SLCPD to brief Utah lawmakers on ‘No Kings’ protest shooting investigation, Sen. Weiler says

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Chief Redd of the Salt Lake City Police Department will be briefing Utah lawmakers Wednesday about their investigation into the shooting that took place at the ‘No Kings’ protest on Saturday, according to State Sen. Todd Weiler.

SLCPD will be briefing Senate majority and minority caucuses and House majority and minority caucuses, beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

Sen. Weiler (R-District 8) spoke to ABC4.com about the briefing, what he expects, and his initial thoughts on the shooting. He said that he is guessing that these will be short five-to-eight-minute briefings.

Usually, Senate and House minority caucuses are open, he said, so some of these briefings Wednesday should be open to the public.

Weiler said he is hoping the police will have a lot more information to give them during the briefing. “I expect on Saturday night that they really hadn’t put the pieces together, and maybe on Sunday that they had started to put them together…” he said. “But by Wednesday at noon, I would think that they should have at least a lot of the pieces put together.”

He noted that everyone in the crowd probably had a cell phone, and there are probably a lot of videos out there that will provide information to the police. “I think that helps piece together the facts, you know, more so than maybe people spinning the facts to try to say it wasn’t their fault,” he explained.

“There’s a father that didn’t go home to his kids that night,” Weiler said, referring to Afa Ah Loo, who was killed in the crossfire. “And, you know, it’s a heartbreaking story to read about this great man who’s now dead for no apparent reason.”

Weiler said that he doesn’t have all the details on the shooting yet, but based on the videos he’s seen, he’s not sure why 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa was arrested.

“We’re an open carry state,” Weiler said. “I’m not even sure if the gun he had was loaded. I think it was an unwise decision for him to show up at the rally with a gun like that, but he did, but that’s not illegal. If he was pointing and shooting, that would be illegal, of course.”

He also discussed the ‘peacekeeper’ who opened fire on Gamboa, who was a “safety volunteer,” according to organizers.

“I thought it was very interesting that the shooter on Saturday, you know, had not, was not a former police officer,” Weiler said. “Personally, I’d be a lot more comfortable, you know, with security at an event like that, with somebody who has been trained as a police officer.”

The ‘peacekeeper’ was not a former police officer, but he was a military veteran, protest organizers said.

Weiler wanted to stress that Utah is an open carry state. “If you see someone with a gun, you don’t get to shoot at them. That’s just not how it works. So, apparently, you know, that message needs to get out now.” he concluded.

Nick Butts contributed to the reporting of this story.