- State officials told Utah 50501 that "private security" is not allowed at Utah State Capitol for protests.
- Gov. Spencer Cox claims organizers were warned against armed "peacekeepers" or volunteers at protests.
- Utah 50501 denies encouraging armed safety volunteers at events.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah 50501 group that organized the large No Kings protest on June 14 in Salt Lake City was told it could not hire its own security team, according to email correspondence from the state to protest organizers.
"A 'private security team' is not allowed at the Utah State Capitol. Even if it were, it could not do anything UHP cannot do," assistant attorney general Mike Kelley said in his response to the group. The correspondence was obtained by KSL.com through a public records request.
Gov. Cox: Organizers warned that peacekeepers are 'a bad idea'
Last week during his monthly news conference, Gov. Spencer Cox addressed the June 14 protest that resulted in the shooting death of 39-year-old Arthur Folasa "Afa" Ah Loo, an innocent bystander who was shot by a so-called "peacekeeper," a term that the local 50501 group said it's never used.
"Our team of safety volunteers, who have been selected because of their military, first responder and other relevant de-escalation experience, believed that there was an imminent threat to the protesters and took action. The safety volunteer who responded to the individual and who was questioned by police is a military veteran," the group said after the shooting.
Cox told reporters that organizers of the June 14 protest "were warned months and months and months ago that it was a bad idea to have these 'peacekeepers' to be a part of what they were ... attempting to do, and that it could lead to something tragic like this — and sadly it did."
Cox added that the Utah Department of Public Safety told the group that having armed people there would be a "bad idea."
"That was the conversation. Our DPS said: 'It's a bad idea. You can do it, it's not illegal, there's nothing illegal about it, it's just a bad idea,'" the governor said. "They said: 'Well, we think it's a good idea.' End of conversation."
Utah 50501: Governor 'grossly misinformed'
But the Utah 50501 group said that characterization isn't accurate in a statement issued to Utah News Dispatch through their attorney, Mary Corporon.
"It appears Gov. Cox has been grossly misinformed about an alleged conversation between the Utah Department of Public Safety and Utah 50501," the group said. "The organizers of Utah 50501 are not aware of anyone having such a conversation with DPS in which they were 'warned' against having a volunteer safety team at events."
The organization added, "At no time did Utah 50501 request or require any safety and de-escalation volunteers to carry weapons. No organizers in Utah 50501 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."
The statement said Cox is "misinterpreting the law if he says Utah 50501 had any lawful authority to prevent participants, whether volunteers or protesters, from carrying a weapon to a protest on public streets or in public spaces."
The Utah 50501 group had organized several protests prior to the one on June 14. But due to counterprotests and others — namely, a YouTube blogger who showed up to its events — there were email conversations between the group and the state between February and May asking if anything could be done to prevent that.
What the emails say
In the emails KSL.com obtained between Kelley and the Utah 50501 group from April, questions about hiring a private security firm and excluding counterprotesters were addressed.
In his email response, Kelley said, "By law, only UHP (can provide) security at the Utah State Capitol."
The 50501 organizers further asked, "Alternatively, does our own safety team, made up of volunteers from the community, have authority to keep trespassers out of our event?"
"No. People who are not violating the law at the Utah State Capitol are not trespassers. If a 'safety team' or 'volunteer' were to unlawfully interfere with a person lawfully exercising their freedom of speech rights at the Utah State Capitol, the 'safety team /volunteer' would be subject to arrest," Kelley replied.
The assistant attorney general expanded on his answer in an email dated April 30.
"I think the last point is a very important point to keep in mind regarding your question about Utah 50501 providing a 'private security team' or 'safety team.' Utah 50501 has no right to exclude persons from exercising their free speech rights or to regulate the lawful activities of such persons at the Utah State Capitol. My concern is that private security/safety teams might not understand that fact — and that such persons, as partisans, might naturally be expected to react with unwarranted enthusiasm in enforcing perceived rights that do not, in fact, exist.
"If a 'community volunteer' were to take unlawful action against such a perceived trespasser under the mistaken belief that they had a right to do so — that community volunteer might very well find themselves being arrested by the UHP," Kelly said.
Applying for a free speech event does not give the applicant "first dibs" on the space, Kelley said. When asked why a group would bother registering for an event if anyone can show up and disrupt it, he said the answer is so the Utah Highway Patrol can properly plan for the event.
"It is an unfortunate and sad reality that there are people who have both the intent and the ability to engage in violence at free speech events at the Utah State Capitol. However, those people are the type of threat that UHP can and will neutralize immediately — if UHP has sufficient troopers present to address the potential threat. I think it is in everybody's interest for UHP to be able to plan for sufficient troopers to protect your events," Kelley said in an email.
He further noted that free speech rallies cannot be treated as a "private event" and protest space cannot be reserved like a table at a restaurant.
"At the Utah State Capitol, other 'patrons' have the right to sit at the reserved table — and, as long as those patrons comply with the law, there is nothing the patron who reserved the table or the restaurant owner (the Capitol Preservation Board in this analogy) can legally do about it."
Arturo Gamboa, 24, was arrested for investigation of murder after witnesses reported seeing him carrying a rifle during the No Kings protest. Seeing him with the rifle prompted a volunteer with the Utah 50501 group to fire three rounds near 151 S. State, according to police. One shot injured Gamboa, and another killed Ah Loo. Gamboa did not fire a shot.
No charges have been filed against Gamboa, who was released from the Salt Lake County Jail on June 20 after the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office said it needed more time to investigate the incident. The unnamed "peacekeeper" was never arrested, and no charges have been filed against him to date, although the case is still under review.
