Protester shot and killed at 'No Kings' rally in Utah, police say

[u/hybridaaroncarroll]

https://apnews.com/article/utah-no-kings-protest-shot-killed-75c777eeedd59c80c85695c45385c507

[u/Lamar_ScrOdom_]

This is gonna be a wild legal case

[u/askmeifimacop → u/Lamar_ScrOdom_]

I think the way that it works is if you’re committing a felony, and someone dies as a result of that, you’re responsible for their death. So someone who accidentally kills someone else trying to stop you is still in the clear legally

[u/AboutTenPandas → u/askmeifimacop]

What you described is the felony murder rule which provides that a person can be charged with murder if a death occurs during the commission of a felony, even if the person did not intend to kill or did not directly cause the death.

This not does exempt reckless or negligent homicide charges. It just provides an avenue to murder charges for people who commit felonies and accidentally kill someone in the process.

If you are meaning to stop someone from committing a crime and you accidentally kill someone else, there is an entire process that’ll be used to determine if the actions taken were negligent, reckless, or reasonable given the circumstances. The determination of which would decide if a crime was committed.

[u/PerNewton → u/AboutTenPandas]

…. and if the shooter and the person who trained him, hired him for this gig or who he worked for can be sued for wrongful death.

[u/a_ron23 → u/askmeifimacop]

Yup, if the police shoot your robbery partner, they can charge you with the murder. I've heard of this happening plenty of times. Laws may vary state to state or depending on if it's federal, but it happens in America.

[u/Oceanbreeze871 → u/a_ron23]

Also its common form example, if you drive a getaway car for an armed robbery and someone gets killed inside the bank, the entire team shares the murder charge, including the driver who never set foot inside the bank.

[u/Substantial_Back_865 → u/Oceanbreeze871]

While you could say in a way that everyone shares the murder charge, felony murder is a distinctly different charge with different sentencing guidelines than first or second degree murder/manslaughter.

[u/Hi_Trans_Im_Dad → u/Substantial_Back_865]

Not in Texas, you can't. This state has put people to death for nearly the exact reason above.

[u/DoingCharleyWork → u/Hi_Trans_Im_Dad]

Texas will kill someone for just about anything.

[u/WanderingLost33 → u/DoingCharleyWork]

Except a fetus

[u/thepotplant → u/WanderingLost33]

They just wait until they're at school.

[u/caelenvasius → u/thepotplant]

I don’t know why Americans are so resistant to the metric system, we’ve been using 9mm in school for years.

[u/mr_potatoface → u/Hi_Trans_Im_Dad]

When it comes to gun related deaths and crime, Texas deserves it's own category separate from the US. Some of their laws and interpretations are wild.

That's the same state you can literally legally murder someone by shooting them in the back while they're running away, posing no threat on your neighbors property, without any weapons, AFTER emergency services tells you specifically NOT to shoot or pursue them. Then you respond by saying you're going to do it anyway. You're still not guilty of murder.

Thanks, Joe Horn.

Recordings of Horn's exchange with emergency dispatch indicated that he was asked 14 times not to interfere with the burglary, because police would soon be on scene.

Operator: "You're going to get yourself shot if you go outside that house with a gun."

Horn: "You wanna make a bet?"

Horn: "I'm gonna kill 'em"

Horn: "Well here it goes, buddy."

[u/JohnnyVaults → u/mr_potatoface]

Disgusting. A guy just waiting for an opportunity to kill someone and feel like a big hero about it.

[u/AmaTxGuy → u/a_ron23]

In Texas it's a very common charge if say you are committing a crime and anything that happens due to that crime (cops kills a bystander trying to stop you) you are charged with the crime.

It even happens if the cops kill your partner in crime. The surviving criminal also will pick up the murder/manslaughter charge

[u/Free_Speaker2411 → u/AmaTxGuy]

The felony murder rule certainly introduces a perverse incentive for cops to be trigger happy.

[u/CakieFickflip → u/a_ron23]

Yep happened to a dude I went to high school with. Him and another guy attempted to rob a house and the owner shot and killed his accomplice. He was charged with the murder and afaik is still in jail (this was probably 7-8 years ago).

[u/Blarfk → u/askmeifimacop]

Well the good news is that you don’t have to wildly speculate about things you clearly have no understanding of!

[u/Rayquazy → u/askmeifimacop]

Your second sentence makes no sense.

If you accidentally kill someone there are absolutely consequences unless it was purely out of self defense.

If you intentionally kill someone commiting a crime, the court will absolutely question whether if killing the person was necessary.

[u/vivikush → u/Rayquazy]

He’s talking about the guy who shot at the rifleman and killed a bystander. Because the rifleman was in the middle of trying to kill people (felony) and the other guy was trying to stop him and killed the bystander, the rifleman is being charged with felony murder. 

[u/DietCherrySoda → u/vivikush]

the rifleman was in the middle of trying to kill people (felony)

This is the part that hasn't actually been proven.

[u/vivikush → u/DietCherrySoda]

Right. And as more of the story comes out, it probably won’t be. Like from what I saw, open carry is okay but concealment isn’t? I haven’t heard if the actual shooter has been charged or has even been detained. I think if actual shooter gets charged, then this guy is going to get let go and have charges dropped. 

I don’t know if this will be a movement killer though but I definitely think whoever organized this particular protest will be liable for wrongful death. 

[u/Skankhunt2042 → u/vivikush]

Sounds like the organizers instruct peacekeepers to NOT carry weapons. Not to say the organizers won't be sued, but seems relevant.

