Organizers and volunteers for Salt Lake City’s “No Kings” protest last summer were negligent in their duties to safely put on the demonstration, leading to the shooting death of protester Arthur “Afa” Folasa Ah Loo, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges.

“Defendants’ breaches of these duties resulted in a perfect storm of negligence that caused the only known fatality among a march of millions of Americans,” the complaint, filed in Utah’s 3rd District Court, contends.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Ah Loo’s family and names accused shooter Matthew Scott Alder, 43; Wendy Garvin, an activist who coordinated with the event’s planners and Salt Lake City police; and five other defendants who either organized the demonstration or helped put it on.

Those defendants include Samantha Cooper, Taylor Stapleton, Charles Padilla, Travis Hysell and Collin Catalfamo. Cooper and Stapleton were both involved in organizing previous events hosted by Utah 50501, the same organization that held the June 14 “No Kings” demonstration, public records show.

“In the events leading up to his death, critical decisions were made without the careful thought and planning that situations like this demand,” Ah Loo’s widow, Laura Ah Loo, said Monday at a news conference. “The choices made by multiple individuals were careless and irresponsible, and the consequences have been devastating for our family …”

Other defendants may also be added to the lawsuit later, Ah Loo’s lawyer, Jim McConkie, said.

Hysell, one of two defendants who could be reached for comment, told The Salt Lake Tribune in a phone interview that he felt “blindsided” when he was named in the filing.

He said he was at the protest, but he wasn’t an organizer; he was an unarmed volunteer who urged attendees not to engage with counter-protesters.

“I’m pretty upset about it all, because I did nothing wrong,” Hysell said. “To be named in this feels a bit like defamation to me. I was there when it happened, I was close by and it was a terrible thing.”

Padilla, another defendant named in the suit, told The Tribune that he was also at the “No Kings” protest as an unarmed volunteer, but added that he has never been affiliated with Utah 50501.

He only found out he was named in the suit when The Tribune contacted him for comment, he said.

Padilla believes his name and Hysell’s surfaced from an August event the pair helped organize called “Rage Against the Regime.” Around the same time, he said, someone spread rumors that he and Hysell were part of Utah 50501.

“Unfortunately, the challenge that we see in the organizing community today is that people use the tragedy of Afa Ah Loo as a weapon against other organizers and community members,” Padilla said. “So that is the reason why we are both named.”

Padilla can’t afford an attorney, he said, but is looking into speaking with the Ah Loos’ legal team to clear things up.

Lawsuit’s allegations

The suit alleges that the people who assisted with the protest had a duty to inform others that armed security would be present, and argues that they should have ensured that the armed volunteers were “properly vetted and trained.”

According to the suit, the organizers had a duty to obtain a proper permit with Salt Lake City, which they breached due to the “last-minute filing of a permit misstating the anticipated crowd and by last-minute attempts to recruit additional armed ‘peacekeepers.’”

The permit for the protest was filed under the name Michael Andaman. The complaint alleges that because no one has been able to identify Andaman or the organization listed on the permit application, the permit “would have only been sought by or at the behest” of the protest organizers named as defendants.

The complaint added that despite the “no weapons” policy for other “No Kings” events across the country, local organizers named in the suit “encouraged their members to carry concealed weapons.”

The suit alleges Alder, who was an armed security volunteer at the June protest, was negligent due to his failure to ensure his shot did not endanger innocent bystanders when he fired at Arturo Gamboa, who was carrying a rifle. Alder was charged with manslaughter late last year.

Alder told police he feared Gamboa would “mag dump into a crowd of people to kill as many people as he could,” according to charging documents.

Alder allegedly fired three shots; one struck Gamboa, wounding him, and another fatally struck Ah Loo. The shots sent thousands of protesters scattering downtown.

The complaint states that Alder had a duty to “ensure he understood what was required of him,” such as how to approach those with firearms and how to de-escalate situations.

Alder breached these duties by failing to approach and speak with Gamboa, the Monday filing alleges, which prevented him from learning Gamboa’s gun was empty and that Gamboa often openly carried at similar protests.

‘Felt every minute of every day’

Alder’s failure to “follow basic safety protocols,” along with the improper planning and foresight by other organizers, carry “irreparable consequences” to public safety, Laura Ah Loo said Monday.

She added that she hopes her husband’s death will urge more people to care about public safety to prevent tragedies like this from happening again.

Two bills in this year’s legislative session sought to revise state gun laws in the wake of Ah Loo’s death, but both failed.

McConkie said he and the family were glad the bills were introduced, but they feel that next year’s session will be better-positioned for legislation because more facts about the shooting will likely come out in their lawsuit.

“The weight of losing my husband has been felt every minute of every day by me and by our now 7- and 5-year-old children …” she said. “At a time when two of the best kids on earth should be learning to ride bikes with their dad, running into his arms after work or school … they live with the awful reality that their dad was killed by a bullet in a situation that could have been prevented.”

“This is the tragic cost of doing something poorly when people’s safety is on the line,” she continued.

The suit seeks damages for economic losses for Laura Ah Loo and other family members, as well as medical and funeral expenses. It also seeks general damages for lost companionship.