Suspect in ‘No Kings' rally shooting death in Utah released from jail
A man jailed on suspicion of murder for allegedly brandishing a rifle at a 'No Kings' rally in Utah before an armed safety volunteer fired and inadvertently killed a protester has been released from custody.
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 Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ministers ‘abusing' anti-terror laws against Palestine activists
Former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf has said the Government is 'abusing' anti-terror laws against pro- Palestine activists as tens of thousands of protesters marched in London. A protest organised by groups under the Palestine Coalition banner marched to Whitehall from Russell Square in central London on Saturday afternoon. Organisers estimated that 350,000 people attended the protest, with those marching waving Palestinian flags and chanting 'free, free Palestine' and 'stop bombing Iran'. Many protesters chanted 'shame on you' as they walked past dozens of counter-protesters, organised by pro-Israeli group Stop The Hate, near Waterloo Bridge. The Metropolitan Police said a person was arrested after a bottle was thrown towards the counter-protesters. They added that 'a group appeared on Waterloo Bridge trying to block traffic' following the protest, with officers intervening to clear the road. The demonstrations come after reports on Friday that the Home Secretary will ban Palestine Action after the group vandalised two aircraft at RAF Brize Norton. Yvette Cooper has decided to proscribe the group, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support Palestine Action, after footage posted online showed two people inside the RAF base, with one appearing to spray paint into an aircraft's jet engine. Addressing crowds at the national march for Palestine in Whitehall, former SNP leader Mr Yousaf said: 'While we stand a stone's throw from Downing Street, let's make it clear to the Prime Minister: You try to intimidate us with your anti-terror laws by abusing them, but you'll never silence us as we speak out against the genocide that you're supporting. 'We're not the terrorists – the ones that are literally killing children, they are the terrorists.' A pro-Palestine protester said it was 'absolutely horrendous' that the Government is preparing to ban Palestine Action. Artist Hannah Woodhouse, 61, told the PA news agency: 'The Government, since yesterday, have said they're also going to start to try to proscribe peace activists who are trying to take action against the genocide – so Palestine Action are now being targeted by our Government, which is absolutely horrendous.' Ms Woodhouse, who is from London, added: 'Counter-terrorism measures, it seems, are being used against non-violent peace protesters. 'The peace activists are trying to do the Government's job, which is to disarm Israel. The duty of any government right now is to disarm a genocidal state.' Musician Paloma Faith told pro-Palestine campaigners that she would not 'stick to music and stay away from politics'. Speaking to crowds at the march, the songwriter, 43, added: 'Those who facilitate these crimes against humanity need to be made accountable, not those of us who are compassionate and humane enough to stand against it.' Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told protesters that politicians were seeking to 'turn people who protest against the invasion of Iran or the occupation of Palestine into terrorists'. Some protesters were carrying Iran flags, with others hoisting signs – distributed by the Islamic Human Rights Commission – that read 'choose the right side of history' alongside a photo of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Human rights group Liberty said banning Palestine Action 'would be a huge step change in how counter-terror laws are applied'. Sam Grant, its external affairs director, said in a statement: 'Targeting a protest group with terrorism powers in this way is a shocking escalation of the Government's crackdown on protest and we urge the Home Secretary to rethink. 'It's clear the actions of Palestine Action don't meet the Government's own proportionality test to be proscribed as a terrorist group, but the consequences for the group's supporters if ministers go ahead would be heavy – with things like wearing their logo carrying prison sentences. 'This move needs to be viewed in light of the sustained crackdowns on protest we have seen from successive governments over recent years, and the worrying fact that there are more and more non-violent protesters spending years in prison.' The Palestine Coalition is comprised of a number of different groups, including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Stop The War.
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Photos of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil after 104 days in US custody
Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student and Palestinian activist, has returned to the Northeast U.S. after spending 104 days in federal immigration detention.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Female tycoon is private jet-crazed power lesbian who mocked male employee for being old, say ex-colleagues
A Lamborghini-racing, private jet-loving executive has been accused of plundering her company's coffers in a trio of explosive lawsuits from former associates. Jessica Mah, founder of venture capital firm Mahway Management, stole millions from the company to fund a lavish lifestyle including gifts for her co-founder, Andrea Barrica, with whom she is accused of having a lesbian affair, legal filings claim. She also stands accused of lobbing ageist insults to a subordinate, according to one of the lawsuits. Mah denies all the claims against her, with her representatives telling Daily Mail the attempted legal takedown is retaliation for a sexual assault lawsuit she filed against one of the plaintiffs, her investor Justin Caldbeck. Caldbeck, who is the CEO of D Global Ventures, previously admitted sexual misconduct towards six women in his professional orbit after being exposed in the early stages of the #MeToo movement. Tensions flared between him and Mah over the size of his return on his investment, which he believed was less than he had been promised. Mah began the legal frenzy by suing Caldbeck on May 14, accusing him of threatening to 'destroy' and 'bankrupt' her if she did not pay him the profits he believes he was rightly owed. Caldbeck denies the allegations and countersued hours later, claiming Mah 'seduced investors with misleading and often contradictory representations in quarterly investor reports'. Luxe-loving tycoon Mah was also accused in a separate lawsuit of lavishing gifts and perks on her alleged lover Barrica at the company's expense. Both women have denied any romance. 