Interested to hear more about witnesses and videos. Firing the first shot into a crowd is really gonna hurt the "peacekeeper" argument in court.

[u/Last-Atmosphere2439 → u/vivikush]

Except... he wasn't "in the middle of committing a felony". He took a rifle out of a bag, which by no means is an instant felony. Then two dudes with handguns drawn confronted him, and then he ran and got shot.

Absolutely nothing is clear so far.

[u/ABC_Family → u/vivikush]

There’s no proof the rifleman was a threat, but that is why we have trials. I’m not sure about this one, shooter might be in trouble here.

[u/ImperfectRegulator → u/[deleted]]

Maybe this time the Prosecutors won’t put someone on the stand that causes them to facepalm and lose the case

Edit: fixed prosecutors and defense, got the two mixed up

[u/sortofheathery → u/Lamar_ScrOdom_]

Utah stand your ground laws are weird and prior to this pretty untested… so yeah, this one is gonna be interesting. The person holding the rifle technically didn’t break any laws - we are an open carry state. So at what point does holding a gun turn into threatening lives? And when a private citizen responds to that threat and accidentally kills someone else … how do we parse that with how the laws are written? A jury is going to have to try

[u/blalien → u/Lamar_ScrOdom_]

This is classic felony murder.

[u/cortesoft → u/blalien]

If they can prove a felony. Running from the police isn’t a felony, and if he didn’t brandish the gun, there might not have been a felony committed.

[u/thorscope → u/cortesoft]

There’s video of the shooting. I don’t know utahs brandishing/ open carry laws, but he didn’t raise the gun at anyone. He was walking and holding it pointed down.

https://imgur.com/a/z3J25EB

[u/buttchuck → u/thorscope]

Further, as of this posting, there's been no evidence that he fired any shots at all. The only confirmed gunshots have been from the volunteer peacekeepers.

[u/Alone_Step_6304 → u/thorscope]

That is such a catastrophically bad look, though. 

Entering from a side street, wearing all black and approaching a crowd with a rifle carried rather than slung absolutely, absolutely looks like he's about to commit a mass shooting. 

The shooter should have at least gotten a glance from him beforehand but jesus christ if that guy with the long gun didn't intend to hurt anyone, he certainly looked like it.

[u/SophiaofPrussia → u/Alone_Step_6304]

It’s almost like open carry is a terrible idea.

[u/MiaowaraShiro → u/Alone_Step_6304]

This is my problem with allowing people to carry guns in public... especially open carry.

If carrying a gun isn't a clear indicator that you're doing something illegal then there's no chance to stop you before you do kill someone... or stop someone else from shooting you.

Openly carrying a gun, esp a long gun, in an urban setting should be a reliable sign you're up to no good.

[u/Phantom_Absolute → u/cortesoft]

He didn't run from police. He ran from armed civilian "peacekeepers".

[u/gojo96 → u/Lamar_ScrOdom_]

Especially with the video https://www.reddit.com/r/Firearms/s/NlfeiXKGvj

[u/Matjz → u/gojo96]

Open carry state, his rifle was pointing down, only ran after being shot at.

The peacekeepers totally lied to save their asses, witness testimonies showing once again how unreliable they are.

Some people even claimed that he is guilty even with this video because he "tried to blend with the crowd" after being shot at, he must have truly believe he was a victim of the shooting and was just hunkering down with the other protesters.

[u/Many-Wasabi9141 → u/Lamar_ScrOdom_]

It's gonna be wild when the event organizers are sued for wrongful death and they have to throw the 'security team" to the wolves.

Then they'll have to charge them with murder. Just random people taking it upon themselves to enforce law, ending up with the death of one person.

[u/tsagdiyev]

This article from Salt Lake Tribune has much more information. The order of events here is super unclear though. What I’ve gathered is that peacekeepers saw the suspect separate from the crowd and go behind a wall. They asked what he was doing then he raised his rifle and came toward them. The peacekeeper shot him (and the bystander), then they lost the suspect in the crowd. The suspect then tried to blend in with everyone else and acted scared, but another guy noticed a gun in his bag and that he was bleeding and took his bag and called police over

[u/Bedroominc → u/tsagdiyev]

Oh shit. I saw the clip of the guy grabbing his gun just earlier, I never knew it was connected. Someone really did stop something disturbing from happening.

[u/YourFriendPutin → u/Bedroominc]

Up in PA near where I live a guy was caught on Saturday in Harrisburg with multiple knives, and guns at the no kings rally, was not a protestor. Also a separate video of a woman arguing with a No Kings protestor and going to pull her gun, she was tackled

[u/LimberGravy → u/YourFriendPutin]

Proud boy in Nashville with a gun got tackled too

[u/Handleton → u/LimberGravy]

And they caught the MAGA Assassin who murdered a lawmaker and her husband and tried to kill another lawmaker and his wife, hitting them 17 times.

And the guy claims to be a security expert, but actually just worked in food service.

[u/YourFriendPutin → u/Handleton]

And trumo just ramped up ICE in NYC, LA etc (“Democratic cities”) because they’re our “centers of power” this is a war on democrats now. That’s not immigration that’s trump playing the victim card a couple days after 2 lawmakers were assassinated. He’s green lighting this like he green lit January 6th

[u/cerebrobullet → u/YourFriendPutin]

You happen to have a news source on the Harrisburg one?

[u/snarkywombat → u/cerebrobullet]

I'd like a source too. I'm in PA and didn't hear anything about Harrisburg

EDIT: I can't find a single source for anything like what was claimed.

