More information has emerged about what allegedly occurred before a “innocent bystander” was gunned down while participating in a “No Kings” protest in Utah on Saturday, including how he was a beloved fashion designer who appeared on the reality television show “Project Runway” — and how the man accused of starting it all was allegedly confronted by a father of three as he hid among protesters after the gunfire.
Arthur Ah Loo, 39, was reportedly hit by stray gunfire from a “peacekeeping” volunteer who was allegedly attempting to prevent another peacekeeper, Arturo Gamboa, from pulling an AR-15-style rifle from a backpack while protesters were passing by. Ah Loo’s death was the only one reported during Saturday’s nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, protesters described Gamboa as dressed in black and acting calmly before allegedly attempting to take out the rifle.
One demonstrator, Sam Hernandez, told the local newspaper that he and others discovered the rifle stock in Gamboa’s backpack after the shooting and confronted him about it while he attempted to hide among protesters, according to the Tribune. Bystander Ben Behunin’s video, obtained by the paper, allegedly shows the confrontation, with Hernandez saying loudly, “This is a rifle right here,” moments after prying the gun from his hands and yelling at police.
“Hey! This guy I just grabbed it from this guy. “He’s right there.” Hernandez stated, according to the Tribune.
“He tried to grab it a little bit,” the father of three later explained. “But I grabbed it and I held it out for the police.”
According to the Salt Lake City Police Department, approximately 10,000 people gathered downtown as part of a nationwide protest against President Donald Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C., and his immigration policies.
Cops reported hearing a volley of shots shortly before 8 p.m., sending panicked demonstrators fleeing for safety in parking garages and local businesses. Officers discovered a man, later identified as 39-year-old Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, who was shot. First responders attempted to save Ah Loo, but their efforts were unsuccessful, and he died.
“The preliminary investigation shows Ah Loo was participating in the demonstration and appears to have been an innocent bystander who was not the intended target of the gunfire,” according to a police report.
Behunin described Hernandez as “one of the heroes in the story,” and police noted that “the crowd” alerted law enforcement after Gamboa attempted to hide among protesters, according to the Tribune. He allegedly had a gas mask in his backpack alongside the gun.
“I wasn’t thinking of my life at all,” Hernandez said. “I said, ‘This guy’s got a gun. Someone needs to take him down.”
Hernandez told the Tribune that he allegedly spoke with Gamboa shortly after the shooting.
“I asked ‘Dude, what are you doing with that?'” “And he said, ‘I came to protest,'” Hernandez recalls. “I wasn’t sure if he was just having that for protection or not.”
Gamboa is currently being held in jail without bond while awaiting charges.
Friends and family have identified Ah Loo, aka “Afa,” as a fashion designer who appeared on season 17 of “Project Runway.”
A GoFundMe page set up for his family states, “Afa was a proud Samoan, deeply connected to his culture and community. Through his work with the nonprofit Creative Pacific and his incredible talent as a fashion designer, he shared his heritage with enthusiasm and creativity. But more than anything, Afa was proud of the life he had created with his wife, Laura, and their two lovely children, Vera and Isaac.”
