Fatal shooting after Trump backers, protesters clash
PORTLAND, Ore. — A fatal shooting during a night of political conflict in Portland has yet again escalated tensions in the city and further inflamed the issues of crime, protest and race that President Trump is trying to make a focus of presidential politics.
A man affiliated with a rightwing group, Aaron “Jay” Danielson, was shot and killed Saturday night as a large group of supporters of Trump traveled in a caravan through Portland, which has seen nightly protests for three consecutive months since the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis in May.
The proTrump rally drew hundreds of trucks full of supporters into the city. At times, Trump supporters and counterprotesters clashed on the streets, with people shooting paintball guns from the beds of pickup trucks and protesters throwing objects back at them.
Coming on the heels of the fatal shooting of two protesters and the wounding of a third in Kenosha, Wis., on Tuesday night, the incident was an ominous sign amid an escalation of weaponry and of rhetoric as protests of police violence and presidential politics merge.
Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, on Sunday left open the potential to surge federal law enforcement to quell unrest in Portland.
During an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Wolf said “all options continue to be on the table” to deploy more federal agents to Portland despite the strong opposition of local leaders who say such tactical teams have only heightened tension in the protests.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown pointed to Trump’s rhetoric in a statement about the fatal shooting. “For the last several years, and escalating in recent months, President Trump has encouraged division and stoked violence,” Brown wrote.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler pointed to Trump’s combative and unyielding rhetoric as a generator of the nation’s escalating polarization and violence. But Trump mocked Wheeler on Twitter, calling him “wacky” and a “dummy.”
A video that purports to be of the shooting in Portland, taken from the far side of the street, showed a small group of people in the road outside what appears to be a parking garage. Gunfire erupts, and a man collapses in the street.
The man who was shot and killed was wearing a hat with the insignia of Patriot Prayer, a farright group that has clashed with protesters in the past. Joey Gibson, the head of the group, said Sunday he could not share many details but could confirm the man was a good friend and supporter of Patriot Prayer.
The Portland Police Bureau did not release any information about a possible gunman.
Trump retweeted a video showing his supporters shooting paintballs and using pepper spray on crowds before the fatal shooting. He seemed to condone it, saying the “big backlash going on in Portland cannot be unexpected.”