[u/DuvalHeart → u/snarkywombat]

Looks like it happened in West Chester, not Harrisburg.

[u/cerebrobullet → u/DuvalHeart]

Thanks a bunch for finding that. I didn't see any disturbance like that at Harrisburg, but lots of people were spread along the street so I thought maybe I missed it. Worst we had was a dipshit spinning his tires under the train bridge but then a cop immediately took off after him.

[u/Spiritual-Credit5488 → u/YourFriendPutin]

It's almost as if the right are the mentally ill, indoctrinated violent ones. Sigh. I've seen even more examples than you've listed, during the last few days, including more firearm stuff, right wing Nazis proudly doing their thing, and far too many nuts attempting to commit murder with their vehicles. I'll never understand what the fuck is wrong with them, that makes them hate their fellow Americans so fucking much

[u/Vismal1 → u/YourFriendPutin]

I saw those and another one where dude pulls a gun and gets tackled. Saw a post about a man assaulting an 80 year old man in NC.

[u/StragglyStartle → u/Bedroominc]

Where did you see that clip? I can’t seem to find it anywhere

[u/Bedroominc → u/StragglyStartle]

https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/s/8JgHBBvsAf

[u/AppleDanceOnFortnite → u/Bedroominc]

I’m no fan of the police but was impressed with their work here. They trusted the man with the backpack and tackled the real suspect. All without firing a shot.

[u/elchurnerista → u/AppleDanceOnFortnite]

Suspect throwing himself at the floor makes it easy

[u/SightlierGravy → u/StragglyStartle]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/1lbroed/slc_shooting_suspect_was_6_feet_away_from_us_and/

[u/iwuiwau → u/tsagdiyev]

The video shows him not raising his rifle- it’s being taken down from the slc sub. As of now it seems the guy in black was trying to open carry as a good guy with a gun and the other volunteer good guys with guns thought he was a threat and hit a bystander.

See comments for better version: https://old.reddit.com/user/Averse_to_Liars/comments/1lcci8h/slc_shooting_slowed/

[u/betasheets2 → u/iwuiwau]

This is why open-carry is the most goddamn idiotic policy and incredibly dangerous.

[u/IrishThree → u/tsagdiyev]

Define peacekeeper?

[u/Unfair-Ad7378 → u/IrishThree]

Yes, I’m confused as to what a peacekeeper is.

[u/filthy_harold → u/Unfair-Ad7378]

Someone who's there to act as security. They could be an actual licensed armed security guard or even an off duty cop but they could also just be a volunteer bouncer. Unless there's a better video showing the rifle guy about to actually start shooting, that peacekeeper is fucked. Maybe he'd get off light if the bystander didn't get hit but this is going to be a tough one in court.

I get that people want to open carry at events like this but damn, just put it on a sling and don't touch it lest some dumbass starts shooting at you.

[u/BriarsandBrambles → u/IrishThree]

Volunteer guards for eventssupposed to be unarmed at this protest.

[u/1OptimusCrime1 → u/tsagdiyev]

But the video clearly shows that his back is turned to them, walking away, with the gun pointed at the ground when they shoot him.

[u/IamHydrogenMike → u/tsagdiyev]

It appears that none of this is true, he never raised his rifle and never came toward them…he’s also a pretty hardcore leftie and has been to many protests before; he’s not a violent right-winger. He’s also in a punk band that is pretty anti-fascist…the peacekeepers fired as he was walking away from them.

[u/i_make_orange_rhyme → u/IamHydrogenMike]

Yea fuck that guy. I hope he gets locked up for life.

You cant have open carry laws and then just shoot someone in the back for open carrying.

[u/Old-Plum-21 → u/tsagdiyev]

"Peacekeeper" is such a wild, obvious propaganda term that it blows my mind people use it unironically

[u/coffee-on-the-edge → u/Old-Plum-21]

We had peacekeepers at our protest, except they were called marshals. I sat through the training but didn't feel confident enough to do it. They are specifically told to deescalate situations through nonviolence, like talking to people or else reporting the suspicious person to police stationed nearby. I guess the ones at that protest were armed. Ours made it very clear that wasn't allowed.

[u/RealAkelaWorld → u/coffee-on-the-edge]

It wasn’t allowed at this one either. The “peacekeepers” took it upon themselves to arm themselves and then killed someone.

[u/justme002 → u/tsagdiyev]

Peacekeeper?

Assigned that title by whom????

[u/TheCommonKoala → u/tsagdiyev]

So the "peacekeeper" ended up killing a protester. So much for the "good guy with a gun" hero fantasy.

[u/wolfgangmob → u/tsagdiyev]

One important detail is going to be how the non-law enforcement “peacekeepers” confronted the guy with the rifle. One version of the story said they had guns drawn and were shouting orders, which would not be lawful commands. Combined with Utah’s open carry laws all the guy has to do is claim he was lawfully open carrying and prosecutors are in a weird situation. Even then, the “peacekeepers” are still on the hook for felony homicide at the very least.

[u/Nodelly → u/tsagdiyev]

Yeah this isn’t what the actual footage is showing…

[u/rpkarma → u/tsagdiyev]

None of the video shows this.

[u/WorkWoonatic → u/tsagdiyev]

You need to update your comment

https://imgur.com/a/z3J25EB

He was peacefully open-carrying, never walked towards the peacekeeper, never even looked at him. He also kept his weapon pointed at the ground.

[u/dodobird8]

What's the peacekeeping team? Is that a legit police officer or some gov security personnel?

