As I have written before and shall undoubtedly write again: chaos begets chaos. It is unavoidable. You cannot summon the spirit of Madame Defarge and expect to keep it contained. If you instigate a movement and accompanying protests that devolve into riots, those characteristics will naturally follow the movement, even if in its most peaceful incarnations. The organizers may have every intention of keeping things civil, but in 2025 America, these gatherings attract agents of destruction. Some may be deployed there, others may come on their own accord. They may be true believers in the cause célèbre, or they may just be attracted by the potential for violence like moths to the proverbial flame.

Saturday is errand day for me. That’s when I go to hardware stores, tire shops, or wherever else I need to go to ensure that the basic necessities of life are met. I look forward to it, since while I am theoretically being productive, that productivity requires very little actual effort on my part. This past Saturday, I planned to head to the farm and ranch store for chicken feed. As I was drinking my morning coffee, anticipating a lazy day of going from place to place, I saw that the local Fox affiliate had been kind enough to publish a list of all of the places where the “No Kings” demonstrations were slated to be held, complete with start times. One of them was scheduled for Provo, which is one city over from mine. I remembered the last time progressives had gathered en masse in Provo to protest. As regular readers may recall, my daughter had to bunker down with the grandkids because the insanity was unfolding a few blocks away. So with my wife asleep upstairs after a long night shift, I decided to stay close to home. The chances were low that a mob would come my way, but better safe than sorry.

As PJ Media reported this weekend, a man lost his life at the protest in Salt Lake City on Saturday. KUTV identified him as Arthur Folasa "Afa" Ah Loo. Ah Loo was a fashion designer and former contestant on the television show “Project Runway.” The man was initially reported to be a participant in the protest, but was later described as an innocent bystander. At last check, he was both. Whatever he was, Ah Loo did not deserve to be fatally shot.  

In part, because we have what could be described as a 24-second news cycle that engenders a “publish first, think later philosophy,” and because even the authorities were not completely sure what had happened, the local media coverage of the story was not entirely coherent and much of what happened was unclear until Sunday night/Monday morning. I sifted through the local news reports trying to sort out all of the facts. Eventually, I settled on KSL’s report.

The event organizers had contracted with a local group of “peacekeepers” who were wearing identifying vests. As of this writing, exactly who these peacekeepers were and what certifications and qualifications they may or may not have has not been made public. The man who fired the shot that killed Ah Loo is cooperating with the police. 

The peacekeepers reportedly saw 24-year-old Arturo Roberto Gamboa separate himself from the crowd, duck behind a wall, and begin “manipulating” a rifle. They called out to Gamboa to drop his weapon. At that point, one of the peacekeepers fired three shots, one striking Gamboa and another killing Ah Loo. Gamboa had a minor wound and attempted to hide in the crowd. Officers located and arrested him for investigation of murder. The Salt Lake Tribune noted that while Gamboa had not fired the shot that killed Ah Loo, the incident was a result of his behavior.

Gamboa had a backpack containing an “AR-15 style” rifle, a gas mask, and black clothing. If you look at the photo of Gamboa that accompanies the KSL story, he seems to be in a pretty good mood for someone who was just shot and arrested. In fact, he appears to be having the time of his life. In a world in which horrifying photos have become the norm, there is something even more disturbing than usual about the look on Gamboa’s face. Granted, I may be projecting, but Gamboa appears to be thoroughly enjoying the misery he just created. 

According to The Post Millennial, Gamboa is a supporter of Antifa and BLM who calls himself an anti-government radical. In two Facebook posts in June of 2020, he wrote:

Antifa means anti-fascist. If you are anti-antifa then you are pro-fascist... If you support Trump, you support a fascist. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. (sic)

Quit playing the electoral game. They use their two-faced tricks to pacify us. Justice must be taken into the hands of the people, by any means necessary.

 Exorcists will tell you that if you summon demons, even inadvertently through Ouija board, Tarot cards, or whatever, they will come, and once they get settled in, they are extremely hard to evict from one’s life. While the accuracy of that assertion depends on one’s theology, the same can be said for the riots for which the Left has become famous. You cannot engage in incendiary rhetoric, “get meaner,” or supply gas masks, bricks, and other paraphernalia, even in other parts of the country, and not expect someone to die at some point. Impassioned speeches and inflammatory social media posts will sooner or later open Pandora’s box. Once it is open, the curses and demons unleashed on the world will do exactly what they came to do, and no amount of posts about concern or condolences will stuff them back in. 

 It was reported by the media that the Salt Lake protest was peaceful. Some attendees said they felt as though they were having fun. That may be true, but chaos found them anyway, because chaos has been the hallmark of protests since the Summer of Floyd. And that chaos has been encouraged. You can’t exclude it anymore, after calling for it, nurturing, ignoring, and excusing it for so long. If you summon demons, the demons will come, and they will not behave the way you want them to or stay in their designated spaces. Given the violent nature of these protests elsewhere, and the tension that has the nation by the throat, even people with the best of intentions can find themselves in a maelstrom. Evil does not care who it destroys. 

So sure, the protests in Utah were peaceful, or so we were told. But one man is dead, and for Arthur Folasa Ah Loo’s family, that is one death too many, as it should be for all of us.

Things are getting rough out there, and events seem to unfold at an exponentially increasing rate. Here at PJ Media, we do our best to keep our eyes and ears open and bring you news and commentary to help you make sense of it all. If you'd like to be part of what we do here, consider becoming a VIP member. It's easy to do, and you can save 60% when you use the promo code FIGHT.