Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, died after being caught in the crossfire after another protester wielded a rifle at Saturday’s No Kings Rally in Salt Lake City

A Project Runway star has been shot and killed while attending an anti-Trump rally in Utah.

Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, died after being caught in the crossfire after another protester wielded a rifle at Saturday’s No Kings Rally in Salt Lake City

Official peacekeepers at the rally had accidentally struck him after another protester, 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, allegedly pointed his weapon at the crowd. Gamboa had been ordered to drop the gun, but ran towards the crowd and the peacekeeping team opened fire. Ah Loo was tragically caught in the crossfire.

Authorities confirmed on Sunday that the fashion designer, who is dad to two young children with his wife, was rushed to hospital, where he sadly died.

Alleged shooter Gamboa was taken into custody by police on Saturday evening on a murder charge, though detectives are unclear as to his motive.

Samoan-born Ah Loo voted for the first time in the 2024 election after only recently becoming an American citizen.

Samoan-born Arthur Folasa Ah Loo is dad to two children with his wife ( 
Image:
afa.ahloo/instagram)
Utah Rep. Verona Mauga told KSL TV that she had been with Ah Loo earlier on in the evening at the rally. She said: “Afa is a person who believed in equity and equality for all people and all communities. He believed that everyone was deserving of basic human rights. And that’s why he was there. He was with his community and he was with people he cared about, marching and rallying for all of those things that make our community, like, really great.”

Mauga went on to explain that she hadn’t been with him when the shooting happened and that he had been with a group of friends when shots were fired. She revealed that when they hadn’t heard back from him that they realised “something wrong may have happened”

Ah Loo voted for the first time in the 2024 election ( 
Image:
afa.ahloo/instagram)
Ah Loo had competed on Project Runway in 2019 and always loved making clothes for people in his life. He also co-founded the Creative Pacific Foundation and taught people how to sew in workshops.

Mauga added in tribute: “He brought joy and laughter to the community, and he shared his art and his talents so freely with people.”

His family have since launched a GoFundMe to help his wife and young children, with over $173,000 raised so far.

The page describes Ah Loo as a “beloved husband” and a “proud Samoan, deeply connected to his culture and community”. It continued: “More than anything, Afa was proud of the life he built with his wife, Laura, and their two beautiful children, Vera and Isaac

“This unimaginable loss has left a profound void in their lives. Family and friends are coming together to raise funds to help Laura with funeral expenses and to ease the immediate financial burdens she now faces.”

The organiser of the fundraiser has since thanked those for the donations, writing today: “The love and support being shown to the Ah Loo family is beyond anything we could have imagined. Laura, Afa, Vera and Isaac are so loved and it shows.”