Salt Lake City — Prosecutors announced last week that they would not pursue charges against Arturo Gamboa, an activist in Utah who was arrested in June after a volunteer “peacekeeper” opened fire at a large “No Kings” protest injuring Gamboa and killing Arthur “Afa” Folasa Ah Loo. The volunteer, tasked with security for the march […]
Pretty sure the shooter was “tasked with security”. The victim appears to have brought his own weapon unprompted, and was assembling it on site, which, yeah, looks very sus. I think they made the right call but I also think it’s not a good idea to roll up and start assembling your rifle in a protest environment, least of all one like this where it stands out.
In Utah and other open carry states leftists have been marching at protests with guns for years, he was probably assembling it on site because it’s easier to transport that way. I agree this wasn’t a good protest for it but he had been armed at protests in the area previously, with other people armed also.
Open carrying only makes sense in the context of there being other open carriers you’re organized with. Going solo with a gun just reads as mass shooter shit, and makes you an obvious target if a shooter shows up. In this case, because another open carrying “protector” might decide to smoke you because you’re just a rando with a rifle