Portland protests reach 100 straight days Saturday
PORTLAND, Ore. — As unrest continues in Portland amid 100 straight days of protests, authorities released additional court documents late Friday detailing the moments before the slaying of a right-wing protester last weekend. The documents included shots of security footage that showed the suspect, Michael Forest Reinoehl, ducked into a parking garage and reached toward a pocket or pouch at his waist before emerging to follow the victim, Patriot Prayer supporter Aaron “Jay” Danielson. Danielson was holding bear spray and an expandable baton and had a loaded Glock handgun in a holster at his waist, according to the documents.
On Saturday afternoon hundreds of people gathered in a park just north of Portland in Vancouver, Washington, for a memorial service for Danielson. People waved American flags and listened to music. Demonstrations in Portland started in late May after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
They have often been marked by vandalism and violence. Black Lives Matter rallies were taking place in the city Saturday evening and night.
Authorities have said they believe Reinoehl, who was fatally shot by law enforcement officers late Thursday in Washington state, killed Danielson. Witnesses told police that just before they heard gunshots someone said something like, “wanna go,” which is frequently a challenge to a fight. Danielson was shot in the chest and died at the scene. The court documents were filed to support second-degree murder charges against Reinoehl, who was a supporter of antifa — shorthand for anti-fascists and an umbrella description for the far-left-leaning militant groups that resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations and other events. In a videotaped interview broadcast the evening of his death by Vice News, Reinoehl came close to admitting he shot Danielson, a supporter of a right-wing group called Patriot Prayer, on Aug. 29 after a caravan of President Donald Trump backers drove their pickup trucks through downtown Portland. He claimed it was in self-defense because he thought he and a friend were about to be stabbed.