After the fatal shooting at Saturday’s “No Kings” march in downtown Salt Lake City, investigators are examining the roles of two people who were armed: one jailed for carrying a rifle he never fired, and another who shot and killed an innocent bystander, later telling police he was acting as a “peacekeeper.”
Utahns have a right to carry guns — openly or concealed — even at a protest, but they are also responsible for what happens when they fire those weapons, experts told The Salt Lake Tribune.
Utah is a constitutional carry state, which means that adults 21 and older who are legally allowed to possess a firearm can carry it openly or concealed without a permit, including in public spaces, said Skye Lazaro, a criminal defense attorney. Also, those between 18 to 20 can only openly carry an unloaded firearm in public without a provisional carry permit, she said.
There are some restrictions, Lazaro said, for open carry without a permit, such as prohibitions on carrying firearms on the premises of elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, institutions of higher education, daycare centers, airports, houses of worship or any other places prohibited by state or federal law.
Still, days after the deadly shooting, many unanswered questions remain about the actions of both men, regarding what happened June 14 and who is responsible for the death of Utah fashion designer Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, said Clark Aposhian, board chairman of the Utah Shooting Sports Council and a gun-rights lobbyist.
Ah Loo, known as “Afa” to friends and family, was shot and killed at Saturday’s “No Kings” protest on State Street. Police said Ah Loo was not the intended target of the gunshots, but was fatally wounded after a member of the protest’s ”peacekeeping team” fired at another man, Arturo Gamboa, who police said was running into the crowd of protesters with a rifle drawn.
“You can, in fact, carry an AR-15 in a parade, in a public area,” Aposhian said, who teaches concealed weapons classes. “And that, in and of itself, is legal and cannot be considered even disorderly conduct.”
However, he explained, if you begin “pointing it around” or using it in a threatening way, that could cross the line into disorderly conduct, brandishing or even aggravated assault.
Carrying is legal, but how you carry and act with the weapon matters a great deal, he said.
“You have to do quite a few things with that firearm for it to be a crime,” Aposhian continued. “And I mean, you’ve got to display it with the intent to intimidate in a non-self-defense situation, in an angry or threatening manner and the presence of two or more people. It sounds like it could have risen to that.”
Aposhian, who has studied gun-rights issues and lobbied for gun rights for years but is not an attorney, said the legality of Gamboa’s handling of the rifle and the peacekeeper’s decision to fire largely depend on where the gun’s barrel was pointed.
Under Utah law, any weapon carried by a person with ill intent, or the intent to harm another person, is considered illegal and a class A misdemeanor.
“If I’m just running with a gun and it’s otherwise pointed down, then, no, I’m just running and I happen to have a firearm,” Aposhian said. “But if I’m running and the weapon is pointed at the crowd, … I think it’s going to be perceived that I have some ill intent, and other people would be likely to respond to me, especially in these heady days of active shooters and the very politically and violence-charged parades and events.”
Lazaro said Utah law allows a person to use deadly force for the purpose of self-defense or acting in the defense of others.
However, Aposhian and Lazaro said, the peacekeeper does not have qualified immunity — as police officers do under Utah law for actions that happen when they’re on the job — and could be held both civilly and criminally liable for Ah Loo’s death.
A key factor in determining civil liability, Lazaro said, is whether the use of force was reasonable and necessary under the circumstances. In this case, she noted, that analysis may hinge on what’s considered reasonable when a crowd is present.
“It’s one thing if they just shoot [Gamboa], because then it just becomes a self-defense analysis,” Lazaro said. “But now we have this innocent person who’s unfortunately passed away, and that complicates it.”
Some who have marched with Gamboa in the past said he regularly carried his rifle at protests without incident.
Still, Lazaro said some legal questions will likely center on Gamboa’s intent and how he handled the weapon during the march.
Armed citizens are often the first to engage before police arrive, Aposhian said, as was the case at Saturday’s rally. Although police were monitoring the event, officers were not immediately on the scene to intervene in the confrontation between the peacekeepers and Gamboa.
“I think, honestly, the peacekeeper probably thought that he was saving lives, and he may, in fact, have,” Aposhian said. “We don’t know what the intentions of the guy with the AR-15 were.”
Salt Lake City police said “peacekeeper” isn’t a formal designation they recognize, and the protest’s event permit included no mention of organized or armed security. The march was organized by Utah 50501, an activist group named for its call to mobilize protests in all 50 states. The group has led demonstrations in more than 2,000 cities and towns nationwide. Utah 50501, in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune this week, identified the shooter as a “safety volunteer.”
The Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter released a statement Monday on Facebook in response to the No Kings rally shooting. The group voiced support for the right to carry guns, especially for self-protection at protests.
“We have openly carried guns at protests because we have a right to do so,” the organization wrote, noting that members attend gun handler training sessions and are informed on their rights to carry. The group recommended people get advice from an expert to “get an understanding of how to be safe with and near guns.”
