Latest news with #VeronaMauga
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘We lost a very important person': Family, friends mourn protester killed in ‘No Kings' protest shooting
Police said Utah resident Arthur Folasa Ah Loo died after he was shot during the 'No Kings' demonstration downtown Saturday night. Chief Brian Redd said 39-year-old Ah Loo, who went by the name Afa, appeared to be an innocent bystander participating in the march. He had a wife and two young children. Utah State Rep. Verona Mauga, D-Salt Lake County, said Afa Ah Loo was well-known within the Pacific Islander community for breaking into the fashion world. 'Afa is a Samoan fashion designer, the first Samoan to make it on 'Project Runway,'' she said. 'And that was a big deal, to have someone of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander heritage be able to break into the fashion industry, and he's done amazing work for fabulous people. ' She was with Ah Loo at the 'No Kings' rally at Pioneer Park earlier in the night, before protesters marched through downtown. '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,' Mauga said. '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.' She said she wasn't with him when the shooting happened. Mauga said she was walking with other elected officials, and Ah Loo was with a group of friends when the shots were fired, and people took off running. 'When they didn't hear back from Afa, that's when everyone realized something wrong may have happened,' she said. Ah Loo was from Samoa and recently became an American citizen. 'Afa just recently voted in his first election, in 2024,' Mauga said. 'He was so excited and proud to do that. Afa wanted to be very much a part of what America is and a part of the American dream.' He competed on Project Runway, but Mauga says he was always willing to make clothes for the people in his life. 'If he knew that I was going to a gala or a ball, he would call me up and say, 'hey, come to my studio,' and take my measurements and design me a gown,' she recalled. He also led workshops, teaching people how to sew. Ah Loo co-founded the Creative Pacific Foundation. 'He brought joy and laughter to the community, and he shared his art and his talents so freely with people,' Mauga said. Utah resident Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, died Saturday after he was shot during a large 'No Kings' protest in downtown Salt Lake City. Mauga emotionally recalled one of her last memories with Ah Loo made at Utah Pride last week. 'When he found out that I was going to walk with him, he and another, the other founder of Creative Pacific went and got a convertible for me to sit in,' she said. 'I told them, no, I will not sit in a car and wave like I'm in a beauty pageant. But because of the respect and honor he had for my position in government, and I think just for our friendship, he would not let me walk. But that's just a story that shares who Afa was.' Ah Loo's family created a GoFundMe* to handle funeral expenses. * does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
Gov. Cox signs ‘first of its kind' bill to outlaw virtual reality sex with minors in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY () — On Tuesday, , including one that officially outlaws the use of virtual reality (VR) to engage in 'unlawful sexual activity with a minor.' H.B. 358 — titled '' — makes it illegal for an adult to engage in sexual activity in a VR space while knowing the user on the other end is underage. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Verona Mauga, and Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said he believes this bill is 'the first of its kind in the nation.' Gill said his office worked closely with Mauga. THE LATEST — Cox signs 100 bills into Utah law ahead of looming deadline 'This passage of this bill, for the first time — I think in the country — now creates a criminal charge when you have adults who are targeting children in virtual reality spaces where they're engaging in sexual contact and sexual conduct in very graphic detail,' Gill told The language of the bill defines several terms related to virtual reality, and makes it a criminal offense to commit unlawful sexual activity with a child (14 years old or younger) and to commit unlawful sexual activity with a minor (between 14 and 18 years of age). In most cases, using VR to engage in sexual activity with a child will be a third-degree felony, but it would be a class A misdemeanor if the person involved is less than 10 years older than the child. Using VR to engage in sexual activity with a minor is a class A misdemeanor. 'We had a law for the sharing of pornography, but not engaging in pornographic acts — which is the virtual space,' Gill said. 'So, that's why it makes logical sense to create this statute and to fill that gap in this evolving cyberspace and virtual reality.' The law is scheduled to go into effect on May 7, 2025. According to Gill, H.B. 358 was introduced after a Utah attorney was contacted to conduct a search warrant. A parent discovered her 11-year-old child had fallen asleep with a VR headset on, and when the child's mother removed the headset, she saw a graphic, sexual chat with an adult. 'As we executed the search warrant, trying to figure out what charge we could charge with, we realized that there wasn't any statutory fix there — that we had no charges,' Gill said. Gill said the bill is 'consistent with the public policy that we have.' He discussed actions like enticing minors via social media or sharing pornography with children — which are able to be criminally charged. 'When you have individuals who are in this community, who engage in this kind of deviance, they're purposely choosing and seeking out children, and then creating those avatars to engage in sexual interaction,' Gill said. Gill said the bill doesn't affect consenting adults in a VR space. However, it does make it an offense to solicit sexually explicit conduct — actual or simulated — from a '' (including prisoners, those under correctional supervision, or those under arrest). This section of the bill applies to people knowingly asking for sexually explicit content from people in custody, and violations would be classified as a class A misdemeanor. 'Technology is here to stay,' Gill said. 'So, we have to try to stay one step ahead of those who would want to abuse that technology to also be in a predatory way to our children as well.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