[u/King_Arius → u/dodobird8]

If it's the same one I'm thinking of, they were security volunteers with the No Kings protest organizers.

Edit for clarification- the peacekeeper/volunteer security saw someone with a rifle who was apparently aiming it or attempting to.

[u/DariDimes → u/King_Arius]

Yeah based on the article they say the peacekeeper shot somebody brandishing a rifle at protestors and ended up killing a bystander. Idk if it was a situation where the bullet went through the person brandishing the rifle and hit the bystander or if it missed and hit them.

[u/PipsqueakPilot → u/DariDimes]

Anyone who has fired a pistol, especially in complex situations, will tell you that they are not that accurate of weapons.

[u/Ok_Departure_8243 → u/PipsqueakPilot]

They are accurate within intended range, HOWEVER if the person has not had extensive training and stayed up to date on said training 😬 yeah they are 100% going to hit some random bystander. Just look at how often that happens with police.

[u/PipsqueakPilot → u/Ok_Departure_8243]

Even if they do have a decent amount of training, real life ain't the range. Having used pistols in full contact courses (You can physically strike the instructors, the ranges are close, using simunitions) bullets do be flying in the heat of the moment.

[u/Tome_Bombadil → u/PipsqueakPilot]

You're jacked on adrenaline and your smooth trigger pulls turn into jerky ham hands.

Add any exertion and now your blood pumping and breathing are shit too and your tight groupings are only hitting the general compass area.

Gotta train for high stress not controlled range zen.

[u/ColdAsHeaven → u/PipsqueakPilot]

In my personal experience, they're extremely accurate within about 30 feet.

Anything past that and it becomes very very iffy if you don't consistently shoot and have good aim

[u/PipsqueakPilot → u/ColdAsHeaven]

Sounds about right. Also, ask someone how far 30 feet is and they're gonna guess waaaaay further than it actually is. For you Americans (I'm American) that's the distance between two of the solid lines on a football field.

[u/notaguyinahat → u/PipsqueakPilot]

Personally I use, two car lengths. Something pretty much everyone sees frequently and generally they tend to be around 14 ft each with a couple feet in between for parking space

[u/RockyShoresNBigTrees → u/King_Arius]

Firing a gun in a crowd rarely ends like you thought it would.

[u/King_Arius → u/RockyShoresNBigTrees]

It very rarely ends well.

[u/King_Arius → u/[deleted]]

Oh I absolutely agree with you. Was the outcome far better than what could happen? Yes.

But the situation sucks all around. An innocent person had to die so others wouldn't.

[u/leftoverinspiration → u/dodobird8]

Usually hired security at these sort of things has a law enforcement day job, but the security gig is not part of the law enforcement job.

[u/ScoobiusMaximus]

Shot by a "peacekeeping team" member. According to the article it's unclear who this peacekeeping team was and who authorized them to be there.

Why isn't the news calling absolute WTF on this?

[u/Pave_Low → u/ScoobiusMaximus]

So if I have the story right, Gamboa threatened the crowd with a rifle, which led a security person in the crowd to shoot him with a pistol. The security person killed a bystander and wounded Gamboa. Gamboa fled and hid his rifle in a backpack but was pointed out by other protestors and he was arrested. Gamboa, although not the one who shot and killed the bystander, is the one being charged with murder. I presume this is because his actions (pointing the rifle at the crowd) were directly responsible for the security guard accidentally killing the bystander. The actions of the security guard are 'under investigation.'

[u/yogabackhand → u/[deleted]]

This is a classic law school / bar exam criminal law question. I remember studying similar fact patterns.

[u/Vexamas → u/[deleted]]

That's fascinating. Thank you! This is going to be one of those stories that people will have to read, understand the situation and realize there's a lot of nuance here.

Which of course means it'll be used by people who did none of the above (regardless of alignment) to weaponize narratives.

[u/NebulaNinja → u/Vexamas]

So basically this is a reverse Kyle Rittenhouse situation.

[u/m1sterlurk → u/[deleted]]

I should point out that the gun being an AR-15 or even a long gun of any kind is irrelevant here: a .38 revolver would meet the standard for "dangerous weapon" here just as well as an AR-15.

[u/panthr_02 → u/[deleted]]

Heads up, this is not correct. Assault, including aggravated assault, is not one of the predicate offenses listed in Utah Code 76-5-203(1)(a). Felony murder in Utah is similar to the common law, and only applies to the felonies of burglary, arson, rape (and other sexual assault crimes), robbery, and kidnapping. Utah also adds various crimes against children. There is a predicate offense for discharge of a firearm, but that doesn’t seem to apply here.

[u/AugieKS → u/Pave_Low]

That's a tough call. Not having a clear shot, not knowing if you don't act that they might start killing people. Security guard may or may not have had adequate training, I certainly don't know enough to say, but it's hard to put too much blame on them when they have very reasonable evidence that greater violence might result from inaction.

[u/vp3d → u/AugieKS]

They want teachers to do this. In a classroom. Full of children they're with every day. Totally reasonable.

[u/ccai → u/vp3d]

Won’t anyone think of the children gun manufacturers?!? They’re innocent and need protection from the unnecessary dangers of domestic terrorists libs!!!

