For nearly six months, Arturo Roberto Gamboa has publicly remained silent about being shot by a so-called armed peacekeeper and then being arrested for investigation of murder and not knowing for months whether he’d face formal criminal charges.
On Tuesday, Gamboa broke his silence and spent nearly an hour answering questions about what happened on June 14 during the No Kings protest in downtown Salt Lake City that ended with Gamboa — who was carrying a rifle — being shot, injured and arrested, and the shooting death of 39-year-old Arthur “Afa” Folasa Ah Loo.
“The very day (Ah Loo was shot), I was treated as the perpetrator … that I was there with the intention to harm others. From the moment that everything happened, I was treated as a psychopathic villain,” he said. “I was made to be the convenient Charles Manson figure.”
On Tuesday, with friends and family filling the room for support, Gamboa and his attorney, Greg Skordas, spoke publicly for the first time about what happened on June 14 from Gamboa’s point of view.
That day, Gamboa, 24, was spotted assembling and then carrying a rifle during the large No Kings protest in downtown Salt Lake City as an estimated 10,000 people marched on State Street. Two men who described themselves as part of a peacekeeping group for the rally spotted Gamboa near 151 S. State. The peacekeepers were part of the “safety team” hired by the local organizers of the protest.
Matt Scott Alder, 43, of Murray, one of the safety team members, allegedly feared that Gamboa was about to commit a mass shooting. Alder fired three rounds: the first two shots hit Gamboa. But the third shot hit Ah Loo, who was marching and protesting peacefully, killing him.
But it was Gamboa who was arrested for investigation of murder and held in the Salt Lake County Jail for a week. It wasn’t until a filing from Skordas that prosecutors agreed that Gamboa should be released, noting there wasn’t enough evidence at the time to charge him with anything.
Last week, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced that Alder is being charged with manslaughter for shooting Ah Loo and that Gamboa would not be charged. However, Alder was not charged with any crimes in connection to shooting Gamboa.
On Tuesday, Gamboa explained how he was practicing his First Amendment right to free speech and Second Amendment right to bear arms and also obeying Utah’s open carry laws, as he had done at many protests before.
“I believe it is the right of every person, without restriction, to utilize their constitutional rights. And the Second Amendment right is not restricted to any particular ideology, any particular viewpoint, any particular race, ethnicity, creed, gender. So that’s exactly what I was doing: peacefully protesting, utilizing my First and Second Amendment rights under the Constitution,” he said.
Skordas presented the question of whether his client would have been treated differently if he were white. Gamboa, a 6-foot-2-inch Hispanic man with long hair and who was wearing black clothing that day, was also asked Tuesday if he believes racial bias played a role in his arrest and the fact that Alder has yet to be taken into custody despite being criminally charged. Gamboa replied that there has always been racial bias in the country.
“There’s a very large hypocrisy that I think either people are aware of and would not like to admit, or are completely unaware of and need to be made aware,” he said. “I did not shoot anybody. I did not fire a single shot. I did not have any ammunition in the rifle. However, the blame was placed squarely on my shoulders. The news organizations and the media created a false narrative.
“We all know who the person was who killed Afa that day, plain and simple. We all know the only person who drew their firearm, aimed it and fired it into a crowd of people … with the intention of murdering me and who did murder Mr. Ah Loo.”
When asked if he believes Alder should face criminal charges for also shooting him, Gamboa simply said that the leniencies being shown to Alder are evident to everyone, and noted that a lot of people have tried to “save face” and “ping pong responsibility.”
For now, Gamboa says he is not planning any to take any civil action against Alder or the local organizers of the protest — even though his own medical bills are “five figures” — saying that he doesn’t want to take away any potential money that could be earned by Ah Loo’s widow, Laura Ah Loo, who is expected to file a wrongful death suit in a couple of weeks. Skordas says he has been in communication with her attorneys.
Gamboa also says he’s not ruling out participating in a future protest with his rifle. But he said it would have to be with the correct organization and one that’s not ignoring locals, “that puts the safety of the community at risk by refusing to collaborate with other organizations for necessary training, de-escalation and the like.” He says he has no interest in participating in a “glorified parade.”
As for an apology, Gamboa says that it would be nice to get one for himself, his family and the community. But he doesn’t want a “hollow” apology from anyone trying to save face.