Portland suspect details arise
Man gave interview describing shooting of Trump supporter
PORTLAND, Ore. — The man believed to have fatally shot a supporter of President Donald Trump following skirmishes between Black Lives Matter protesters and a proTrump caravan in Portland, Oregon, was a regular at the demonstrations that have roiled the Northwest city for months.
Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, had described himself in a social media post as “100% ANTIFA” and suggested that the tactics of counter-protesters amounted to “warfare.” He had been shot at one protest and cited for having a gun at another.
Reinoehl was himself killed Thursday when he pulled a gun as a federal task force attempted to apprehend him near Lacey, Washington, the U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement.
The arrest attempt came shortly after Reinoehl gave an interview to VICE News in which he appeared to acknowledge having killed
Aaron “Jay” Danielson, 39, on Saturday.
“You know, lots of lawyers suggest that I shouldn’t even be saying anything, but I feel it’s important that the world at least gets a little bit of what’s really going on,” Reinoehl told the TV news program. “I had no choice. I mean, I, I had a choice. I could have sat there and watched them kill a friend of mine of color. But I wasn’t going to do that.”
His sister said in a text message that she told police he appeared to have been caught on video running from the scene of the fatal shooting. She provided the statement on the condition of anonymity, citing dozens of threats her family had received since people online identified him from a video of the shooting.
Danielson was fatally shot in the chest Aug. 29 after some participants in a caravan of Trump supporters, estimated at about 600 cars, drove downtown and encountered Black
Lives Matter protesters. Skirmishes broke out, with people in the caravan firing paintball weapons at people in the street. Video taken by a livestreamer appeared to show Danielson, a member of the group Patriot Prayer, spraying pepper spray just before he was shot.
Reinoehl was also 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.
In her text message, Reinoehl’s sister said they were never close and she had been estranged from him for the past three years. She said she learned about his potential involvement in the shooting when she received a threatening phone call Sunday, the first of 60 that day.