He took a rifle to SLC’s ‘No Kings’ protest. It’s been ‘chilling’ for him to wait for possible charges, attorney says.

Four months after a protester was fatally shot at a Salt Lake City “No Kings” demonstration, prosecutors still haven’t released if they will pursue charges in the man’s death.

They also haven’t specified what’s holding up that determination.

Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, was killed during the June 14 protest hosted by Utah 50501. The shooter was part of an armed, volunteer safety team for the demonstration, and he fired his weapon after confronting 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, who was carrying an assault-style rifle at the event.

One shot injured Gamboa. Another fatally struck Ah Loo, who was participating in the march. Police have not identified the shooter or accused him of wrongdoing.

“We are working it; I can assure you there is a group of people assigned to it,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement on Thursday. “While we cannot answer your questions right now, once the process has reached its logical conclusion we will make ourselves available to answer everything.”

Attorneys for those involved, meanwhile, are puzzled and frustrated by the lack of movement in the case.

Gamboa, Ah Loo family in limbo

Gamboa was initially arrested immediately after the shooting, but was released nearly a week later after Gill’s office could not make an “informed decision” on whether he was culpable.

When Gamboa was released he was prohibited from possessing firearms, and also had to surrender his passport and maintain residence with a family member.

“Arturo is just maintaining whatever else that he needs to do, staying out of trouble,” Gamboa’s attorney, Greg Skordas, said in a phone interview. “He’s not possessing any firearms, and he’s staying in regular communication with me.”

Skordas, who worked at the Salt Lake County Attorney’s Office for eight years in the ‘90s, said the wait has been “chilling” for Gamboa. His client was shot in the back while open-carrying an unloaded weapon, he added, so Gamboa’s legal team always felt he did not commit a crime.

Skordas believes Gill’s office will come to that conclusion as well, but the timing has been “certainly problematic,” and Gamboa has not been “able to function” much while the case hangs over his head.

“I think it’s really problematic for the Ah Loos, because the man that killed their family member hasn’t been held responsible at all,” Skordas said. ”… Our client was the one that was taken to jail. Our client was the one who was photographed and put in the public spotlight, and our client was the one that was booked in the jail for murder, even though he never fired a gun and never harmed anyone and hasn’t harmed anyone in his life.”

Jim McConkie, who represents Ah Loo’s wife, Laura, said his client has experienced “excruciating pain” from her husband’s killing. He added that he’s surprised Gill’s office has not formally charged or given reasons why the shooter won’t be charged in the case.

Gill’s office has given Skordas a number of dates by when they thought they would have a decision on charges in the case, but they have all passed, Skordas said.

“I don’t know what they’re doing now,” Skordas said. “It’s a little bit disappointing, but I also understand, having worked there for a while, that some of these decisions are difficult.”

Legal questions

The timeline for charges in this case isn’t abnormal when compared to similar cases, said Paul Cassell, a former Utah District Court judge who serves as a criminal justice professor at the University of Utah.

“In some cases, it’s instantly obvious that a crime has been committed — for example, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and then it’s just a question of ‘whodunit,’” Cassell said. “Here, the fact pattern is more complicated, because it’s not instantly clear whether a crime has been committed. It’s clear there’s been a tragedy and a death, but whether there was criminal intent involved needs to be assessed very carefully.”

Ballistics information from where the gunshots were fired will be crucial to unpack in the case, which can take “a great deal of time,” Cassell said. And once ballistics come back, Gill’s office will likely need to consult with ballistics experts to interpret those findings, he added.

Another significant factor for Gill’s office to consider is whether Gamboa was raising his weapon when the volunteer shot at him. Police have said that witnesses reported Gamboa had “lifted the rifle and began running toward the crowd” while holding the weapon in a firing position.

The Second Amendment gives Americans the right to carry, but doesn’t grant the right to threaten, Cassell said. Utah law has additional protections for gun owners, including a provision added in 2021 that requires a “clear determination” by a judge that there’s a “sound basis” to move forward in a case regarding a self-defense situation, Cassell continued.

“If it appeared that someone was preparing to launch an assault and a deadly assault, then that would be something that might require an immediate and deadly response,” Cassell said. “But there again, you know, the witnesses who saw that, I’m sure, finding them all and collecting their statements and then assessing them could take a considerable amount of time.”

Clarifying conflicting witness statements will also take time, along with some “gumshoe” detective work from police to identify witnesses to the shooting, Cassell added.

“The speed with which the wheels of justice turn depends on the facts of the particular case,” Cassell said. “And the facts of this case, I believe, are complex as to whether the crime has been committed, whereas, for example, in the Charlie Kirk case, those facts, at least as to whether a crime was committed, were not complex at all.”

Another “No Kings” demonstration, put on by different organizers from the June event, is scheduled to take place at the Utah Capitol on Saturday morning.

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