The 39-year-old man shot himself and killed during the Salt Lake City protest, a successful fashion designer and former Project Runway competitor, who dedicated his life to the celebration of Pacific artists.
Arthur Folassa Ah Loo was killed when a person who was thought to be part of a peacekeeping protest team launched into a man who smeared a rifle of demonstrators accidentally struck Ah Loo. Later, Ah Loo died in the hospital, authorities said.
Detectives still do not know why the alleged shooter removed a weapon or ran from the peacekeepers, but they accused him of murder and accused him of creating a dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death, said Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd at a Sunday Sunday.
Ah Lo leaves behind his wife and two young children, according to Gofundme for his family, which raised over $ 100,000 in 48 hours.
The fashion designer “self -taught”, born in Samoa, known to many as AFA, has devoted his life to making “good things for his neighbors and community,” said state -owned representative Verona Mauga.
Mauga was on the protest of “No Kings” a few blocks from where Ah Loo was shot. She said there was a feeling that something was wrong when I saw the crowd run.
As tragically as his death may be, she said, Ah Loo would have been proud that his last moments had been struggled with what he believed in.
“If AFA would come out of the natural reasons, it would be upholding marginalized and vulnerable communities and make sure people have a voice,” Mauga told the Associated Press on Monday.
Although it was usually not frankly political, Ah Luo had the ability to associate “culture and diversity and service” and united people, Mauga said.
Benjamin Powell, an innovator for a Fiji hairdresser, co -founder created the Pacific with Ah Loo shortly after they met four years ago. The organization elevates artists from the Pacific Islands.
The two performers had a rare creative synergy, Powell said. The live work of AH LOO delicate weaves the traditional clothing on the quiet island with modern silhouettes and design. He used flowers, radically as a motives and often included the traditional art of the Pacific Island, called a plug, a fabric traditionally made of tree bark, in the clothes he made.
Powell admires the careful attention to the details, which made Ah Loo’s work distinctive.
“You would immediately understand that this is AH LOO design,” Powell said.
Ah Loo and Powell worked at an upcoming fashion show in August when he died. Powell said “The show will continue” and honor Ah Loo’s unwavering vision for his community.
AH LOO’s portfolio has earned numerous recognitions over the years. He was a competitor in 2017 at Bravo’s Project Runway, reality TV show, where fashion designers compete in front of celebrity judges to create a track seems to be strict deadlines.
Ah Loo recently designed a garment for the star of the Disney Channel Moana 2 cartoon movie, the Hawaiian actor Auliʻi Cravalho.
Cravalho wore the outfit, which combined the traditional and modern aesthetics of her culture, to the premiere of the red carpet of the movie in Hawaii last November.
“It was the first time I was so active as I helped design a personalized look and AFA exceeded what I had foreseen,” Kravvalho told the magazine at the time.
But not all his work was high -profile, Mauga said.
Ah Loo would voluntarily be his time and resources to adapt clothes for people who need help, often refusing to allow people to compensate for his work, Mauga said. Sometimes Ah Loo would like to play playfully criticize the outfits that the newly elected democratic representative wore along the campaign path and invite her to her studio so she could make her a new set of blazers. He would also make her evening dresses, sometimes just a few hours of notice.
“AFA was such a large part of the community,” she said.