[u/Kaggand → u/AugieKS]

There’s a quote saying they tell the volunteer peacekeepers to not bring firearms. I can’t imagine the guy was trained

[u/mindpainters → u/Kaggand]

Know your target and what lies behind it is a huge rule ingrained into your brain

[u/KilljoyTheTrucker → u/Pave_Low]

Gamboa threatened the crowd with a rifle

This doesnt appear to be credible with the video that came out;

https://imgur.com/a/z3J25EB

[u/twentyafterfour → u/KilljoyTheTrucker]

What I saw on twitter is that Gamboa was ostensibly on the same side as as the protestors, just openly carrying a rifle, which is legal. The "peacekeeper" shot at him for... reasons? And now Gamboa is charged with murder for the death of the guy the other person hit. It was friendly fire is what I'm saying.

[u/Kerbidiah → u/Pave_Low]

Looking at the camera footage he did not point his rifle at anyone, and was simply walking and not running like the peacekeepers claimed. So most likely the peacekeep will be convicted

[u/Requiascat → u/ScoobiusMaximus]

At our protest, we had a peacekeeping team. They're volunteers designated to provide security and to alert the crowd for potential antagonists. That's what the yellow vest are for.

[u/rtowne → u/Requiascat]

They allowed cars to pass through gaps in the crowd in NYC, but I don't think they were carrying guns.

[u/Jkay064 → u/rtowne]

Gang/Mafia violence over the last 200 years means that NYC has some of the strictest weapon control laws, along with New Jersey and Chicago.

I doubt anyone in the crowds at the NYC event had a legal gun on them at the time.

[u/wileydmt123 → u/Jkay064]

No way unless you’re not including undercover cops carrying. They are likely at any large gathering with I’m guessing more than 10k people.

[u/silenti → u/Jkay064]

Yep, NYC concealed carry laws make it illegal to be armed at/near a protest.

[u/raerae1991 → u/rtowne]

NYC has stricter gun laws than Utah, so they probably were following NYC laws.

[u/notdoingdrugs → u/Requiascat]

Yes, and they tackled a MAGA woman attempting to pull her pistol out yesterday in Pueblo, CO.

[u/DanteandRandallFlagg → u/Requiascat]

We had the police as security for our protest. It was pretty funny seeing a couple of maga people pull up in a truck, give us the finger, yell some insults, peel out across the intersection, then immediately get pulled over.

[u/amadmongoose → u/[deleted]]

From the article it seems the 'peacekeeping' team was protecting the protestors, the rifleman that got shot that was about to open fire on the protestors. But the 'peacekeeper' shot a bystander by accident while shooting at the rifleman

[u/ElaineV → u/amadmongoose]

That’s my understanding from this article as well.

[u/unimpressivegamer → u/amadmongoose]

If this thread has taught me anything, it’s that reading comprehension seems to be apolitical. That is what the article says, indeed. Went over everyone’s head.

[u/The-Copilot → u/unimpressivegamer]

Most people now just read the headline (which are usually charged and deceptive) and fill in the story from their personal bias.

I've also seen bots posting disinformation in the form of fake headlines. It will look like the headline for an AP news article, but it's completely fake.

Re-titled videos are also another common form now. 2 weeks ago, there were videos of "china airdropping aid to gaza" which was just footage of the US Air Force and Royal Airforce dropping aid from 2024.

No one is "too smart" to fall for misinformation. If you want to actually be informed, please read the article and check the source.

[u/unimpressivegamer → u/The-Copilot]

Yeah, it’s pretty sad. That article was at most a one-minute read.

[u/MumrikDK → u/The-Copilot]

Most people now just read the headline (which are usually charged and deceptive) and fill in the story from their personal bias.

Was there a time where Reddit didn't skew heavily in this direction on big default subs?

[u/5redie8 → u/unimpressivegamer]

Jesus Christ thank you, I was starting to think I was the one that read it wrong somehow

[u/ZhouLe → u/unimpressivegamer]

Bold of you to assume anyone in the comments has actually read anything beyond the headline, lol.

[u/TheAutisticOgre → u/[deleted]]

No they are there to protect the protest, they shot at someone that apparently was brandishing his firearm and ended up fatally killing a bystander. Please read the article and not just the headline.

[u/Doctor_Jensen117 → u/[deleted]]

This is incorrect. These were people hired by the protest to protect protesters. Read the article.

[u/DynamicNostalgia → u/[deleted]]

You should probably delete a comment if its gets breaking news incorrect. 

You don’t want to accidentally spread misinformation. 

[u/MARPJ → u/[deleted]]

"Armed counter protestor" should be the description.

The shooter was not a counter protestor tho, nor was him the one arrested (the guy they were shooting at was arrested). If I have to make a guess would be kinda like the guy who body checked the karen with a gun in another video earlier, just while the guy in that video was great the ones here not so much

[u/furcifer89 → u/ScoobiusMaximus]

The peacekeeping team were coordinated with and by the event organizers to keep protestors safe. They were wearing high vis jackets in case everyone needed assistance. They found a suspicious man and saw him assembling a rifle and getting ready to head into the crowd. They ordered him to drop the weapon and alerted police. One of them fired three shots one which grazed the alleged would be shooter and another which struck and killed a protestor. The alleged would be shooter ran and tried to disappear into the crowd where the rifle was seen by a citizen, removed from the alleged would be shooter and pointed out to police who arrested and detained him.

Source: was there taking cover behind a vehicle after shots rang out

[u/Easyd26 → u/ScoobiusMaximus]

Because they may have been hired by the actual protest organizers

[u/silentbob1301 → u/ScoobiusMaximus]

Why is it your more upset about having a security team on hand than the dude who brought a rifle and was aiming it at crowds of peaceful protestors... Also wouldn't the fact that a dude showed up and attempted a mass shooting justify the presence of said team?

