Arturo Roberto Gamboa

Arturo Roberto Gamboa was born to a Venezuelan-immigrant father and an Alabaman mother. From childhood he turned to music to reclaim the Indigenous heritage that colonialism and imperialism had fractured. His LDS upbringing, however, pushed him toward white-American cultural norms, leaving him feeling divided.

Gamboa’s Mormon half of the family has a long record of U.S. military service. Observing both the devastation America inflicted abroad and the psychological toll those wars took on his relatives, he concluded:

“The American system is a steam train that’s always been fueled by Black and Brown bodies and by the emotional, physical, and spiritual pain of poor people … It was very clear that only white men were considered equal. That opened the floodgates for me to understand the real horrors of living in America.”

The 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin – and George Zimmerman’s acquittal – crystallized his view of U.S. white supremacy. Subsequent years brought Richard Spencer’s open neo-Nazi rhetoric, relentless police brutality against minorities, and fresh rounds of violence in Palestine, all of which deepened his resolve to resist.

Arturo needed to create community, channel his frustration, and a way to call for change. So, around 2015/2016 he relied upon his affinity for music and co-founded the punk band “RADE” with vocalist Sam Gilchrist, guitarist Andrew Bergstrom, and bassist Brianna Thatcher. They performed for quite a few years around Salt Lake City, and even raised funds for “The Beehive“, a venue where the punk rock community could perform their music. He and Gilchrist did an interview with SlugMag where they talked about their art and beliefs.

After the murders of George Floyd, the shootings of Jacob Blake, and Kyle Rittenhouse’s mass shooting, Gamboa decided that openly carrying firearms – legal in Utah – was a necessary act of community defense: the proverbial “good guy with a gun.” He became a visible, law-abiding, armed presence at demonstrations and associated with groups such as Utah Against Police Brutality, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, 50501, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

On June 14th, 2025 he joined the “No Kings” protest, armed as he had been on prior occasions, near 151 S State St, Salt Lake City, UT 84138 (40°45’56.5″N 111°53’16.7″W). Two unnamed event security guards, alarmed by Gamboa’s militia-style appearance, fired three rounds: two struck Gamboa and a third killed bystander Arthur Folasa Ah Loo. The security guards accused Arturo of pointing the rifle at the march, but this video evidence clearly shows that his rifle is pointed down, and he seems caught off guard by the security guard shooting.

Bleeding, Gamboa retreated to the awning of 102 S 200 E Ste 800, Salt Lake City, UT 84111 (40.7669686, -111.8856085), stowed his rifle in his backpack, and sheltered with other protesters – evidence he had no intent to return fire even while under attack. A nearby civilian noticed the rifle, removed it, alerted police, and Gamboa was arrested.

The Salt Lake City Police Department then issued a statement saying they “have developed probable cause that Gamboa acted under circumstances that showed a depraved indifference to human life, knowingly engaged in conduct that created a grave risk of death and ultimately caused the death of an innocent community member.” These allegations seem uncharacteristic for Arturo Roberto Gamboa, because he has a long history of vocally sharing his distress when the innocent suffer. He felt that he and his community were in such danger that he needed to exercise his 2nd amendment rights, which he did so lawfully.

In this same press release, the security guards who shot 2 innocent people and killed 1, are consistently referred to as a “peacekeeper”, remain un-named, and not held accountable for their reckless actions. From what wee can see of the footage, one of the security guards was wearing a yellow vest, jeans, a red bag, and a hat. One of the people who came to Arthur’s aid matches this description perfectly.

Only days after the protest has SLCPD started considering that this man may hold blame, and clarified “peacekeeper” was not a formal designation and the security guard was not authorized to be armed on behalf of the protest.

It seems to me that Arturo Roberto Gamboa was lawfully exercising his 2nd amendment rights as he had before. Two un-named security guards got spooked by Arturo Roberto Gamboa, shot him as well as shot and killed Arthur Folasa Ah Loo.

For justice to be served, I believe that these un-named shooters should be charged in the death of Arthur, not Arturo.

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Arturo Roberto Gamboa is released

I am writing this at nearly 1AM on June 23rd, but I am thrilled to give this update: Utah Third District Judge James Blanch has admitted that there is no compelling reason for Arturo to be held, and has signed an order to release him today. Aggravatingly, we have also since learned that there wasn’t even ammo in Arturo’s gun; he never should have been imprisoned this long.

Other good news is that the actual shooter has been identified: Matt Alder, a former soldier.

Despite the police Utah50501 group protecting this shooter, Matthew Alder was recognized from a news clip that he was in just weeks prior to him shooting and killing Arthur Folasa Ah Loo. His name has been circulated for a couple days until Utah Political Watch confirmed this.

There are some who have wondered if Alder is the shooter, but based off of the video above with the pictures up above, wee can match his tattoos and confirm he is the real shooter.

There has yet to be word if Alder will be charged.

Utah 50501 has been condemned by the national group for using armed security guards. They likely knew that Alder was the shooter, but covered for him. It seemed as if they were fine letting the left-wing Latino man take the fall for the actions of a white man.