Utah News Dispatch
Salt Lake City changes special event permitting process after deadly ‘No Kings’ protest
People take cover after gunshots rang out during the “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
A Salt Lake City review of the special permitting process used for June 14’s “No Kings” protest revealed the applicant didn’t disclose their plans to use armed “peacekeepers” and may have submitted the application under an alias.
After that demonstration ended with a “peacekeeper” shooting and killing Afa Ah Loo, an innocent bystander, the city is changing its permitting application requirements. The change is meant “to support public safety, minimize impacts on surrounding neighborhoods, and further protect all individuals’ First Amendment rights,” according to a news release from the city.
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“Our City is one where our right to free speech and peaceful assembly is both celebrated and encouraged,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in a statement. “The permitting process is not about reviewing an organizer’s message or purpose — it’s a way for the City to better understand what will occur on its streets and in its public spaces. These updates will strengthen that process and give the City clearer information to support public safety.”
Starting in 2026, applicants for permits will have to answer additional security-related questions, in addition to providing a day-of-event point of contact and attesting to the truthfulness of the application, the release says.
Under the new process, applicants expecting to have their own event security will also be required to submit a security plan in advance to allow for better coordination with the city’s police department. And, any false information provided in the application could result in criminal charges.
Utah50501, the group that organized the protest, has denied requesting that its volunteer security team carry weapons during the demonstration. After Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said the state’s Department of Public Safety warned organizers against using “peacekeepers” in the protest, the organization said Cox had been misinformed.
“The organizers of Utah50501 are not aware of anyone having such a conversation with DPS in which they were ‘warned’ against having a volunteer safety team at events,” Utah 50501 organizers said in a July statement. “At no time did Utah50501 request or require any safety and de-escalation volunteers to carry weapons. No organizers in Utah50501 ever said to DPS, ‘we think it’s a good idea’ for our safety volunteers to carry weapons, and any claim to the contrary is false.”
According to the Salt Lake City Police Department, the shooting happened when two volunteer “peacekeepers” confronted 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa after seeing him openly carrying an AR-15-style rifle, which, according to the organization, made them believe “there was an imminent threat to the protesters.”
One of the volunteers fired three shots with a handgun, grazing Gamboa but also hitting Ah Loo, who was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Both openly carrying weapons at protests and using force in self-defense are allowed under Utah law.
