Arturo Gamboa goes to fetch his AR-15, which he has regularly and legally carried at many Salt Lake City protests in the past.
Some "Peacekeepers" (read: chuds; probably cops, definitely cop-wannabes) saw a gun on a guy, and they start blasting. ~~Gamboa returns fire. Maybe? Reports are conflicted.~~
Gamboa did not return fire. Cops lied to us about it. We know it's lies, because words came out of their mouths.
"Peacekeeper" bullets wound Gamboa, and kill Arthur Folasa Ah Loo.
Gamboa is arrested for murder, for reasons.

[–] tocopherol@hexbear.net 45 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

It seems Gamboa never fired a weapon, he ran as soon as he was shot and tried to blend in with the crowd. I haven't seen or heard anything that implies Gamboa ever shot or aimed his rifle aside from the first reports which were put out by the detectives and 50501, which I don't believe we can't trust.

[–] culpritus@hexbear.net 44 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (1 children)

this

All the reports say he never fired the AR15. This has cops covering for the "peacekeepers" stank all over it. Long haired brown person with a gun is all they can fixate on to try to cover up their recklessness. The fact that the bystander is actually a minor fashion celeb and non-white will hopefully crack open this bullshit story, but this is in Utah, and it will be a tough blue wall.

[–] Z_Poster365@hexbear.net 14 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Sounds like the DA is figuring it out and thinks that it will be impossible to convict Gamboa, and that they doubt the account of the "Peacekeepers"

If even the DA is saying that, it's likely this is just some rent-a-cop shitheads with an itchy trigger finger trying to get the local cops to cover for them

[–] Thordros@hexbear.net 15 points 15 hours ago

I have updated my summary with new info.

[–] OldSoulHippie@hexbear.net 22 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

"peace" "keepers" "at" 50501 "rally" "open" "fire" into "crowd" "killing" one and "injuring" two.

[–] culpritus@hexbear.net 35 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

I have not seen any identification of the "peacekeepers" or the one that actually fired the lethal shots. The fact that the cops are charging the younger open carry person with murder makes me think these peacekeepers are cops or cop adjacent.

E: Video: https://imgur.com/a/z3J25EB

The story does not fit with what the video shows.

[–] Abracadaniel@hexbear.net 51 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

okay so the guy with the rifle was not a would-be shooter?

[–] FlakesBongler@hexbear.net 32 points 17 hours ago

Apparently not, but the cops are charging him with murder because reasons

[–] Rey_McSriff@hexbear.net 19 points 16 hours ago (4 children)

tbf if I saw someone running around with a rifle at any protest these days I'd assume they were there to kill people

[–] tocopherol@hexbear.net 26 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

The person shot had been at protests armed before, if security was actually familiar with leftist protesters they wouldn't have been so quick to judge.

Image from bluesky of the armed "potential mass shooter"(from a different protest):

[–] WoodScientist@hexbear.net 25 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I would assume they're just there to protect protesters from police. Generally shooting at cops is a bad idea, but having enough armed protesters around does cause cops to be on their best behavior. Remember that protester a few days ago in LA that was being assaulted by police on horseback? That's the kind of situation where someone would have been fully justified to shoot those officers, an act of simple self defense.

It's rare for cops to actually shoot openly armed people. They're only incredibly trigger-happy against unarmed people. Every cop knows that it doesn't matter if the law is on their side. If a cop starts shooting at someone that is themselves heavily armed, there's a good chance that cop isn't going home tonight. Having armed protesters prevents police from taking lives with impunity.

[–] Rey_McSriff@hexbear.net 21 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Sure, but if I'm in SLC at an unorganized protest (or one that was organized by liberals), my first thought on seeing a rifle isn't "I'm glad the people's vanguard is here protecting us," it's "oh shit, a chud is here to kill the boogeymen he heard about on the internet"

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[–] Z_Poster365@hexbear.net 11 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

idiotic. This is an open carry state where dozens of people are armed. He wasn't "running around" and he didn't have his rifle raised either. There's footage of it. He's just walking around with the gun in a resting position when they shoot at him

[–] Rey_McSriff@hexbear.net 2 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (11 children)

idiotic

Yeah, I should assume any armed amerikkkan I see on the street is doing it for my safety

[–] Z_Poster365@hexbear.net 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

if they're dressed up as an anti-fascist marching on your side, then yeah pretty much

[–] Rey_McSriff@hexbear.net 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I don't know what to say other than I don't trust fellow yanks with guns who I don't know. I wouldn't have gone wild west on anyone like the "peacekeepers" did but I'm not going to be able to tell at a glance that someone wearing all black is a "good guy"

[–] Z_Poster365@hexbear.net 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Well I'm sure there were about 500 armed people at that march alone, Utah is open carry. I personally approve of demonstrations of armed force at our protests, although I think it should be more regimented and disciplined than anarchists meandering around with their own guns

[–] Rey_McSriff@hexbear.net 4 points 9 hours ago

Yeah, I don't doubt there were lots of guns out that day, but I 100% agree with you that if you're going to open carry at a protest like this, do it with an organized group. Not blaming this particular individual for getting shot or getting others shot, but I think the confusion is understandable

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[–] CocteauChameleons@hexbear.net 12 points 16 hours ago

Chuds never applied that logic to that fascist cracker that Ill not name

[–] FloridaBoi@hexbear.net 29 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Who are these “peacekeepers”?

[–] OnceUponATimeInWeHo@hexbear.net 12 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Event security, I believe

[–] Blockocheese@hexbear.net 7 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Vaguely reminds me of the CHAZ murdering 2 Black teenagers

[–] tocopherol@hexbear.net 11 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

Having been there my recollection of that time is this, someone correct me if they have more details:

One of the people killed was in an altercation which was not related to the protest or in the actual zone, the other person was killed overnight when the group who had been known as protest security, Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club, were not present and there was essentially no action going on, no other claimed 'event security' was present. No suspect was ever made public in the second shooting that I saw, private security hired by businesses were there though and it's my theory they were connected to that shooting. Overall though during that time there were as many shootings as average for the neighborhood.

I just wanted to say this because I've been seeing people connect this shooting to CHAZ but the situation is much different from what I've seen.

[–] Blockocheese@hexbear.net 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I was referring to the specific shooting to the two teenagers

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/everybody-down-what-happened-at-the-chop-shooting-that-killed-a-teenager-and-led-to-the-areas-shutdown/

But after looking it up it seems like there were around 4 shootings in the zone around that time?

[–] tocopherol@hexbear.net 1 points 17 minutes ago* (last edited 16 minutes ago)

Ah right, I forgot two people were shot at that incident, one killed. That was where it was my suspicion that private security connected to businesses or the city was involved. A few people that posed as protesters but were hired by the city/some org to co-opt the protest were seen cleaning the scene and talking to police-aligned private security the next morning at the location of the shooting, police didn't show up til hours after and never investigated.

It was that shooting that they used as impetus to shut down the zone, separately there was also a random parked car firebombed in a very suspicious manner on the same block some night soon after.

[–] HelluvaBottomCarter@hexbear.net 26 points 17 hours ago

It's almost like random redditors backed by a non-profit suck at organizing. They don't know who is at their protest. They don't know how many people there are on their side. They don't know who is running security, they probably never considered having organized security. They just let randos show up and stake over marshaling duties.

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