'Mah is a charlatan living on investors' funds intended for Mahway's portfolio of start-up companies, the majority of which are only "unicorns" in the sense that they are also imaginary,' Caldbeck claims in his lawsuit. In business, a 'unicorn' is a private start-up valued at $1 billion. Mah has bragged about being a 'unicorn breeder.' Caldbeck claims in his suit that Mah, an alum of the Forbes 30 under 30 club, 'misappropriated' money from investors to pay for private chefs, a $1 million private jet, her $16,500-a-month home, luxury cars and vacations to destinations such as Park City, Utah, and Burning Man. 'As of February 2025, Mah had taken millions in fees, even though Mahway's portfolio company investments were underperforming. Those fees were millions of dollars more than Mah was entitled to under the relevant agreements,' Caldbeck's suit states. Mah's Instagram page is chocked full of images of her exotic escapes, ritzy dinners and sports car-racing endeavors. Caldbeck's claims were echoed in suits brought by two of Mah's former employees — ex-President Walter Delph and former chief financial officer William Mulholland — who sued the young executive for alleged wrongful termination and whistleblower retaliation. Delph claims in his filing that Mah showered her alleged lover Barrica with benefits and gifts offered to no one else at the company, including paying 'hundreds of thousands of dollars on Barrica's personal vacations'. Mah, 'would rub Barrica's upper inner thighs' during company meetings, according to the filing, which also accused Mah of sexual harassment. Delph claimed in his filings that she forced him and other staffers to work from her West Hollywood home where they allegedly saw Mah's sexual partners 'in various stages of undress'. The suit claims Mah bragged about her sexual encounters with other employees, who allegedly had to 'witness their sexual conduct and activities'. He additionally accused Mah of age discrimination, claiming she'd frequently call him an 'old man' and ridicule his opinions in front of other employees. Delph and Mulholland claim in their complaints that they were wrongly fired after raising concerns Mah was misleading investors. Mah denied the allegations and hit back in a suit against Delph on May 15, accusing him of conspiring with Caldbeck and Mulholland to defame her. 'As alleged in the complaints, Mulholland and Delph joined Mr. Caldbeck's attempted 'shake down' in the hopes of making a quick buck themselves. Their claims have no basis in reality,' Mah's lawyers told Daily Mail. All three men are represented by Caldbeck's longtime lawyer, Ivo Labar. They all claim their suits were filed independently from one another. However it is not the first time such allegations have been leveled at Mah. She and her business partner on a previous venture were accused of misappropriating $1.9 million for personal expenses, in 2021 lawsuit filed by one of their business partners. Mah's lawyer confirmed to Daily Mail that the lawsuit was settled out of court in 2023 for an undisclosed amount and that she did not pay 'a penny' towards it. Mah insists that all the claims against her are defamatory and that she is the victim of sexual assault and a smear campaign. She claims she has honored the terms she and Caldbeck mutually agreed on for his investment into Mah's venture, an LLC called Mahway Inception One. 'He knew the risks. He knew that it would take many years before the investment could return a profit,' Mah's complaint read. 'But in fall demanded that Ms. Mah restructure the pay him massive returns that the investment had not yet generated.' Emails from July 2022 between Caldbeck and Mah shown in her lawsuit appear to demonstrate that Caldbeck was at least aware of the investment structure. 'Justin Caldbeck's allegations against Jessica Mah are objectively false. Caldbeck claims he was misled into investing in Inception One,' Mah's lawyers said in a statement. 'But the documents he signed state the exact profit allocation he now says he didn't know about. When Ms. Mah pointed that out, he refused to accept responsibility and filed a sham lawsuit,' the statement continued. Mah's lawsuit claims Caldbeck extorted her by threatening to broadcast her alleged fraud to her investors, the media and even the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Her lawsuit also pointed to Caldbeck's sordid past with sexual misconduct. Six women accused him of unwanted advances in 2017, The Information first reported. At the time, Caldbeck admitted to the allegations and resigned from his post at Binary Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm he co-founded. Mah said Caldbeck repeatedly made 'unwelcome' advances toward her, one of which allegedly occurred during a business meeting at West Hollywood's Pendry hotel in June 2022. In her lawsuit, she alleged Caldbeck 'touched the upper-most part of [her] thigh and put his hand next to her genitalia' after consuming several drinks. Barrica, the woman accused of having an affair with Mah, filed her own lawsuit on May 20. Like Mah, she accused Caldbeck of sexual harassment and extortion. She described an alleged incident where she claims he repeatedly tried to get on top of her and kiss her in an Uber while they were in Paris. Caldbeck denies this ever happened. According to Barrica's lawsuit, Caldbeck tried to, 'leverage his repulsive behavior by threatening to spread objectively false allegations' that she was in a relationship with Mah. Representatives for Mah and Barrica said the two are best friends and have never been romantically or sexually involved. The representatives added that both women were in committed relationships at the time these allegations were made. According both women's lawsuits, they tried to keep a professional relationship with Caldbeck until they had a falling out over his claims of their financial malfeasance. Caldbeck allegedly told her at one point: 'Even if Jess said that I raped her, I wouldn't care. My investors wouldn't care either,' his lawsuit states. Caldbeck's spokesperson, Sallie Hofmeister, dismissed Mah's claims as, 'nothing more than a calculated effort ... to distract from credible accusations that they have misused millions of dollars of investor funds'. 'Nearly a year ago, she explicitly threatened to weaponize past allegations against Mr. Caldbeck if he pursued legal claims related to fraud and embezzlement against her,' Hofmeister told Daily Mail.
