- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
A man who was believed to be part of a peacekeeping team for the “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City shot at a person who was brandishing a rifle at demonstrators, striking both the rifleman and a bystander who later died at the hospital, authorities said Sunday.
Police took the alleged rifleman, Arturo Gamboa, 24, into custody Saturday evening on a murder charge, Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said at a Sunday news conference. The bystander was Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, a fashion designer from Samoa.
Detectives don’t yet know why Gamboa pulled out a rifle or ran from the peacekeepers, but they accused him of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death. The Associated Press did not immediately find an attorney listed for Gamboa or contact information for his family in public records.
No, I saw that. Thing is he didn’t shoot. They did … into a crowd.
So who did the right thing here? The guy who didn’t shoot or the guy who shot into a crowd?
You don’t raise a gun and point it at people unless you intend to shoot it at them.
Should the peacekeeper have waited till he started spraying bullets until he fired on an obvious threat?
Maybe he should’ve waited until a few people got shot first. Or waited until there was at least a confirmed kill?
Should he have called 911 and said “officer there is a man here drawing an AR-15 on the crowd please hurry before he shoots somebody” and wait 15 minutes for the cop to arrive?
Like…I don’t know what you expect here. If there’s one time when it’s acceptable to shoot first, it’s when somebody already has a gun pointing at you.
This whole thing is a shining example of “good guy with a gun”. It’s the second-best possible outcome, only being better if Ah Soo weren’t struck in the crossfire. .
Where in the video did he raise his gun?
I don’t think you can see it in the video, but it is literally the first sentence of the article…
“Brandish” is a specific word. It implies aggression.
If I were to brandish a rifle at you, you would have every right to shoot me first and ask questions later. Especially given the circumstance and current events.
I’m going to go with the evidence I trust, the video, as opposed to the word of the guy who was specifically told he was not allowed to have a weapon that shot into a crowd. So far the evidence leaves me with doubt of the official story being reported.
Edit: to add to this, I live in Salt Lake and have attended many protests with this very man not more than five feet from me, he’s a left wing gun protection and safety advocate.
Even if no one shot, pointing a gun and charging at a crowd is dangerous. Causing a crowd to panic can cause crushing deaths.
Regardless, when a gun is pointed at something it is to shoot. The basics of gun safety is to assume every gun is loaded and only aim at things you mean to destroy.
It’s a bit unreasonable to defend the guy who rushed a crowd with a gun. However, it is completely understandable to criticize the person who shot into the crowd even if it was a defensive action.
Just to be clear here, the peacekeepers were civilians that organized themselves to defend protesters. Everyone involved in the shooting was a civilian. Police were only involved after the fact.
They chose to charge only one of the two people directly involved, and that’s the problem.
The Lawyers for the county/state/nation are in charge of deciding if there is enough evidence for an arrest. The charges for the man with the rifle are fairly straightforward. If you are committing a crime and someone dies, even if you don’t directly kill them, it is murder. Creating a panic in a crowd is a crime. All they need to prove in that case is he created a panic, and someone died because of it. They don’t need to prove intent to kill, just to scare the crowd.
For the man who pulled the trigger, it will probably be a lesser charge. He clearly didn’t intend to kill a bystander. So, they need time to collect evidence and to decide what charge to bring. That can actually take a while, and they might not feel that they can win a trial. In that case he would not be charged. It’s way more complicated in his case.
No, it would be a problem to charge someone for a crime when they were acting in defense of others. The guy with the AR is responsible for the death of the bystander, not the guy who stopped him.
Also, police don’t charge people with crimes.
The guy that tried to pre-emptively deal with a dumbfuck that brought a firearm to a public space to intimidate people who hold different political views than him.
You’re making excuses for the person who initiated the problem, because you’re massively pathetic.
Open carry is legal in Utah and several gun safety and advocacy groups are present and in support at every protest in salt lake, I’ve seen this guy before and have never felt threatened with him and his guns in the vicinity. Gamboa was allowed to have a gun, he had every legal right, the the guy who shot him specifically was told that he was to not be carrying a weapon.
You’re buying into a propaganda narrative.
Watch the video.
So the peace keeper should have waited until someone was murdered before taking action?