Project Runway star Arthur Folasa Ah Loo fatally shot at anti-Trump protest
He was caught in the line of fire.
Miller Mobley/ Bravo)
Fashion designer Arthur Folasa Ah Loo has been shot dead at an anti-Trump protest.
The former Project Runway contestant, 39, appeared on the reality show in 2019.
Ah Loo, who was from Samoa, was also known for co-founding Creative Pacific, a nonprofit that champions the Pacific Islands in the arts.
Over the weekend No Kings protests swept the United States, with an estimated five million people gathering to express their opposition to Donald Trump’s policies.
However, when attending one of the protests in Utah, Ah Loo was shot and killed after being caught in the line of fire.
The Salt Lake City Police Department explained that after armed peacekeepers saw a man retrieve an AR-15- style rifle from a backpack, he began running towards the crowd with the weapon ‘held in a firing position’.
The fashion designer was caught in the line of fire between police and a suspect with a gun (Picture: Instagram) Arturo Gamboa has since been charged with murder (Picture: KSL/ AP)After the officer fired three rounds, they injured the suspect, but also fatally struck Ah Loo, who later died in hospital.
The man with the rifle – Arturo Gamboa – has since been charged with murder.
‘Our victim was not the intended target but rather an innocent bystander participating in the demonstration,’ Salt Lake City police chief Brian Redd said.
He went on to add that they would now ‘thoroughly investigate’ the incident and ‘we will not allow this individual act to create fear in our community’.
In recent years Ah Loo had dressed the likes of Auli’i Cravalho and cast members of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
Paying tribute to the designer on social media, Moana star Cravalho said there were ‘no words to hold the grief of losing’ him.
‘Your artistry will never be forgotten; and neither will your peaceful protest. My deepest condolences, sympathies and Aloha to his family, and all who felt his impact,’ she added.
Meanwhile his representative Verona Mauga told the Associated Press: ‘If Afa was going to go out any other way than natural causes, it would be standing up for marginalised and vulnerable communities and making sure that people had a voice.’
A self-taught fashion designer, Ah Loo appeared on season 17 of Project Runway, where he focused on ‘colourful and boldly patterned designs’ and finished in 13th place.
In 2018 he was selected to design a bespoke look for the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange, an initiative for emerging fashion stars. It was then displayed at Buckingham Palace.
He leaves behind wife Laura and their two young children – daughter Vera and son Isaac.
A GoFundMe has since been set up to support the family. Ah Loo’s brother-in-law said their lives had been ‘shattered’.
‘Afa Ah Loo was the kindest, most gentle man I’ve met, I couldn’t have asked for a better bonus brother and father to my sister’s kids. A kind, gentle soul who lit up every room he walked into. He was loved deeply by friends, family, and communities around the world. As a proud Samoan man and a visionary fashion designer, he dreamed big — not just for himself, but for his family, his community. He was building something beautiful, and his life was stolen far too soon. He was 39,’ he wrote.
‘This tragedy is not only traumatic to my family but a testimony of the instability our country is facing. I am doing everything we can to support my family and honour my brother in law’s memory.
‘Despite it all, we are so overwhelmed and proud of Afa’s dedication to human rights and social justice.’
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