Arturo Gamboa, a 24-year-old man, faces serious charges following an incident during the “No Kings” protest in downtown Salt Lake City. Police took him into custody on Saturday night. They charged him with murder for instigating a situation, including pulling out a rifle and putting everyone’s lives at risk, which ended in an innocent bystander being killed.
It was around 8 PM when the following events transpired, with Gamboa eventually breaking away from a larger group of protestors. He immediately ducked behind a barricade to retrieve an AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle. Milwaukee police found the rifle, a gas mask and a backpack used in the attack during their investigation, authorities said. As he continued down the street, witnesses say he raised the rifle into a firing position and ran toward the now-dispersing crowd.
As Gamboa continued toward the crowd with the weapon, he claims he was approached by two unalerted peacekeepers, clad in vests and equipped with handguns. In this altercation, one of the men in the vests shot Gamboa, leaving him with a .22 caliber wound that was later assessed as not life-threatening. After his arrest, his wounds were treated before being booked into jail.
Detectives are still investigating the circumstances that led Gamboa to attack. What they have yet to do is find out why he decided to pull the rifle. Significantly, Gamboa had no previous criminal record, and it is unclear why he was acting so aggressively toward protesters.
Witnesses recorded violent moments on video, showing calls for Gamboa to put down his weapon. One individual can be heard saying, “That’s a gun. Come on, come on, get out.”
Gamboa’s behavior during the protest has created a tremendous outcry from the community, which is apparently felt by law enforcement. We hope the police investigation continues to canvass and work in order to better understand what happened to this young man and what led to his tragic death.