Nearly seven months after police say Matthew Scott Alder fatally shot Arthur “Afa” Folasa Ah Loo at a Salt Lake City “No Kings” protest, Alder made his first court appearance.
Alder, a safety volunteer at the march, attended a hearing Tuesday morning at Utah’s Third District Court, telling a commissioner that he would keep in contact with his lawyer and submit for fingerprinting.
Prosecutors charged Alder with manslaughter Dec. 3 after a monthslong investigation from Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill and the Salt Lake City Police Department. If convicted, Alder faces up to 15 years in prison.
“Obviously, on that date in June, it was a grave tragedy,” Alder’s attorney, Philip Wormdahl, said in an interview after the hearing. “But given the evidence that I’m aware of now, the lawyers who are involved for Mr. Alder are confident that no reasonable person could find that he wasn’t justified in his actions.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Attorney Philip Wormdahl after an appearance by Matthew Scott Alder in Third District Court in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026.
Alder told police he fired his weapon at 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, who was carrying a rifle, after he feared Gamboa would “mag dump into a crowd of people to kill as many people as he could,” charging documents say.
Alder allegedly fired three shots; one struck Gamboa, wounding him, and another fatally struck Ah Loo. The shots sent thousands of protesters scattering downtown.
Wormdahl added that another witness who was interviewed by investigators said Gamboa’s actions made her “concerned for the lives” of everyone in the crowd.
“That’s really, almost on its face, meeting that justification standard [for self-defense],” Wormdahl continued. “... We’re confident that we can make a pretty compelling case for the justification.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Matthew Scott Alder makes an appearance before Commissioner Todd Olsen in Third District Court in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026.
Gamboa was arrested the night of the June 14 shooting but was later released after investigators determined he never fired his weapon.
Alder cooperated with police and was not arrested after officers detained him and another safety volunteer that night, authorities said.
“My guy doesn’t need to be detained,” Wormdahl said. “The reason to detain him would be if he was a danger to the community or a specific person, and there’s no evidence that he is, so I think it would be a tough argument for the D.A. to make that he needed to be detained in order to ensure the safety of the public.”
On the day he announced the charges, Gill said prosecutors did not seek immediate detention because Alder was cooperating with the investigation and was not considered a flight risk
Alder is next scheduled to appear in court March 20.
— Tribune visual journalist Trent Nelson contributed to this story.