Suspect in ‘No Kings' rally shooting death in Utah released from jail
Local district attorney Sim Gill's office said on Friday that it was unable to make a decision on charges against Arturo Gamboa after the 14 June shooting that killed demonstrator Arthur Folasa Ah Loo – but that the investigation into the slaying continues.
Salt Lake City police had said Gamboa brought an assault-style rifle to the rally and was allegedly moving toward the crowd with the weapon raised when a safety volunteer for the event fired three shots, wounding Gamboa and killing Ah Loo nearby.
Gamboa did not fire his rifle, and it is unclear what he intended to do with it. His father, Albert Gamboa, told the Associated Press since the shooting that his son was 'an innocent guy' who was 'in the wrong place at the wrong time'.
Utah is an open-carry state, meaning people who can legally own a firearm are generally allowed to carry it on a public street. The volunteer has not been publicly identified as investigators work to determine who was at fault.
Judge James Blanch said in the release order that Gamboa must live with his father and is forbidden from possessing firearms. The conditions terminate after two months or if criminal charges against him are pursued, Blanch wrote.
Gamboa's attorney, Greg Skordas, did not immediately respond to a telephone message left for him seeking comment.
Police said the day after the shooting that witnesses reported seeing Gamboa lift the rifle when he was ordered to drop it – and that instead he began running toward the crowd. He fled but was arrested nearby, accused of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo's death.
Salt Lake City police said in a statement the next day that Gamboa 'knowingly engaged in conduct … that ultimately caused the death of an innocent community member'.
But three days after Gamboa was booked into jail, with no formal charges filed, police acknowledged that the circumstances surrounding the shooting remained uncertain. They issued a public appeal for any video footage related to the shooting or Gamboa and said detectives were still trying 'to piece together exactly what happened'.
The volunteer who confronted Gamboa was described by event organizers as a military veteran whose role as a safety volunteer was to maintain order.
Experts say it's extremely rare for such individuals, often called safety marshals, to be armed. They typically rely on calm demeanor, communication, and relationships with police and protesters to help keep order, said Edward Maguire, an Arizona State University criminology and criminal justice professor.
Police said the permit for the protest did not specify that there would be armed security.
Protest organizers have not said whether or how the safety volunteer who shot Ah Loo was trained or explained why he was armed. All attendees, including those in safety roles, were asked not to bring weapons, according to Sarah Parker, a national coordinator for the 50501 Movement. Parker's organization on Thursday said it was dissociating itself from a local chapter of the group that helped organize the Utah protest.
The demonstration involving about 18,000 people was otherwise peaceful. It was one of hundreds nationwide against Donald Trump's military parade in Washington, which marked the US army's 250th anniversary and coincided with the president's birthday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
33 minutes ago
- The Sun
Dramatic footage reveals moment Julio Cesar Chavez Jr is arrested by ICE just days after losing Jake Paul fight
DRAMATIC footage has captured the moment boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr was arrested by ICE for his alleged involvement in organized crime. It came just days after the former middleweight world champion was beaten by YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in California. 5 5 5 Chavez Jr - son of the legendary Julio Cesar Sr - was arrested in Los Angeles and faces deportation back to Mexico. Police cam footage has emerged of the 39-year-old being arrested by ICE agents - put in cuffs and chained up. US officials say he is affiliated with the notorious Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel - helping with "trafficking firearms, ammunition, and explosives". Homeland Security posted his mugshot and wrote: "On July 2, ICE arrested Mexican boxer and criminal illegal alien Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. "He is now being processed for expedited removal from the United States. "This Sinaloa Cartel affiliate has an active arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunitions and explosives. "Under President Trump, NO ONE is above the law—including world-famous athletes. "Our message to any cartel affiliates in the U.S. is clear: We will find you and you will face consequences. "The days of unchecked cartel violence are over." President Donald Trump designated the Sinaloa Cartel as a terrorist organization on his first day back in office in January. Chavez Jr's wife Frida Munoz was previously married to the son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. El Chapo is serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison and his son Edgar was assassinated in 2008. Describing Chavez Jr's alleged connection, the statement says he applied for US permanent residency last year due to his marriage to a US citizen "who is connected to the Sinaloa Cartel through a prior relationship with the now-deceased son of the infamous cartel leader Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman". In January 2024, Chavez Jr was arrested in LA and later convicted for illegal possession of an assault weapon. A year earlier, a local judge issued an arrest warrant against him for allegedly trafficking weapons for a criminal organisation. He also allegedly made multiple fraudulent statements to US immigration authorities in attempts to gain permanent residency and over-stayed a tourist visa that expired last February. A lawyer for Chavez Jr called his arrest "nothing more than another headline to terrorise the Latin community". Lawyer Michael Goldstein told NBC,: "This is the first we've ever heard of these outrageous allegations." Chavez Jr won the WBC title in 2011 and made three defenses of the belt but his later career has been plagued with scandals and a lack of discipline. His record is now 54-7-1 after losing over ten rounds to Paul in Anaheim. 5 5
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Pupils barricaded themselves in cupboard after fatal school stabbing, jury hears
