at the Capitol.”
Cox’s comments Thursday came after reporters asked him during a PBS Utah news conference if there’s anything the state can or should do to prevent similar tragedies like the shooting that left Ah Loo dead.
“I don’t know that there’s more that we can do,” the governor said, noting state officials “work very closely with organizations across the state,” including the ‘No Kings’ protesters.
“That was an absolute tragedy,” Cox continued. “I can tell you that they were warned months and months and months ago that it was a bad idea to have these peacekeepers to be a part of what they were attempting to do, that it could lead to something like this, and sadly, it did.”
Asked to give more details about those warnings, Cox said “the leaders of the event were warned many months ago when they first started doing this, and they were warned by our Department of Public Safety.”
“Our DPS said, ‘It’s a bad idea. You can do it, it’s not illegal, there’s nothing illegal about it, it’s just a bad idea,’” Cox said. “‘They said, ‘Well, we think it’s a good idea.’ End of conversation.”
Pressed on who he believed was responsible for Ah Loo’s death, Cox said, “That’s a good question, and the (Salt Lake County) district attorney will eventually make that decision as it goes forward.”
Cox added there were “a lot of good people who made mistakes.”
“I don’t know who’s ultimately responsible, but I think a lot of people are responsible for what happened,” the governor said. “It’s a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to his family. I think, again, mistakes were made by the organizers, by the peacekeepers, by the protester who brought his rifle. Lots of mistakes were made.”
No charges have been filed in relation to the shooting. It’s up to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office to decide whether anyone involved will be charged with a crime.
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