Portland killing suspect, victim had handguns, documents say
PORTLAND, Ore. — Both the suspect in the slaying of the right-wing protester in Portland, Oregon last weekend and the victim had handguns when their confrontation started after dueling street demonstrations, according to court documents made public Friday.
The documents said victim Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a supporter of a right-wing group called Patriot Prayer, was wearing a loaded Glock pistol in a holster and had bear spray and an expandable metal baton when someone said something like “wanna go,” which is frequently a challenge to a fight.
Authorities have said they believe antifa supporter Michael Forest Reinoehl, who was fatally shot by federal agents late Thursday in Wash
ington state, then opened fire and killed Danielson after he took part in a caravan of President Donald Trump supporters who drove pickup trucks through downtown Portland.
Some of the Trump supporters fired paint ball pellets at counter-demonstrators, while Black Lives Matter protesters tried to block the vehicles.
Law enforcement officials released the information they had compiled — justifying an arrest warrant for Reinoehl on a second-degree murder charge in the Aug. 29 killing — one day after Reinoehl’s killing shook a quiet suburb of Olympia, Washington.
Bystanders Thursday night ducked for cover behind automobiles from dozens of gunshots as four agents serving on a U.S. Marshals Service task force opened fire at Reinoehl.
Authorities said Reinoehl, 48, was armed with a semiautomatic handgun. A witness who was driving to the small apartment complex that Reinoehl was leaving said she saw him open fire from a car and that the officers returned fire.
Reinoehl then got out of the car and started running away but collapsed amid more gunfire, the witness, Deshirlynn Chatman, told The Olympian newspaper.
“He did open fire first,” she said in a video posted by The Olympian. Lt. Ray Brady of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Department said investigators have not concluded whether Reinoehl fired any shots.