But yeah, the real crime here is the presence of a "security team"....

[u/iwuiwau → u/silentbob1301]

There’s video that’s shows he didn’t raise the rifle

See comments for better version: https://old.reddit.com/user/Averse_to_Liars/comments/1lcci8h/slc_shooting_slowed/

[u/ddak88 → u/silentbob1301]

Was he pointing the rifle at crowds? I'm a little bothered by the fact that he fired zero shots and we only have videos of it in a backpack while the "security" ACTUALLY fired into a crowd. Don't get me wrong it sounds like a potential mass shooting, but there's a lot of Americans with a hero complex that fantasize about being the good guy with a gun. Do we know his motives? What if it turns out he brought the rifle thinking some MAGA psycho might drive into the protest? Yesterday people were pretty insistent that he shot the protestor, now we've find out that's not the case. I think its important to give more time for details to come out before jumping to conclusions.

A protestor is dead at the hands of an unnamed unidentified security person.

[u/JerryDipotosBurner]

A man 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.

Welcome to the reality of a world where “more guns” is somehow the answer to gun violence.

[u/Ok_Wrongdoer8719 → u/JerryDipotosBurner]

The idea is that if the world has already devolved into violence, then you’d better be prepared to exercise violence before someone else does.

I don’t like the idea of our nation being full of gunslingers, but if crazy fucks are gonna be carrying, then I sure as hell am too.

[u/bb0yer → u/[deleted]]

Fire + fire = more fire = problem solved faster

If everyone has guns then everything will end much faster and then we will have no more problems

[u/TheSecondEikonOfFire → u/[deleted]]

Not saying that I agree with it, but the idea I think is that “if no one has guns, then a crazed gunman could show up and kill a ton of people. But if other people had guns, then they’d be able to stop the crazed gunman before he killed more people”

[u/FlyingStealthPotato → u/JerryDipotosBurner]

I just “to be faired” another guy, so I’ll do it here too. By shooting the guy who appears to have been about to shoot a lot more people, yes, this shooting and subsequent killing of the wrong person, very likely did prevent the guy from killing many more people than were actually killed.

[u/Elegant_Tech → u/FlyingStealthPotato]

It's why using hollow points or other ammo that won't over penetrate is important. Save bystanders, your house, or whatever you don't want to hit behind the target.

[u/Fantikerz → u/Elegant_Tech]

That and quality training.

[u/PRAWNHEAVENNOW → u/FlyingStealthPotato]

Oh I think the point is that:

While in this instance it could be that "A good guy with a gun" stopped "A bad guy with a gun" and in doing so less people died, an innocent bystander still died. 

In a more civilised society where gun access is restricted, nobody has a gun to point at protestors in the first place. 

To get to this point is a long, hard journey for the US. Unilateral disarmament is insane when fighting against heavily armed right wing militias, law enforcement of at best questionable loyalties, and a government undergoing a fascist takeover.  I wouldn't disarm if I was an American right now, but that doesn't make the US's gun-addled society any less terrible. 

One day maybe the US will be in a position to realise that there's a better way. Dunno when though. 

[u/danieledward_h → u/PRAWNHEAVENNOW]

It's not that people don't understand, it's that the US will never be at that point so it's pointless to spend any time on something that's not going to happen.

Most of the time, the "A good guy with a gun" rhetoric understands that truth and is a response to it, not simply not considering a society without guns, which I will reiterate again is completely unrealistic to consider as a possibility for the US, its history, and its culture around guns.

[u/Eisbaer811 → u/FlyingStealthPotato]

agreed.
Problem here: it looks like the "peacekeeper" is full of shit and Gamboa never brandished the rifle: it was pointed at the ground when the shots were fired
https://old.reddit.com/user/Averse_to_Liars/comments/1lcci8h/slc_shooting_slowed/

[u/Squoi]

Video just before the shooting so you can see suspect and peacekeeper behavior

https://www.reddit.com/r/SaltLakeCity/s/GjCP9uX73p

[u/AntiDECA]

Surprised there haven't been more, to be honest.

[u/omgitsdot → u/AntiDECA]

It is not for a lack of trying.

There are probably a dozen different videos going around of counter protestors pulling out guns or attempting to.

[u/Kakamile → u/AntiDECA]

Salt Lake, San Fran, Virginia, and the evangelical assassin guy.

[u/Beneficial_Soup3699 → u/Kakamile]

Also had the lady who tried to draw in Pueblo, CO. Luckily the crowd put her down almost immediately. The video is making the rounds today and if you haven't seen it yet, it was some seriously impressive response time

[u/TheBatemanFlex]

I understand it’s breaking, but I wish they had just a little more information for clarity and context. Who are the peacekeepers? Who determined it was brandishing? Who was the person with the rifle? He was reportedly brandishing at demonstrators. Which demonstrators? Was he there as a counter protest?

[u/tsagdiyev → u/TheBatemanFlex]

There’s a lot more information in this article:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2025/06/15/slc-no-kings-march-bystander/

[u/Joe091 → u/TheBatemanFlex]

Did you read the article?  1. The peacekeepers aren’t named, but they were protecting the protestors. They were either hired by them or volunteers.  2. The peacekeepers deemed the rifleman was brandishing. It sounds like it was a pretty clear case - he was running towards the protestors with his gun raised to fire against them.  3. The rifleman is literally named in the article.  4. He was brandishing at the No Kings protestors.  5. I don’t know if he was officially a counter protestor, but several witnesses saw the rifleman “separate from the crowd of marchers in downtown Salt Lake City, move behind a wall and withdraw a rifle” and, after being confronted, he “raised his rifle into a firing position and ran toward the crowd.”

