Attorneys for the family of Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, a bystander who was allegedly shot dead by so-called “safety volunteers” during a “No Kings” demonstration in Salt Lake City over the summer, are accusing left-wing organizers of obstructing the investigation into the shooting and shielding suspects from legal liability.
Ah Loo, a protest participant, was killed at a June 14 march co-organized by Armed Queers Salt Lake City and the Utah chapter of 50501, one of the anti-Trump organizations behind the nationwide movement. Activists with AQSLC, a transgender-led gun group, were recruited to serve as armed security for the rally.
Matthew Scott Alder, one of the volunteer “peacekeepers” who were part of the security detail patrolling the protest, was charged with second-degree manslaughter on Dec. 3, six months after Ah Loo was killed.
Criminal charges were “screened” against Arturo Roberto Gamboa, an antifa militant who allegedly brandished a rifle at the rally. According to a friend’s Facebook post, Gamboa brings a gun to left-wing demonstrations to deter possible “Rittenhouses,” a reference to Kyle Rittenhouse, a supporter of President Donald Trump who shot three people in self-defense, killing two of them, during a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse was acquitted of his actions.
The case, however, was declined against Gamboa, according to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors say that Alder fired three shots into the crowd after spotting Gamboa, who was seen carrying an AR-style firearm. One of the bullets struck Gamboa while another inadvertently hit Ah Loo, fatally wounding him. Officials ultimately determined that Alder’s actions were justified when he used lethal force to stop a perceived threat. However, the third shot, which was fired over the heads of people at the protest, was considered “reckless.”
Victim’s family attorney mounts civil case to unmask those complicit
Ah Loo’s lawyer, Brian Stewart from the law firm Parker & McConkie, claimed that organizers have “intentionally obfuscated” who was involved in the incident, including by withholding information about their leadership and member base.
“They use pseudonyms and are not forthcoming at all from even before the event occurred about who they are, what they’re doing, and how they’re doing it,” Stewart said at a press conference held on behalf of the Ah Loo family, following the district attorney’s announcement of charges against Alder.
Stewart then announced that Ah Loo’s family intends to file a lawsuit against Alder, which would grant them subpoena powers through the discovery process, to uncover further details surrounding the deadly event.
Stewart named AQSLC and Utah 50501 as the groups responsible for planning the rally and providing security measures: “Our understanding is that Matt Alder was part of the group that brought firearms to the event and clearly lacked training and instructions on how to do their job in a way that would keep the public safe.”
Stewart, a Utah attorney specializing in wrongful death suits, suggested that Ah Loo’s family might also sue the city and organizers over his death, as the legal team prepares its civil case.
“We’re not ruling anyone out,” said Jim McConkie, lead counsel for the forthcoming case, noting that they will look into the city’s permit approval protocols as well.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the permit for the “No Kings” protest lists a Micheal Andaman as the applicant, but no information about him exists online other than a faceless LinkedIn profile. The company listed on the application was registered in Wyoming, where businesses can be created anonymously.
“It is odd and suspect that these groups don’t say who they are and what they’re doing at the outset [of the vetting process],” Stewart added. “Of course, that puts even more onus on the city to double check and understand who they’re even dealing with when they’re setting up a protest that is going to be politically charged and potentially dangerous.”
Who are the Armed Queers of Salt Lake City?
AQSLC, an armed collective of leftist LGBT activists, hosts monthly “training sessions” at the shooting range to coach “effective organizers in the struggle.” According to its membership sign-up form, AQSLC seeks to establish a socialist society, achieve “trans liberation from the gender binary and biological essentialism,” tear down the so-called “bourgeois non-profit industrial complex,” and install a revolutionary regime.
Ermiya Fanaeian, a transgender activist, founded AQSLC after parting ways with the Pink Pistols, an LGBT organization advocating firearm safety and bearing arms as a means of self-defense. Pink Pistols said that Fanaeian “no longer represented” the group after “violating our rule that we are a single-issue organization devoted solely to the safe, legal, and responsible use of firearms by the queer community.”
