By Michael Balsamo and Ted Warren
Associated Press
September 4, 2020
LACEY, Wash. — A
team of law enforcement officers fatally shot a man suspected of being
the gunman who killed a supporter of a right-wing group in Portland,
Oregon, last week after a caravan of Donald Trump backers rode through
downtown, the U.S. Marshals Service said Friday.
Michael
Forest Reinoehl, 48, was killed as a federal task force attempted to
apprehend him near Lacey, Washington, about 120 miles (193 kilometers)
north of Portland. Reinoehl was suspected in the killing of 39-year-old
Aaron “Jay” Danielson, who was shot in the chest Saturday night, a
senior Justice Department official told The Associated Press.
Federal agents from
the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service had located him on Thursday after a
warrant was issued for his arrest, and Reinoehl pulled a gun during the
encounter, the official said. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss
the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
A U.S. Marshals Service statement later said the fugitive task force “attempted to peacefully arrest him.”
“Initial
reports indicate the suspect produced a firearm, threatening the lives
of law enforcement officers. Task force members responded to the threat
and struck the suspect who was pronounced dead at the scene,” the
statement said.
The
U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task forces, comprised of deputy
marshals, other federal agents and local law enforcement officers from a
variety of agencies, are responsible for apprehending violent felons
and other wanted suspects.
Thurston
County Sheriff’s Lt. Ray Brady said four task force members fired their
weapons, including two Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies, an officer
from the Lakewood Police Department and an officer from the Washington
State Department of Corrections.
Brady said investigators haven’t yet determined how many rounds were fired.
The suspect was alone at the time of the shooting, Brady said, with no children or other people present.
Brady said he doesn’t think the suspect lived at the address where he was shot, and it’s not clear what brought him to Lacey.
“We don’t know that specifically yet,” Brady said. “I do not believe that was his residence.”
Reinoehl
had described himself in a social media post as “100% ANTIFA.” A
regular presence at anti-racism demonstrations in Portland, he suggested
the tactics of counter-protesters amounted to “warfare,” and had been
shot at one protest and cited for having a gun at another.
Police
cited Reinoehl on July 5 on allegations of possessing a loaded gun in a
public place, resisting arrest and interfering with police.
On
July 26, Reinoehl was shot near his elbow after he got involved in a
scuffle between an armed white man and a group of young people of color.
The man who was carrying that gun, Aaron Scott Collins, told The
Oregonian/OregonLive that he and a friend had just left a bar when they
saw the group harassing an older Black man. His friend began filming
them with a phone, and the group confronted them, calling them Nazis, he
said.
Reinoehl
later that day spoke to an AP videographer. His arm was wrapped in a
bloody bandage; he said he was on his way to meet protest medics so they
could change it.
He
said he didn’t know what had started the altercation between Collins
and the group, but that several people had decided to intervene when
they saw Collins fighting with minors.
“As
soon as the adults jumped in, he pulled out a gun,” Reinoehl said. “I
jumped in there and pulled the gun away from people’s heads, avoided
being shot in the stomach and I got shot in the arm.”
Reinoehl
also was wanted on a warrant out of Baker County in Eastern Oregon,
where court records show he skipped a hearing related to a June case in
which he has been charged with driving under the influence of controlled
substances, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and unlawful
possession of a firearm.
Police
said he drove on an interstate at up to 111 mph (179 kph), with his
daughter in the car, while racing his 17-year-old son, who was in a
different vehicle.
Protests have erupted daily in the Pacific Northwest city since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
With
unruly demonstrations in Portland nearing the 100-day mark, Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown and other Democratic leaders on Thursday called for an end
to violence, even as federal agents were continuing to arrest protesters
who allegedly assaulted law enforcement officers.
“The
violence must stop,” Brown wrote. “There is no place for white
supremacy or vigilantism in Oregon. All who perpetrate violent crimes
must be held equally accountable.”
The
statement does not single out the small minority of left-wing
protesters who have been setting fires, vandalizing buildings and
throwing objects at police. But Brown’s spokesman, Charles Boyle, said
it “is a collective call to action for an end to violence in Portland
and affirms that those who commit violent acts must be held
accountable.”
Brown’s
condemnation of violence was also signed by almost two-dozen state and
local politicians, a host of organizations including the local NAACP
chapter, and the city’s professional sports teams: the Trailblazers NBA
team, the Timbers soccer team and the Thorns women’s soccer squad.
Protesters
returned Thursday night to a law enforcement building that’s a frequent
site of protests in Portland. Police said demonstrators threw objects
at officers and vehicles at the Penumbra Kelly building. A vehicle drove
through the protest, “narrowly missing people in the group,” a police
statement said. The driver was later stopped and cited; police
additionally arrested two protesters. Support vehicles that police said
were used to block traffic were cited and one was towed.
Portland
Police Chief Chuck Lovell also has denounced protesters who broke
windows and set a fire this week to a business in the upscale apartment
building where Mayor Ted Wheeler lives. Protesters are angry that
Wheeler has not stopped officers from using batons and tear gas against
Black Lives Matter protesters. Wheeler now reportedly plans to move out
of the building.
As
of a week ago, 74 people were facing federal charges for crimes
allegedly committed during demonstrations in Portland since at least May
29, U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said.
__________
MURDEROUS ANTI-FA THUG REHABILITATED
He had priors for this and that and an active warrant out for him for DUI, firearms charges and other stupidity as well as the Danielson shooting.
__________
MURDEROUS ANTI-FA THUG REHABILITATED
by Bob Walsh
Michael
Forest Reinoehl, 48, was an in-your-face Anti-Fa supporter. He was
believed to have murdered Aaron Danielson, 39, a pro-Trump supporter in
Portland during the "demonstrations" (riots) there recently.
Reinoehl
was located by a FBI-U. S. Marshall's task force near Lacey, Washington
on Thursday. He pulled a gun. The cops were not impressed and they
shot him a bunch of times. He died.
He had priors for this and that and an active warrant out for him for DUI, firearms charges and other stupidity as well as the Danielson shooting.
One less violent thug is, IMHO, a good thing.
There
are currently 47 people facing federal charges for crimes committed
during the riots in Portland. Nobody keeps track of the local charges,
if any, because the locals are uninterested in law enforcement.
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