Four months after her husband was fatally shot at Salt Lake City’s “No Kings” protest, Laura Ah Loo announced Wednesday that she plans to file a lawsuit to achieve accountability in her husband’s death.
Her attorney said it isn’t immediately known whom the family would name in the suit.
“‘Feel the fear and do it anyway,’” Laura said at a news conference. “That’s what my husband, Afa Ah Loo, always said. And that’s what I’m doing today as well, standing here speaking to you in the middle of a deep grief that I never asked for and a heartbreak that I wouldn’t wish on anyone, nor do I or my beautiful children deserve.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A photo of Arthur Folasa Ah Loo is displayed at his celebration of life at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City in late June.
Arthur “Afa” Folasa Ah Loo, 39, was killed during the June 14 protest hosted by Utah 50501. Police have said the shooter was part of an armed, volunteer safety team for the demonstration and that he fired his weapon after confronting 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, who was carrying an assault-style rifle at the event.
One shot wounded Gamboa. Another fatally struck Ah Loo, who was participating in the march. Police have not publicly identified the shooter or accused him of wrongdoing.
Charging decision expected ‘soon’
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Friends and family at the makeshift memorial for Arthur Folasa Ah Loo near the spot where he was killed during a 'No Kings' march on State Street in Salt Lake City.
Prosecutors have not released if they will pursue charges in Ah Loo’s death, and they also haven’t specified what’s holding up that determination.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Wednesday that his office met with the Ah Loo family “early in the process and explained that this review would take time.”
“We sympathize with the pain and loss suffered by the Ah Loo family,” Gill said in a statement. “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.”
Laura Ah Loo’s lawyer, Jim McConkie, said his client has not received any word on the case “for months” — despite Utah law stating victims must be kept informed of “significant developments.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Attorney Richard Lambert speaks during a news conference in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
Richard Lambert, a former prosecutor who is also a part of Ah Loo’s legal team, said in his nearly 50-year career, he has never seen a “situation of this magnitude” in which the alleged shooter has not been publicly identified.
“This is not a whodunit. We know who did it,” Lambert said. “One of the foundation principles of criminal justice is the old adage, ‘justice delayed is justice denied.’”
Lawsuit could come within weeks
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Attorney Jim McConkie speaks during a news conference with the Ah Loo family in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
McConkie said the Ah Loo family intends to sue within the next few weeks, adding that defendants would be named once the legal team has subpoena power to discover “what really happened.”
While McConkie named the alleged shooter, The Salt Lake Tribune typically does not identify individuals unless they have been charged with a crime or named in a lawsuit.
McConkie added that Salt Lake City has not been cooperative. When members of Ah Loo’s legal team requested documents and correspondence about the June 14 protest, he said, they received a one-page permit with the organizer’s name redacted.
The Tribune received a permit application through an open records request, but the organizer’s name — Michael Andaman — was not redacted. There is almost no online footprint for Andaman, and the company he listed on the application was registered in Wyoming, a safe haven for corporate secrecy.
Salt Lake City officials have said they could not confirm Andaman’s identity.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Thousands who had gathered for the "No Kings" protest scatter off State Street in downtown Salt Lake City following gunfire on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
“Nothing can restore Arthur to his children, his spouse, his community,” said attorney Brian Stewart, a member of Laura Ah Loo’s legal team. “But this family deserves clarity. They deserve accountability. They deserve the assurance that reforms will prevent what happened to Afa from happening again.”
Laura and her legal team believe it is essential for transparency in cases like these, McConkie said, and that processes must be improved to ensure safety for individuals expressing free speech.
“We need to not only disagree better but also to deliver better,” Laura Ah Loo said. “True responsibility means more than following the bare minimum of the law. ... Responsibility means recognizing that the right to bear arms comes with the duty to ensure safety while doing so, to de-escalate conflict before firing a weapon, and to follow logic and safety rather than endangering others. ”
On the day he was killed, Laura said, Ah Loo carried a sign that said “the world is watching.” Her intention with the lawsuit is to ensure action in response to the “senseless and irresponsible injustice.”
“The world is watching,” she said, “how we all rise stronger together with our actions for responsibility, justice and meaningful change.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Laura Ah Loo, widow of Afa Ah Loo, speaks during a news conference in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.