Lawyer for armed volunteer charged in No Kings killing says he didn’t break any laws

Matthew Scott Alder makes an appearance in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Pool photo by Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Prosecutors and defense attorneys both agree the armed protest volunteer accused of shooting and killing an innocent bystander in Salt Lake City in June was trying to neutralize what he thought was a threat. They disagree on whether what he did was a crime. 

The case got underway Tuesday as Matthew Scott Alder, 43, appeared in court for the first time to answer a charge of manslaughter, more than seven months after the shooting.  

Prosecutors say he was aiming at a man carrying a rifle when he mistakenly shot Arthur “Afa” Ah Loo at the No Kings protest on June 14. They allege Alder committed a crime with one “reckless” shot that hit Ah Loo, of three total. 

Alder, wearing a gray suit, stood quietly in court Tuesday during the brief hearing, lasting less than three minutes. He did not respond to a request for comment from Utah News Dispatch as he left the courthouse. 

His defense attorney Philp Wormdahl told reporters that Alder did not break any law and has a strong self-defense claim. Wormdahl said his legal team plans to make use of a 2021 Utah self-defense law requiring judges to dismiss certain cases early on if prosecutors can’t prove by “clear and convincing evidence” that the use of force was unjustified.

“Obviously, on that date in June, it was a great tragedy,” Wormdahl said. “But given the evidence that I’m aware of now, the lawyers who are involved in this are all uber-confident that no reasonable person could find that he wasn’t justified in his actions.”

Wormdahl noted charging documents quote a witness who told police she “was concerned for the lives of everyone around me” based on the actions of the man with the rifle. 

On Tuesday, a 3rd District Court commissioner ordered Alder to have his fingerprints and photograph taken at the Salt Lake County Jail. The commissioner scheduled a court date in March before wishing Alder luck. 

Alder has not been jailed in the case. Prosecutors said last month he is not a flight risk and requested a court summons instead. 

In June, Alder told investigators he saw someone “charging the handle” of a rifle, making it ready to fire, and moving toward the crowd. Alder yelled for the man to stop to no avail, charging documents say, and thought the man wielding the gun was going to “mag dump into a crowd of people.” He told police that what he saw “scared the hell out of me.” 

In announcing the charge against Alder in December, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill drew distinctions between the first two shots that wounded Arturo Gamboa in the abdomen and hit his gun, and a third that had a different backdrop “within a large gathering with so many different people,” including Ah Loo. 

Gill cleared Gamboa, who was originally jailed for six days as Salt Lake City police said they were investigating him for murder. Gamboa has said his weapon was unloaded and he was exercising his First and Second Amendment rights that day. 

‘I did not fire a single shot’: Utahn cleared in No Kings shooting breaks silence

While his actions of assembling an AR-15 under cover during a mass gathering were “alarming and irresponsible,” he didn’t commit any crime, Gill said, noting Utah law allows people to openly carry rifles at protests. 

Rep. Verona Mauga, D-Salt Lake City, said last month she’s working on a proposal to change that. If Utah were to prohibit firearms from demonstrations, it would join North Carolina and Alabama. Under Texas law, displaying a “firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm” fits a misdemeanor offense of disorderly conduct. 

The June event drew an estimated 10,000 demonstrators voicing their opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies. 

Ah Loo, a celebrated fashion designer and father of two from Clearfield, was taking video of fellow protesters when he was killed. His widow, Laura Ah Loo, said in December that the months she waited for answers after his death were “long, painful and deeply frustrating.” 

Her attorneys have said she plans to sue Alder and is gathering more information about what led up to the shooting. 

Gov. Spencer Cox said in June that the Department of Public Safety had warned Utah 50501

organizers ahead of their protest that arming people was a “bad idea.” The group said in response the governor was “grossly misinformed.” 

The state then released copies of correspondence with organizers that said “a ‘private security team’ is not allowed at the Utah State Capitol.” Whoever applied for the Salt Lake City protest event permit used an alias and got approval anyway, the city acknowledged in August, prompting it to strengthen its requirements. 

If convicted, Alder faces 1 to 15 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. He returns to court March 20 for a scheduling hearing.  

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