Pupils locked themselves in a school cupboard and barricaded the door after a girl screamed 'someone's been stabbed, there's blood all over', a teenager has told a court. A jury in the trial of a 15-year-old boy accused of murdering Harvey Willgoose, also 15, at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, was played a pre-recorded police interview with the boy on Friday morning. Jurors have seen footage of how Harvey was stabbed in the heart in a courtyard at the school during the lunch break on February 3. In his video interview, the boy said he was in a detention room in the school when a girl came in. 'She ran upstairs and started screaming 'someone's been stabbed, there's blood all over',' he told detectives. 'Everyone was, like, screaming.' The boy said the group of students he was with 'ran into a storage cupboard in the detention hall so we were safe, locked ourselves in and barricaded the door'. The teenager said he did not need to be told the boy who had been stabbed was Harvey, because '(the defendant) always carried a weapon and Harvey was having a bit of an argument with him'. The boy described how Harvey and the defendant had been pushing each other at break time earlier that day, but he thought they were just 'messing around'. 'I thought it was a joke,' he said. And the witness said the pair 'squared up to each other' later in the morning. Asked about the defendant carrying weapons, the boy said: 'Since he joined the school he used to carry them a lot.' He said he 'carried a little axe' and 'different types of knives'. The boy told the detectives: 'He would either show me or tell me to feel the outside of his trousers and there would be an imprint of the top of an axe or something.' He said this was a few months before the fatal incident. The jurors have been told that the defendant has admitted manslaughter but denies murder. He has also admitted possession of a knife on school premises. The trial has also heard about previous incidents in the school involving the defendant, including one five days before Harvey was stabbed which led to the school going into lockdown. According to prosecutors, two members of staff physically intervened in a dispute between two other students and the defendant had to be restrained as he tried to get involved. The jury has been told it was the defendant's claim that one boy had a knife that led the school to go into lockdown, although the police who responded never found a weapon. Harvey was not in school that day. The teenager giving evidence on Friday morning said 'there wasn't an issue' between Harvey and the defendant until this lockdown incident. Addressing the jury earlier this week, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, defending, said: '(The defendant) did not set out to kill or seriously hurt anyone. 'The defence say (the defendant's) actions that day were the end result of a long period of bullying, poor treatment and violence, things that built one upon another until he lost control and did tragically what we've all seen.'
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Killer who tortured love rival to death is jailed after he plotted gruesome murder with victim's glam ex-wife
A KILLER who tortured a love rival to death after plotting the murder with the victim's glam ex-wife has been jailed. Thomas Campbell was discovered naked and bound with duct tape in his hallway after he was ambushed on his doorstep. 7 7 7 The 38-year-old was then dragged inside and tortured to death in a two-hour horror ordeal. Before his death, Thomas had been dating John Belfield's ex Demi-Lee Driver and he was "hostile" about the relationship. The 31-year-old masterminded the plot to murder Thomas at his home in Mossley, Greater Manchester, using intel passed to him by the victim's ex-wife, Coleen Campbell. He has now been jailed for life with a minimum of 37 years after being convicted of murder and conspiracy to rob. Sentencing, Mr Justice Graham said: "Thomas Campbell was no saint. Like you, he was involved in the sale and distribution of drugs. He was also a human being. 'The manner of his death was horrific. His family and friends have had to listen to the description of his injuries. 'His father has described his family's prolific grief - it's plain he was greatly loved.' Campbell, 38, was previously jailed for 13 years after she shared intelligence of Thomas' whereabouts to Belfield. The mum-of-four was captured on CCTV in her pink pyjamas chatting to Belfield for 25 minutes in her garden just hours before the savage attack. She and Belfield had met up and also exchanged 35 phonecalls and 68 messages as she conspired to have her ex-husband robbed. During this time, Campbell divulged key information about Thomas - including details of his van's registration plate and his house number. Further footage released by police showed a tracking device being placed on Thomas' car as he dropped his daughter off at school. 7 Belfield, Reece Steven, 29, and Stephen Cleworth, 38, used this to conduct reconnaissance missions to the dad's home. The court heard Belfield was "obsessed" with his ex Demi-Lee, who was now dating Thomas, and had messaged her before the killing, warning: "You're mine". He also text his ex, saying: "You will never have a boyfriend you will have to move country give it a week and you will see why and happens when you take the p***." In the lead-up to the brutal murder, Belfield also sent Thomas a message, saying: "I'm going to s**g her [Campbell] for the point of it as well as saying you like her you soft boy." The prosecutor said a few days after the messages, Thomas died in the "most terrible way". On July 3, 2022, three men "pounced" on the dad as he arrived home late from a night out. Blood splattered the walls of his smart new-build home as he was bound and brutalised while being tortured for two hours. A post mortem found injuries to his head and neck suggested a "sustained blunt sharp force physical assault". The dad also had burns on his body that were caused by a "hot liquid such as hot water". He had been dragged around the house as the attackers took as much money or drugs as they could get their hands on. Thomas was then left to die in the hallway before being discovered the following day by a neighbour. Belfield fled to South Africa following the gruesome killing and sent a series of chilling messages. In one exchange with "right-hand man" Reece Steven, he callously joked the victim must have "bled everywhere". Steven, who has been jailed for Thomas' murder, replied: "Tommy crumble. Dripping in tom juice everywhere." Campbell was jailed last year for 13 years after being convicted of manslaughter but cleared of murder. Steven, 29, was caged for at least 37 years for murder while Stephen Cleworth, 38, was handed a minimum term of 12 years for manslaughter. Wendy Logan, District Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: 'John Belfield was responsible for leading a meticulously planned attack to kill Thomas Campbell. "Evidence presented by the prosecution made it clear that Belfield had orchestrated this attack and left no stone unturned to ensure it would be successful including organising surveillance of Campbell's every move and even conducting dress rehearsals for their plans. "Belfield then took extreme steps to evade justice by removing his fingerprints and DNA from the scene of the crime and fleeing on a plane to Suriname in South America – a country where he had no previous connections. "Despite the 4,500-mile distance, Belfield remained in constant contact with his co-conspirators during their trial, even offering them advise over text message about their trial strategy. 7 7 7
