Washington
Black men fired from two key transportation boards accuse Trump of pattern of discrimination
Two Black men who were fired by President Donald Trump from the National Transportation Safety Board and U.S. Surface Transportation Board accused the administration on Thursday of discriminating against them as part of a pattern of dismissing Black leaders across the government.
Robert Primus on the STB and Alvin Brown on the NTSB were the only Black board members overseeing their officially independent agencies when they were fired this year, in August and in May. Both had already filed lawsuits challenging their dismissals, saying the White House didn’t have good cause, as the law requires. Democracy Forward filed the new discrimination claims on behalf both men.
“When you look at who has been removed without cause, and who has been left in place, the pattern is impossible to ignore: Black commissioners across the federal government have been summarily fired,” said Brown, who was Vice Chairman of the NTSB. “My abrupt removal was unlawful, and it was discriminatory.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to the new legal filing, but has said Trump was well within his legal rights to fire Primus and Brown. The administration hasn’t filed a formal response to Primus’ lawsuit yet, but the Trump administration asked a judge to dismiss Brown’s lawsuit, arguing that the statutory protection saying board members can only be fired for cause is unconstitutional, and that the president should be able to pick his team at every executive agency.
When Brown was fired, experts said they couldn’t remember anyone ever being fired from the NTSB, which is tasked with investigating disasters across all modes of transportation to determine what caused them and make recommendations to prevent similar tragedies from ever happening again. The NTSB is currently investigating nearly 1,250 cases including the collision of a passenger jet and Army helicopter over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people in January.
Primus was pushed off the STB shortly after Union Pacific proposed its $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern railroad, a massive deal the five-member board will consider approving over the next year or two. He was the only member of the STB to oppose Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad in 2023 because he was concerned about the impact on competition. Trump has said he thinks the Union Pacific deal sounds good.
By law, no more than three of the five members of each board can be from one party. Primus and Brown are Democrats. Primus was nominated for his position by Trump during his first term, named board chairman by President Joe Biden and led the board until Trump began his second term and elevated Board member Patrick Fuchs to chairman. Primus’ lawyers pointed out that the other Democratic member of the STB was allowed to continue serving.
On the NTSB, another of the Democratic members, who is white, has continued serving beyond the expiration of his term the end of 2023, as is customary to do until a replacement is confirmed. But Brown was the one dismissed, even though he was scheduled to serve through the end of 2026. Trump nominated a white man to replace him.
The lawsuits argue that these firings reflect Trump’s broadening antipathy to seeing people of color in government positions: “This trend fits with President Trump’s consistent messaging criticizing diversity and inclusion and his clear and demonstrable emphasis on hiring white people.”
Trump has fired a string of board members at various agencies that are supposed to be independent including the Federal Reserve, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Senate Commerce Committee will consider advancing the nominations of both men’s replacements to a vote next week.
Utah
Safety volunteer charged in fatal shooting of a ‘No Kings’ protester
A safety volunteer accused of fatally shooting a man taking part in a “No Kings” protest last June in Salt Lake City while firing at another man he believed to be a potential mass shooter has been charged with manslaughter, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Matthew Alder allegedly fired three shots — one hitting a man who had been seen assembling an AR-15 rifle near the crowd and a third inadvertently killing the rally participant, Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, according to Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.
While Alder had a right to use lethal force to stop a perceived threat and a right to carry a gun under Utah law, his third shot, fired over people’s heads at a large gathering, was reckless and constituted a crime, Gill said.
“In this case our argument is that the third bullet was reckless and, if it is reckless, it is manslaughter,” Gill said at a news conference. He noted that another safety volunteer with Alder did not think it was safe to open fire at the time because the man with the rifle was moving toward the crowd.
An email and a telephone message left for Alder’s lawyer, Phil Wormdahl, seeking comment were not immediately returned.
Ah Loo, known as Afa, was a successful fashion designer and former “Project Runway” contestant who devoted his life to celebrating artists from the Pacific Islands.
His widow, Laura Ah Loo, who has demanded accountability for her husband’s death, said Gill’s decision to charge Alder was “moral and just.” Fighting back tears, she described her husband as “an incredible father, advocate, creative and champion for others.”
“The grief of losing him has been profound and overwhelming,” Ah Loo said.
Utah is an open-carry state, meaning people who can legally own a firearm are generally allowed to carry it on a public street.
The man who was seen assembling the rifle, Arturo Roberto Gamboa, was initially arrested on suspicion of murder and accused of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death, police said at the time.
Gill said Gamboa would not be charged. In a letter explaining the decision, prosecutors noted there was not enough evidence to show Gamboa had broken any law even though his actions could “reasonably be perceived as alarming and irresponsible.”
A telephone message left for Gamboa’s lawyer was not immediately returned.
The lawyer, Greg Skordas, has previously said Gamboa was walking with the rifle unloaded pointed at the ground before he was shot. Skordas has said he does not believe that Gamboa heard anyone tell him to drop the weapon.
Alder told investigators that he fired at Gamboa after Gamboa began moving toward the crowd and did not respond when he yelled at the man to stop, according to Alder’s charging document. He told detectives that Gamboa’s behavior “scared the hell out of me,” the document said.
