Arthur Folasa Ah Loo — known as Afa Ah Loo — was a self-taught artist who loved to reach deep into his Samoan heritage for the designs that earned him his growing reputation.
It even inspired his foray into Hollywood, when he dressed Moana 2 star Auli’i Cravalho in a custom draped shell top and black high waisted pants at the movie’s world premiere last year.
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But friends also remember the 39-year-old Samoan man and Utah resident, who was fatally shot an anti-Trump “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City on Saturday, for the other qualities that made him so loved in his community.
“Besides all of his other accolades of being a designer, I would say, for me, first and foremost he was a very good father,” Susi Malohifo’ou, a Tongan woman living in Salt Lake City, said.
Mr Ah Loo, a husband and father to two young children, died a day before Father’s Day, which was celebrated on Sunday in the US.
Afa Ah Loo was an “innocent bystander” when he was shot at the Utah anti-Trump protest, police said. (Facebook: Afa Ah Loo)
Mr Ah Loo participated at one of the hundreds of anti-Trump marches held across United States that day, events which drew crowds in the tens of thousands.
The Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD) said he was hit by gunfire on Saturday night local time despite being an “innocent bystander”.
It happened as a “peacekeeper” fired their gun at a man who witnesses say was running towards the crowd with a rifle, police said.
Police in Utah are investigating the fatal shooting.
Mr Ah Loo later died in hospital — and a community is in mourning.
Samoan community mourns ‘a giant’
Utah’s Pacific Islander community is in shock, and is remembering him as a “family person”, an “advocate” for Samoans, and “a very kind person”.
Ms Malohifo’ou said the fashion designer had “gone places where few Polynesians have been” in the industry.
“He went places where, you know, other designers had never gone,” she said.
“He opened those doors. He was that trendsetter in many ways in the fashion world.“
He founded Creative Pacific, an event celebrating the diversity of the Pacific Islands, with workshops, artists and a fashion runway.
And in a sign of his growing fame, Mr Ah Loo was also on Season 17 of the fashion design reality TV show “Project Runway”.
A GoFundMe page set up for his family after the shooting described Mr Ah Loo as “a proud Samoan, deeply connected to his culture and community”.
“Through his work with the non-profit [group] Creative Pacific and his incredible talent as a fashion designer, he shared his heritage with passion and creativity,” it says.
“But more than anything, Afa was proud of the life he built with his wife and their two beautiful children.”
He was also a mentor at the Nafanua Foundation, a non-profit based in Salt Lake City empowering Samoan women and youth through cultural programs
“He really just wanted to be an artist,” Ms Malohifo’ou said.
But those who knew him weren’t surprised he joined protesters marching in protest against Trump on Saturday.
“He loved his community, he loved his people and I’m not surprised that he was there at the protest and standing up for what he believed in,” Vitoria Tanuvasa Misivila, a Samoan living in Salt Lake City who knew Mr Ah Loo, said.
She was at the demonstration when she heard gunshots towards the end of the event.
“It was so loud, it just echoed through the streets,”
she said.
Ms Misivila later learnt that Mr Ah Loo had been shot.
She described him as a giant of the Samoan community.
“Not just in Utah, but worldwide. A great friend, a great advocate for our Samoan community,” she said.
“It’s heartbreaking.”
Utah march part of national anti-Trump protests
The marches, staged to coincide with US President Donald Trump’s birthday and a military parade in Washington DC, took place after the culmination of a week of demonstrations in Los Angeles.
The protests were initially triggered by raids on local businesses by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
People marching in the US on Saturday said they were motivated by a range of causes, including what they saw as Mr Trump’s use of power beyond his constitutional authority through his deployment of troops to manage the protests in LA.
The “No Kings” protests against Donald Trump unfolded across the US. (ABC News: Fletcher Yeung)
Ms Misivila, who was at the same protest as Mr Ah Loo, said that up until she heard the gunshots, the march had been peaceful.
“I’m at a loss for words,” she said.
The Utah Office of the Medical Examiner will determine the official cause and manner of Mr Ah Loo’s death.
“The preliminary investigation shows Ah Loo was participating in the demonstration and appears to have been an innocent bystander who was not the intended target of the gunfire,” the Salt Lake City Police Department said in a written statement on Sunday.
They said the incident started when “peacekeepers” at the march saw a man wearing black, who police identified as 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, pull out an AR-15-style rifle from a backpack.
Police said he ran from the “peacekeepers” when they confronted him.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said police were still investigating the shooting incident. (AP: Salt Lake City Police Department)
Salt Lake City police chief Brian Redd told a press conference that Mr Gamboa did not fire his weapon.
But they have charged Mr Gamboa with murder, because they believed Mr Gamboa “knowingly engaged in conduct that created a grave risk of death and ultimately caused the death of an innocent community member”.
“Our detectives are now working to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident,” Mr Redd said.
“We will not allow this individual act to create fear in our community.”
ABC/AP