Fanaeian has publicly advocated political violence. In an interview with a Utah TV station, Fanaeian said, “I absolutely agree that sometimes violence, really riots, and those kinds of loud rebellions must take place for tangible change.”
In September, AQSLC was reportedly under federal investigation on suspicion that it was involved in or had foreknowledge of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University as he began to answer a question about mass shootings perpetrated by transgender people.
At the time, federal authorities were searching for possible accomplices and targeting far-left groups based in Utah, where Kirk was assassinated, to see whether they had helped alleged assassin Tyler Robinson or were aware of the assassination plot. Robinson is in a domestic relationship with a transgender partner and allegedly killed Kirk because he had “had enough of his hatred,” per text messages exchanged between the pair and released by prosecutors.
AQSLC previously held a lecture on “queer resistance” at the University of Utah, approximately 45 miles away from the scene of Kirk’s murder. A flyer promoting the 2023 workshop depicted an activist holding an AK-47 rifle with her finger on the trigger in violation of a fundamental firearm safety rule. AQSLC’s seminar was sponsored by an antifascist student club formed to oppose the school’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter. Young America’s Foundation, its parent organization, is similar to Kirk’s TPUSA.
Amid mounting scrutiny, AQSLC deleted its Facebook and Instagram pages, though the group restored its latter account after tensions subsided.
50501’s reaction and fallout following the fatal shooting
Ah Loo, a Samoan father of two known to loved ones as “Afa,” left behind a wife and young children, according to the family’s GoFundMe campaign, which has raised over $400,000 to cover funeral costs.
50501 promoted the GoFundMe page on social media, saying that the organization is “deeply saddened by this tragedy and wants to help the Ah Loos as much as possible.” In the post’s comment section, followers demanded that 50501 “practice transparency and share exactly what happened with everyone.” Some said there is “some shady stuff happening,” while others claimed “YOU HAVE BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS!”
“Take some accountability and admit to the true version of events,” one Instagram user wrote.
“It’s offensive to Afa’s family that you won’t take accountability for who is actually responsible for his death,” another added.
Days after Ah Loo’s death, 50501 cut ties with Utah 50501, citing the organization’s strict no-weapons policy concerning protest conduct. “Due to SLC 50501’s disregard for our nonnegotiable values, we are no longer affiliated,” 50501 said, insisting that local chapters are completely autonomous in the “decentralized” movement.
50501 also acknowledged that its initial remarks responding to the shooting contained “inaccuracies,” which the organization claimed were “shaped by fast-moving and incomplete information.”
Sarah Parker, a national coordinator for 50501, told reporters that the peacekeepers likely prevented a mass casualty and that they did the “best … they could” in an “extremely scary” situation. Utah 50501 organizers originally said that the volunteer safety squad “took action” against an “imminent threat.”
In a statement, Utah 50501 said it was shocked to learn that the national organization was severing their relationship, allegedly after no discussion. “We were under the impression that we were continuing forward together,” Utah 50501 said.
Moving forward, Utah 50501 said that it is forbidden from commenting on any public speculation or questions raised due to the ongoing criminal investigation. “We hope to begin to address the community’s concerns in the near future, once the police investigation has concluded,” a Utah 50501 press release read.
Indivisible’s Salt Lake City chapter held another “No Kings” protest in October but decided to host a dance party outside the Utah state Capitol building instead of a march.
“As big as this is getting, and considering, you know, what happened at the last march in the evening, we decided that safety first should probably be our top priority,” said Jamie Carter of Salt Lake Indivisible, a city-specific chapter belonging to the Indivisible Project, a George Soros-funded national activist network formed against Trump.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE ‘ARMED QUEERS’ GROUP UNDER SCRUTINY IN CHARLIE KIRK INVESTIGATION
The protest’s safety volunteers were trained in “de-escalation” techniques taught by the local American Civil Liberties Union branch, Carter added. Organizers asked attendees to leave any weapons at home this time.
The Washington Examiner contacted AQSLC and 50501 for comment.
