A reality TV star has tragically been shot and killed after attending an anti-Trump rally in Utah, while the shooter has reportedly been arrested on a murder charge
A reality TV star has died after being caught in the crossfire at an anti-Trump rally.
Fashion designer Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, appeared on Project Runway back in 2019. He was gunned down at Saturday’s No Kings Rally in Salt Lake City.
Eyewitnesses report that a protester allegedly brandished a rifle at the crowd, prompting peacekeepers to open fire. Ah Loo was accidentally struck in the chaos.
The dad-of-two was rushed to hospital, where he sadly died to his injuries. The protester was reportedly apprehended by police on Saturday evening on suspicion of murder, although investigators are still unclear as to his motive, reports the Mirror.
Ah Loo, who was born in Samoa, had recently become an American citizen and had cast his first vote in the 2024 election.
Utah Rep. Verona Mauga, who had been with Ah Loo earlier that evening, paid tribute to the designer: “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 disclosed that she wasn’t with Ah Loo during the shooting. She confessed that alarm bells rang when they didn’t hear from him, leading them to fear “something wrong may have happened”.
Ah Loo, a 2019 Project Runway contestant, also co-launched the Creative Pacific Foundation and ran sewing workshops. Mauga said: “He brought joy and laughter to the community, and he shared his art and his talents so freely with people.”
His loved ones have set up a GoFundMe to support his wife and young children, with an incredible $173,000 already banked.
The fundraising page hails Ah Loo as a “beloved husband” and a “proud Samoan, deeply connected to his culture and community”. It goes on: “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 fundraiser’s organiser has expressed gratitude for the donations, stating 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.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
