Tribune editorial: The violence at ‘No Kings’ didn’t come out of nowhere. We created it.

We may hate to admit it. But this is who we are.

We are a nation, and a state, where reasonable people are increasingly afraid to participate in public life, to peaceably assemble, to run for public office. The danger of being shot on the street, or in our own homes, is just too great.

It’s not who all of us are, and not all of the time. But it is enough of a factor that saying, as Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall did the other day, “This is not who we are,” has become another verse in the “thoughts and prayers” song our leaders sing when some innocent person is shot and they don’t know what to do about it.

Or they know what to do but don’t have the political pull, or guts, to do it.

Utah law and the larger culture have transformed the “right to keep and bear arms” from a reasonable provision for self-defense into an instrument of rhetoric. To a faux expression of strength and masculinity when it truly is a Barney Fife expression of weakness and fear.

This creates a vicious circle where good people withdraw from public spaces and public life, live in fear and the unhealthy isolation, exacerbated by social media, that afflicts more and more of us. And, too often, are more likely to become violent themselves.

It negatively affects our individual and collective mental health.

In Utah, a supermajority of the Legislature believes an obvious falsehood, that more guns in more hands, without the merest training or licensing requirements, makes us all safer.

That’s not what happened on June 14, when an innocent bystander was shot and killed by someone he didn’t know — someone who didn’t even intend to shoot him — because the so-called “peacekeeper” saw, and fired at, another person carrying a military-style rifle at the downtown No Kings demonstration.

People who spend way too much time watching James Bond or Matt Dillon might assume that when a good guy with a gun opens fire on a (perceived) bad guy with a gun, it’s only the bad guy who will be shot.

That’s not what happened to Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, a Utah fashion designer, husband and father of two young children, who did no more than happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Even though walking down a public street in a permitted demonstration should never, ever be the wrong place or wrong time.

That’s not what happened the next day in West Valley City where, according to police, a 16-year-old boy killed three people, including an 8-month-old baby, and injured at least two others at the wholly non-political WestFest carnival.

The age of the alleged killer means he was not in lawful possession of a gun. But he lives in a culture that leads young men to believe that being armed is manly and tough.

Utah law allows the carrying of any kind of firearm in most public places, as long as the weapon isn’t brandished at someone in a threatening way. But it is reasonable to assume that the mere presence of an assault weapon in a public place, especially a political demonstration, will be taken by many as a threat that needs to be addressed immediately. That if you wait until the weapon is raised and aimed, it will be too late.

Which is why the organizers of the No Kings event apparently felt it wise to assign “peacekeepers,” at least one of whom was armed, to what was described as a peaceful protest, which drew thousands of participants attracted by that promise.

It proved to be a poor decision. Foolish enough that the national organizer behind the No Kings demonstrations, a group known as 50501, Thursday announced that it had cut its ties with its Salt Lake City chapter for violating the national group’s strict, and wise, no-guns policy.

Out of more than 800 No Kings demonstrations across the country, involving somewhere north of 4 million people, Salt Lake City’s was apparently the only one where any kind of gun violence was reported.

Last week in this space we encouraged our readers to participate in such public demonstrations, to be seen standing up for human rights and the rule of law. That advice stands, even though taking it feels ever more difficult.

We are still waiting for answers from the Salt Lake City Police and Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office as to who this “peacekeeper” was, whether shooting at the man with the assault rifle was justified, whether that gun-toting individual, who did not fire a single shot, committed any crime. (Though he was clearly wrong to be displaying such artillery in a public space.)

Whose idea was it that parade “peacekeepers” be armed? Were police officers on the scene, who appear to have acquitted themselves professionally, aware of armed self-appointed marshals at the event?

The statement from Police Chief Brian Redd that the incident “came out of nowhere” does not inspire confidence.

There is no parade, no demonstration, no public meeting, legislative hearing, judicial proceeding, world’s fair, picnic or rodeo that is made better by the presence of firearms.

Utah law recognizes some reasonable limits on carrying firearms. They are banned from schools and colleges, daycare centers, airports, and houses of worship. Public demonstrations should be added to that list.

Editorials represent the opinions of The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board, which operates independently from the newsroom.