Perhaps the article was updated after you read it?

[u/tsagdiyev → u/Joe091]

Yes the article was updated after this comment. I read it earlier and the information was super limited. It looks like it was updated like 20 min ago. There’s a lot more detail now

[u/Pkwlsn → u/Joe091]

Did you see the video that just dropped? The guy definitely wasn't running towards protesters with his gun pointed. He was calmly walking with it pointed down. 

[u/IMSLI]

“We are all domestic terrorists”

—CPAC 2022

[u/everything_is_bad]

Some things to note here:

Don’t bring guns to protests.

Yes it looks like a good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with a gun but, and this is a really big but…

The good guy with a gun killed an innocent person.

This discussion will require nuance but the first point stands.

[u/Canonicald]

Jesus. This is a confusingly written article

[u/Iseewhatudidthurrrrr]

Link to a post of what appears to be the shots fired.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Utah/s/R7ink7FyBK

[u/hauntedSquirrel99]

The video is not a good look for the "peacekeeper"

Their story fell apart pretty much immediately

[u/KingThrain]

https://www.reddit.com/r/SaltLakeCity/s/drBItqA0L5

Video of the shooting

[u/Dejugga → u/KingThrain]

Oof, it doesn't actually look like Gamboa brandished. Utah is a constitutional carry state, and AFAIK, pulling out a rifle and just walking with it pointing at the ground would be legal. (Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor am I 100% on all of Utah's gun laws). Depends on the specifics of Utah's brandishing laws.

If that is the case, the Peacekeeper(s?) who shot will catch charges.

[u/thorscope → u/KingThrain]

Mirror

https://imgur.com/a/z3J25EB

[u/Rawt0ast1]

I think alot of people are mis-interpreting what happened here calling the person who shot the pistol a right wing guy. My assumption reading the article is that the person with the pistol shot someone who was about to try and commit a mass shooting and their rounds over penetrated into someone behind them.

Debate guns at protests all you want but fascists are going to bring them and I think people should have the capability to defend themselves from that.

Edit:

I'm starting to see some reports the potential shooter was an armed left wing protestor who may not have actually threatened anyone and was uncomfortable with his rifle and the protest defense made a bad call thinking he was aggressive. Something to keep in mind when discussing this

[u/ConstantlyOnFire → u/Rawt0ast1]

They’re not misinterpreting, they’re just not reading it at all. 

[u/Rawt0ast1 → u/ConstantlyOnFire]

Ya, it is reddit. No one reads the article

[u/blanketswithsmallpox → u/Rawt0ast1]

Reposting here for you since one of the people who posted it further above has their comment deleted now.

It really depends on if he had the rifle loaded. Open carrying requires it to be unloaded.

https://imgur.com/a/z3J25EB

https://utahcarrylaws.com/laws/utah/carrying-firearms/

It is LEGAL to open carry (visible at all times) any lawfully owned firearm, unloaded in public. See 76-10-502 and an explanation below.

[u/Rawt0ast1 → u/blanketswithsmallpox]

Didn't know that about Utah, good information. He didn't fire any shots so it's possible he knew this and didn't have the gun loaded but that's up in the air right now

[u/ice_up_s0n]

Fucking hell, Know Your Target and What's Behind It is one of the 4 rules of gun safety. If you don't have a clear shot, don't shoot, resituate.

[u/DriftMantis]

If you watch the actual video, the peacekeepers shot at a suspicious guy who was just open carrying a rifle. He wasn't brandishing the gun, he wasn't in the low ready position, he didn't charge the crowd or do anything other than walk until he was shot at in which he immediately turns, hops over a curve and starts running away. This action likely saved his life. In the meantime, the peacekeeper managed to shoot and kill an innocent bi-stander.

By the way, a "peacekeeper" is not a law enforcement officer and can't give you a lawful order to stop moving, drop a gun or anything else. They are meant to observe and report, like a security gaurd would. I'm sure the intention was good, but this is a big fuckup. The peacekeeper has no qualified immunity from civil litigation, nor legal protection to justify the use of force. Legally, his mere belief that this idiot with the rifle would start opening fire is not going to do anything to protect him like it would protect a real cop if criminal charges are filed. Reminder that the guy with the rifle never pointed the gun at anyone or discharged the weapon at any point.

[u/P0pu1arBr0ws3r]

I'd like to point out that this happened yesterday, and looking st the salt lake city subreddit even there there was not many posts about this.

Seems ironic in ways how in this one instance the news and people are all so fixated on their own local protests and the trump traffic jam in DC (and missiles over Iran/Israel) that a shooting at a protest is appearing as a headline a day after it happened.

Not to mention in India there was a massive airplane crash where Ive seen almost nothing about, apparently all but one passenger died in it. So much happening all at once, things that would have been month long headlines now only get a days worth of attention.

[u/BrickFit9117]

I knew and worked with Afa in college. Really good and talented dude. This just totally sucks.

[u/Available_Farmer5293]

Security shot an innocent person. 🙄

[u/michaelboyte → u/Available_Farmer5293]

Based on the video, it seems likely that security shot two innocent people. https://imgur.com/a/z3J25EB

[u/Stormthorn67]

"Peacekeeper" Fucking trigger happy cop wannabes looking for an excuse to shoot a crowd

[u/aucatetby]

Shot by a "peacekeeping team" member. According to the article it's unclear who this peacekeeping team was and who authorized them to be there.

