Colette Libertine
Sailor Anarres"As is common at similar rallies, Saturday’s No Kings demonstration in Salt Lake had protest marshals scattered generously throughout the crowd, there to maintain order, cooperate with police and make sure any unsanctioned protest activity is quelled. Organizers and volunteers in high visibility vests patrolled the event as demonstrators rallied, and walked alongside the march as it progressed through the city.
A growing presence at demonstrations in recent years, many protesters hold disdain for protest marshals, pejoratively called “peace police.” To many, the use of marshals hampers spontaneous and autonomous tactics, and puts those who are willing to take more risky actions during protests in danger. In some instances, these “peace police” have gone so far as to isolate and turn in to police protesters who take on more confrontational roles, leading to arrests and police violence.
At Salt Lake City’s No Kings protest, at least two of these “peacekeeping team” members, as they’ve been identified in police statements, were armed with handguns.
According to the affidavit justifying Gamboa’s arrest, these two “peacekeepers” saw Arturo step away from the crowd and determined he was acting suspiciously. They, according to the police report, saw Arturo remove an AR-15 style rifle from his backpack and begin manipulating the weapon.
The “peacekeepers” told police they drew their own guns before telling Arturo to drop his rifle. At that point, according to their statements to police, Arturo “lifted the rifle, and… began running toward the large crowd gathered on State Street holding the rifle in a firing position.”
That’s when one “peacekeeper” fired three rounds at Arturo, hitting him once. His other two shots missed, and one struck a nearby protester. Arthur “Afa” Ah Loo, a 39-year-old father and renowned fashion designer, was critically wounded by the errant bullet and later died in the hospital."
Protest 'Peacekeepers' Shot Two People at a March in Salt Lake City. One Died, the Other Went to Jail. - UNICORN RIOT
Salt Lake City, UT — When friends of Arturo Gamboa heard that he had been shot at a protest last Saturday, they were shocked. A fixture in the punk and activist scenes of Salt Lake, Gamboa is a known leftist and musician who regularly carries firearms at protests in the city. And though he’s shown […]