This is your daily news rundown for Monday, March 9. In this edition:
- A last-minute change could hurt efforts to prevent a Prop 4 repeal from going on the ballot
- The family of Afa Ah Loo is suing protest organizers and the volunteer 'peacekeeper' who shot him
This last-minute change could be a major hit to opponents of a Prop 4 repeal
In the very last hour of the Legislative Session, lawmakers passed a bill that could be a major blow to groups trying to keep a Prop 4 repeal off the ballot.
House Bill 242 amended some rules about gathering and removing signatures for initiatives and referendums like the recent efforts to overturn Utah’s anti-gerrymandering law Proposition 4 — and, notably, Prop 4 itself.
Then, at 11 p.m. on Friday, new language was put in that would invalidate a signature removal request if the form used prepaid postage.
It passed and was signed by Gov. Spencer Cox within 12 hours. It’s also effective immediately, meaning it affects the current initiative to repeal Prop 4.
The last-minute move could be a huge blow to signature removal efforts, as the group behind Prop 4, Better Boundaries, has been mailing voters prepaid removal forms for ease — a tactic their opponents have called akin to paying voters for their signature.
Currently, the initiative to get a repeal of Prop 4 on November’s ballot has passed its needed thresholds even with efforts to remove signatures, but the final decision may not be made until April.
Afa Ah Loo’s family is suing the No Kings protest organizers and ‘peacekeeper’
The widow of Afa Ah Loo, the bystander killed at a No Kings rally in Salt Lake City last year, is suing the protest organizers and the man who shot him.
On June 14, a volunteer “peacekeeper” named Matthew Scott Alder saw a man carrying an AR-15 rifle. Believing he was a threat, he fired multiple shots and one struck Ah Loo, who later died of his injuries.
The man carrying the rifle was arrested before being released with no charges since he had an open-carry permit and was not posing a threat. In December, Alder was charged with second degree felony manslaughter.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Ah Loo’s widow Laura, claims the group Utah 50501, which organized the protest, were negligent about security — including contacting the group Alder belonged to just a day before the rally.
It also alleges that Alder didn’t try to de-escalate the situation and didn’t “clear the zone” behind the intended target before he shot.
Ah Loo’s family is seeking damages for economic losses for their family, including medical and funeral expenses.