Black men fired from two key transportation boards accuse Trump of pattern of discrimination
Two Black men who were fired by President Donald Trump from the National Transportation Safety Board and U.S. Surface Transportation Board accused the administration on Thursday of discriminating against them as part of a pattern of dismissing Black leaders across the government.
Robert Primus on the STB and Alvin Brown on the NTSB were the only Black board members overseeing their officially independent agencies when they were fired this year, in August and in May. Both had already filed lawsuits challenging their dismissals, saying the White House didn’t have good cause, as the law requires. Democracy Forward filed the new discrimination claims on behalf both men.
“When you look at who has been removed without cause, and who has been left in place, the pattern is impossible to ignore: Black commissioners across the federal government have been summarily fired,” said Brown, who was Vice Chairman of the NTSB. “My abrupt removal was unlawful, and it was discriminatory.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to the new legal filing, but has said Trump was well within his legal rights to fire Primus and Brown. The administration hasn’t filed a formal response to Primus’ lawsuit yet, but the Trump administration asked a judge to dismiss Brown’s lawsuit, arguing that the statutory protection saying board members can only be fired for cause is unconstitutional, and that the president should be able to pick his team at every executive agency.
When Brown was fired, experts said they couldn’t remember anyone ever being fired from the NTSB, which is tasked with investigating disasters across all modes of transportation to determine what caused them and make recommendations to prevent similar tragedies from ever happening again. The NTSB is currently investigating nearly 1,250 cases including the collision of a passenger jet and Army helicopter over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people in January.
Primus was pushed off the STB shortly after Union Pacific proposed its $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern railroad, a massive deal the five-member board will consider approving over the next year or two. He was the only member of the STB to oppose Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad in 2023 because he was concerned about the impact on competition. Trump has said he thinks the Union Pacific deal sounds good.
By law, no more than three of the five members of each board can be from one party. Primus and Brown are Democrats. Primus was nominated for his position by Trump during his first term, named board chairman by President Joe Biden and led the board until Trump began his second term and elevated Board member Patrick Fuchs to chairman. Primus’ lawyers pointed out that the other Democratic member of the STB was allowed to continue serving.
On the NTSB, another of the Democratic members, who is white, has continued serving beyond the expiration of his term the end of 2023, as is customary to do until a replacement is confirmed. But Brown was the one dismissed, even though he was scheduled to serve through the end of 2026. Trump nominated a white man to replace him.
The lawsuits argue that these firings reflect Trump’s broadening antipathy to seeing people of color in government positions: “This trend fits with President Trump’s consistent messaging criticizing diversity and inclusion and his clear and demonstrable emphasis on hiring white people.”
Trump has fired a string of board members at various agencies that are supposed to be independent including the Federal Reserve, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Senate Commerce Committee will consider advancing the nominations of both men’s replacements to a vote next week.
Utah
Safety volunteer charged in fatal shooting of a ‘No Kings’ protester
A safety volunteer accused of fatally shooting a man taking part in a “No Kings” protest last June in Salt Lake City while firing at another man he believed to be a potential mass shooter has been charged with manslaughter, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Matthew Alder allegedly fired three shots — one hitting a man who had been seen assembling an AR-15 rifle near the crowd and a third inadvertently killing the rally participant, Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, according to Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.
While Alder had a right to use lethal force to stop a perceived threat and a right to carry a gun under Utah law, his third shot, fired over people’s heads at a large gathering, was reckless and constituted a crime, Gill said.
“In this case our argument is that the third bullet was reckless and, if it is reckless, it is manslaughter,” Gill said at a news conference. He noted that another safety volunteer with Alder did not think it was safe to open fire at the time because the man with the rifle was moving toward the crowd.
An email and a telephone message left for Alder’s lawyer, Phil Wormdahl, seeking comment were not immediately returned.
Ah Loo, known as Afa, was a successful fashion designer and former “Project Runway” contestant who devoted his life to celebrating artists from the Pacific Islands.
His widow, Laura Ah Loo, who has demanded accountability for her husband’s death, said Gill’s decision to charge Alder was “moral and just.” Fighting back tears, she described her husband as “an incredible father, advocate, creative and champion for others.”
“The grief of losing him has been profound and overwhelming,” Ah Loo said.
Utah is an open-carry state, meaning people who can legally own a firearm are generally allowed to carry it on a public street.
The man who was seen assembling the rifle, Arturo Roberto Gamboa, was initially arrested on suspicion of murder and accused of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death, police said at the time.
Gill said Gamboa would not be charged. In a letter explaining the decision, prosecutors noted there was not enough evidence to show Gamboa had broken any law even though his actions could “reasonably be perceived as alarming and irresponsible.”
A telephone message left for Gamboa’s lawyer was not immediately returned.
The lawyer, Greg Skordas, has previously said Gamboa was walking with the rifle unloaded pointed at the ground before he was shot. Skordas has said he does not believe that Gamboa heard anyone tell him to drop the weapon.
Alder told investigators that he fired at Gamboa after Gamboa began moving toward the crowd and did not respond when he yelled at the man to stop, according to Alder’s charging document. He told detectives that Gamboa’s behavior “scared the hell out of me,” the document said.
