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.
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1301729613392089088?s=20
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.
(AP)
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16 Responses
Joe Biden just lost one voter in Oregon.
What kind of headline is that?! Since when do Jewish people say “Good Riddance”, when someone is killed?! What happened to our belief in justice and the court system?! What happened to “Benfol Oyvecha Al Tismach”?! This is not a Torah headline. Please change it.
May I recommend perhaps a less inflammatory title. The title may trigger some, and what is the point.
One Antifa Terrorist gone many more should go
Good riddance? We didn’t like what he did. We may not have liked who he was. We don’t condone his involvement in hating others or for the murder he was said to commit. But it sounds suspiciously like hatred of someone made in the image of Hashem when we celebrate his death. If we are going to continually make a kiddush Hashem with our daily choices, then we need to change how we feel about those with whom we disagree. The earth was filled with hamas in the days of Noach and Hashem destroyed all life except for Noach and his family. Does the earth deserve to be destroyed again? Hatred begets violence. Words which are spoken against another person are a form of murder, according to our Sages. We need to feel grief and sorrow that someone died. We may also feel relief that he cannot harm anyone else, but sadness that he needed to die should be our reaction, not “good riddance”. Do the authors of these articles believe in G-d? Are they committed to observing his Torah? Yeshivas are where tomorrow’s rabbis are trained. Is the viewpoint of the headline what the rabbis of the future will embody? We need to reflect Hashem’s love for his creation and grieve when people hate others and act upon that hate, whether the hater is a person like Michael Forest Reinoehl or whether it is people like us.
The video showing Michael Forest Reinoehl shooting his victim also shows he was with a group where someone else in the group yells out they found one, and to get him (the victim). It all looks like Michael Forest Reinoehl was part of a hunting party to track down Trump supporters.This leads me to ask why the other members of the party are not being sought for conspiracy to commit murder (if not actual felony murder itself).
“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.”
Wow. Orwell smiles down upon us…
Saying Good Riddance is not appropriate. He doesn’t seem to have been a bessere mensch but we’re not in a position to judge him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he never pulled a gun at all and was executed in the confusion. Your story was factual, it’s the headline I object to.
“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.”
What a mealy-mouthed dishonest statement from the so-called Governor. There is no white supremacy or vigilantism going on. There is only left-wing terror and outright crime which she and Wheeler have been encouraging for four years and refusing to stop, while using the full force of the law to stop anyone trying to defend themselves from these thugs with unofficial licenses. Finally one of them got killed, and now she suddenly wants the violence to stop! They are her people, they support her and she supports them, and she cannot disassociate herself from them now. Nor can Wheeler, even though they’ve now turned on him.
Yes, Good Riddance.
chanie315, that is absolutely a Torah headline, and if you think otherwise you need to learn some Torah and get rid of some of the liberal indoctrination in your head. The gemara says explicitly that “Binfol Oyivcha (not “benfol oyvecha”) Al Tismach” applies only to Yisrael and NOT to nochrim. When a nochri enemy falls we are required to rejoice and thank Hashem.
In fact the gemara says that this is a machlokes between Haman Harasha and Mordechai Hatzadik, and the opinion you repeated is that of Haman! So you need to reject it and clear your mind of it. The same gemara says that Hashem does not rejoice at the death of resha’im, but He makes others rejoice. הוא אינו שש אבל אחרים משיש.
The same applies to “RebDaniel” and “HistoryBuff”. Clear your mind of the liberal brainwashing you have received because the Torah says it is wrong. The idea that hatred and revenge are wrong is a Xian sentiment; Judaism tells us to pray for revenge against our enemies, and to celebrate when it comes. ישמח צדיק כי חזה נקם. On Rosh Hashana you will say אבינו מלכנו נקום נקמת דם עבדיך השפוך (you may or may not add בגוים לענינו); will you not mean it?!
RebDaniel, i notice you have a “soft” sport for evildoers. Our Torah teaches: “He Who is Compassionate to the Cruel
Will Ultimately Become Cruel to the Compassionate”
I wonder if any of the sanctimonious commentors above who are so so so “concerned” about the headline, said anything when Osama bin Laden was allegedly slaughtered by Obama (with Hillary, mouth agape, watching in the situation room) without any court trial whatsoever?! No day in court? No defense attorney?
Btw, did this murderer purchase his guns legally? Were they registered? Was there a background check done on this murderer? I know you lefties are always so so so concerned about that as well.
Um…. He admitted to the murder. He gave an interview with Vox admitting it. Had he not been stopped, he would have murdered more people. He was evil personified. I can be moichel the headline writer.
I agree with the criticism of the title. I support Trump and obviously a fan of YWN. But this is below standard. We also want a fair trial even when the public thinks they know who did it. All the more so here.
When a rasha dies, the world rejoices. Take your pick: Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky, Castro, Che, Mao, Himmler, Eichmann, et al. The fact that this gentleman Reinoehl was minor league doesn’t change the fact that he was a dangerous radical who hated our wonderful country. May his name and memory be erased.
“Gentleman”??
Who’s the gentleman??