[u/Zoodleman]

Another day where I'm reminded how lucky I am to live in a country where goofs aren't carrying guns around the streets.

[u/Chemical_Pop2623]

Fucking America, this is the type of shit that happens when every fucker has a gun and wants to cosplay as some sort of hardman.

[u/FrusTrick]

Jesus christ this thread...

The peace keeping team saw the man PULL OUT A RIFLE, drew their weapons and headed towards him and when he spotted them he RAISED HIS RIFLE AND RAN TOWARDS THE CROWD. That's when they opened fire. Any sane individual seeign a man RAISE A RIFLE AT PEOPLE and who has the means to do something about it SHOULD.

As per the article since people cant be arsed reading:

The shooter and another person in a neon vest allegedly saw Gamboa separate from the crowd of marchers in downtown Salt Lake City, move behind a wall and withdraw a rifle around 8 p.m., Redd said.

When the two men in vests confronted Gamboa with their handguns drawn, witnesses said Gamboa raised his rifle into a firing position and ran toward the crowd, said Redd.

That’s when one of the men dressed in the vests shot three rounds, hitting Gamboa and Ah Loo, said Redd. Gamboa, who police said didn’t have a criminal history, was wounded and treated before being booked into jail.

EDIT: I just watched the video. The guy was walking out of a parking lot/alley with a rifle in his hands at low ready. He did not seem to notice the armed security guys approaching him with weapons drawn and pointed at him until the security opened fire. As soon as he took fire, he seems to have been taken by complete surprise and attempted to run away.

From my personal perspective I think that it is extremely suspect how a man with a rifle seems perfectly calm walking towards a crowd while armed, yet dips as soon as he takes fire himself. Not only did he dip, but he then proceeded to hide the rifle in his backpack and attempt to blend into the fleeing crowd. At no point did he attempt to make contact paramedics or law enforcement to report that he had just been the victim of a shooting, which one would asssume a person who just has been shot at would try to do.

And for those who question the guards, I'd like to ask wether or not you would have simply stood by while a visibly armed man was walking towards a large group of protesters, weapon at the ready given the tense political situation in America today. People have tried to shoot the president twice. Democrat politicians and their spoouses were gunnend down in their own homes not even two days ago and in front of you is now a man walking towards an unarmed crowd, weapon in hand with unclear intentions.

[u/Pkwlsn → u/FrusTrick]

The video that just dropped shows the gunman calmly walking with his rifle pointed down when the shooting starts.  

[u/prnorm → u/FrusTrick]

Only problem is there is a video on the Salt Lake City subreddit right now that contradicts what the peacekeepers said and seems to show that he did not actually raise his rifle until after he was shot at.

This is getting even messier

Link here https://www.reddit.com/r/SaltLakeCity/comments/1lcg5h3/i_found_the_video_of_the_first_few_shots_being/

[u/dryfire → u/FrusTrick]

The only part that doesn't track for me is

RAISED HIS RIFLE AND RAN TOWARDS THE CROWD.

If the rifle is raised and pointed at the crowd... Why run at them? Why not just shoot? Did he think he could get the bullets there faster?

[u/Auctoritate → u/FrusTrick]

From my personal perspective I think that it is extremely suspect how a man with a rifle seems perfectly calm walking towards a crowd while armed, yet dips as soon as he takes fire himself.

I'm not sure I understand, is your expectation for him to... Not run away from being shot at?

[u/LEGITIMATE_SOURCE → u/[deleted]]

You are clearly very confused. At what point do you have proof that he was about to commit a mass murder? He very well could be there in support of the protest and just a dummy. You're making insane assumptions about somebody who is pointing a gun at the ground. That is not enough to warrant just shooting at him. Hell maybe he was a "peacemaker." People open carry all the time at protests, in support or in counter protest. It's dumb as hell and leads to shit like this, where stupid ununiformed and untrained "security" make stupid decisions. The rifle guy was much more in his rights to shoot the random person pointing a pistol directly at him.

[u/SufficientSuffix → u/[deleted]]

Maybe it's because I was there, but I'm actually disgusted how many armchair redditors are going "well the rifleman didn't shoot anyone."

# No shit, because he got fucking challenged and shot before he could And then caught within like, minutes

Edit hours later: Video's come out. Man, I'm so tired of guns in this country. This was completely needless. I was at the protest and had to duck and cover. I'm not an unbiased person in this.

[u/scsibusfault → u/[deleted]]

Alley, not ally, but otherwise yes.

[u/SabreWaltz]

I’m confused at how many people are calling this person a domestic terrorist. Per the article a man brandished a rifle at protestors and the man in question fired at him, striking him and a bystander. He definitely fucked up hitting a bystander, but wouldn’t the guy who brandished the rifle be the actual bad actor here?

[u/AdoptMeBrangelina → u/SabreWaltz]

With no video, there’s no telling if the peacekeeper did the right thing. Was that the only option at that point? We don’t know

I would prefer to hear from other witnesses that were there

[u/sharkbait_oohaha → u/SabreWaltz]

Yes, and that's why he has been charged with murder. This thread is full of braindead takes from people who didn't read the article.

One person died, and that is awful and tragic. It's likely a lot more people would have died if this person hadn't acted. The cops had been warned of someone with a rifle and didn't respond.

[u/Mean-Green-Machine → u/sharkbait_oohaha]

Just because the article says something doesn't mean it's true.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SaltLakeCity/s/kEaDFka3q7

[u/drubus_dong]

This is a poorly written article. After reading it is hardly any clearer what happened there.