- 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.
What I’m reading is that the guy with a rifle, Gamboa, has attended protests armed before. It looks like the peacekeeper thought he was a shooter, but there’s no evidence so far Gamboa did anything illegal.
Yeah in another thread there’s an interview of the rifleman from his time in a punk band talking about the system. This is likely going to be a shit show when the partisan pundits pick it up
Yea what I read was that he was “pointing a rifle at protesters”.
Don’t aim a gun at a person if you are not ready to fight and die.
I would argue this is not only self defence, but public defence.
Edit: looks like its not completely clear if he was brandishing the rifle or just open carying, obviously my argument doesn’t technically hold water if he was just open carrying.
I would also argue that open carying a weapon well know for use in mass shootings right next to a large crowd is probably a dumb idea even if it’s legal to do.
As he should.
Brandish a firearm in public, you are attempting to intimidate others, so you’ll get treated like the terrorist you are.
Isn’t this what the NRA wants? Sounds like a good guy with a gun stopped a potential mass shooting.
I just posted elsewhere, but in short, there’s no proof that Gamboa brandished a gun, and I’ve seen a video which looked like he was pointing the rifle downward. Not saying it can’t go the other way once more info comes out, but just like when you shouldn’t automatically take the police’s word when they shoot someone, we shouldn’t take the word of private security.
Pedantic arguments about the word brandish are pointless. He was walking through a crowd with a a rifle and wearing a mask. We don’t like it when the cops do it and shouldn’t tolerate it when anyone else does either. It’s too risky for us all and mass shootings are a real danger here.
That’s not the law, or reality in America. It’s a regular occurrence at certain protests for people to open carry weapons. Not saying I would do it, but it’s not sufficient cause to shoot someone.
Brandishing a weapon is not the same as carrying it. Brandishing is what you do when moving the firearm in a way that indicates you are threatening to shoot. In the worst case, it involves pointing the firearm at someone.
If someone purposely points a firearm at you, you have every right to fire in self defence. At least those were the rules of engagement we were taught regarding interactions with civilians at home when I was in the army.
This gif isn’t loading on my phone, but supposedly it’s the same as a video I had seen earlier - it shows Gamboa walking towards the street but his rifle is pointed down. It also shows the yellow vested people pointing their guns toward him. If the gif also doesn’t work for you, scroll further up in the thread to at least see screenshots. The op of that thread, Chad Loder, has been commenting on this shooting a fair amount. https://bsky.app/profile/nope-notnow.bsky.social/post/3lrp7xsx3vs22
I was commenting on the general situation of “are you justified in treating someone brandishing a weapon as a lethal threat?”, not the specifics of this situation. I haven’t seen the video, so won’t comment on whether this person specifically was brandishing or not.
Open carry and brandish have distinct legal definitions.
This gif isn’t loading on my phone, but supposedly it’s the same as a video I had seen earlier - it shows Gamboa walking towards the street but his rifle is pointed down. It also shows the yellow vested people pointing their guns toward him. If the gif also doesn’t work for you, scroll further up in the thread to at least see screenshots. The op of that thread, Chad Loder, has been commenting on this shooting a fair amount. https://bsky.app/profile/nope-notnow.bsky.social/post/3lrp7xsx3vs22
Oh to be clear I wasn’t arguing the reality, but brandishing is what he’s accused of and that’s legally very different from open carrying.
Also it wasn’t open carried to the protest, it was retrieved mid protest from a hidden location
This gif isn’t loading on my phone, but supposedly it’s the same as a video I had seen earlier - it shows Gamboa walking towards the street but his rifle is pointed down. It also shows the yellow vested people pointing their guns toward him. If the gif also doesn’t work for you, scroll further up in the thread to at least see screenshots. The op of that thread, Chad Loder, has been commenting on this shooting a fair amount. https://bsky.app/profile/nope-notnow.bsky.social/post/3lrp7xsx3vs22
That is what I’m thinking. At first I went along with the speculation that Gamboa was intending to shoot into the crowd. But after reviewing the video, it looks more like he was just walking and open carrying with the rifle pointed down. It might not have been the best move in hindsight, but he had the legal right to do so.
Also after listening to his Slugmag interview I’m just not seeing the motivation for a mass shooting. Unless maybe he intended to shoot cops or something. He just doesn’t seem to fit the profile & ideology of a mass shooter.
Edit: the interview if anyone is curious https://www.slugmag.com/soundwaves/episode-364-rade/
Which video are you talking about? Please provide a link.
EDIT: I think this is it. The short snippet shows the barrel pointed down. Having a masked gunman in a crowd of people is terrifying af!
https://imgur.com/a/z3J25EB
Helpful link, thank you
Dressed in all black with a mask and a gun walking briskly toward a crowd…
Exactly. The peacekeeper who shot into the crowd should be charged instead.
I dunno about that. The peacekeeper saw the dude go retrieve a rifle, confronted him, and he ran aiming the rifle at the crowd.
I suppose your argument is that the guy hadn’t actually pulled the trigger when the peacekeeper acted? That seems insane to me.
No confrontation is in the article. If you have another source that says there was, please provide it.
Edited the order of events in my comment. Sounds like the confrontation didn’t happen until after he grabbed his rifle.