SALT LAKE CITY — No longer fearful of facing charges, the man seen carrying a rifle at this summer's No Kings protest in Salt Lake City, allegedly sparking the fatal shooting of a bystander, spoke for the first time about the incident.
"From the moment that everything happened, I was treated as a psychopathic villain," said Arturo Gamboa on Tuesday.
Watch full Gamboa press conference in video below:
Gamboa was apprehended by police in the immediate moments after the June 14 shooting that killed fashion designer Afa Ah Loo. During the protest, Gamboa was seen walking with an AR-15 rifle, leading members of the event security staff to be concerned about his intent and the possible threat of a mass shooting.
"I did not fire a single shot. I did not have any ammunition in the rifle," explained Gamboa. "However, the blame was placed squarely on my shoulders."
During his hour-long press conference, Gamboa reflected on the events of that day and his involvement, claiming he was simply exercising his First and Second Amendment rights as he had done at many similar events in the past.
"I believe that it is the right of every person, without restriction, to utilize their constitutional rights, and the Second Amendment right is not a right that is restricted to any particular political ideology, any particular viewpoint, any particular race, ethnicity, creed, gender," he said.
‘Peacekeeper’ charged with manslaughter in fatal No Kings protest shooting:
One of the volunteer peacekeepers, Matthew Alder, fired three times toward Gamboa, with one of those shots fatally wounding Ah Loo.
Gamboa was released from jail nearly a week later, as a deadline was reached without charges being filed against him.
Along with his attorney, Greg Skordas, Gamboa talked at length about his treatment after those tragic moments when the fingers started to point at him.
“To have to hold on your shoulders the weight of a false narrative of the psychopathic shooter who had intentions of mag dumping into a crowd. Who had intentions of doing something," Gamboa said. “With the loss of life, with the loss of soul, of a human being. And you know you didn’t do it... I believe in many ways, it is indescribable.”
When asked whether he would ever again attend a rally as large as the No Kings rally with a rifle, Gamboa answered, "I believe that the conditions would need to be correct in order for that to be a possibility."
Last week, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office announced that manslaughter charges were filed against Alder and that no charges would be brought against Gamboa, despite detectives finding that he was carrying the disassembled AR-15, three loaded magazines and a knife.
A colleague of Alder's on the event security team told police they had seen Gamboa "hide" behind a column and appear to pull out part of the rifle, and "was struggling" to put it together. The witness added that he understood Utah's open carry laws, but felt the situation involving Gamboa was different, as he was "assembling [the rifle] under cover.
The security team member called out "gun, gun, gun" over his radio as Gamboa moved towards State Street, and believed he was "about to commit a mass shooting," the indictment against Alder states. The unidentified witness added that he "should have dropped him," regarding Gamboa, but said he did not have a shot and told police, "there's no way I can shoot [Gamboa] when he's running toward a crowd."
At that point, Alder fired at Gamboa with a 9mm handgun.
Gamboa described as a punk rocker who often open-carries a firearm at protests:
Days after the shooting, Alder told detectives that he believed Gamboa was "psyching himself up" and looked to be in "combat mode."
“Oh, my God, this is happening, this is really bad, somebody’s going to get hurt,” Alder told detectives he thought to himself at the time.
Gamboa said Tuesday that he has yet to speak with Ah Loo's family and didn't reach out to respect their privacy, but hopes to arrange a meeting with them soon.
While mentioning his client has a five-figure medical debt for the injuries he suffered during the incident, Skordas said Gamboa will not take legal action until the Ah Loo family has their own chance to seek damages.
