Michael Forest Reinoehl, sought on a warrant in the fatal weekend shooting of a man in downtown Portland after a pro-Trump rally, was killed Thursday night in Washington as members of a federal fugitive task force tried to take him into custody.
Officers with the U.S. Marshals Service Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force were watching an apartment complex near Lacey where they believed Reinoehl was hiding out, according to the Marshals Service. Portland police had issued a warrant for Reinoehl’s arrest on a murder charge earlier in the day.
Reinoehl walked out of the apartment about 7:30 p.m., authorities said.
He ran to a station wagon parked outside the complex, Thurston County Sheriff’s Lt. Ray Brady told The Oregonian/OregonLive. Officers trying to stop him fired rounds into the car, Brady said.
The wagon was boxed in by officers’ cars, prompting Reinoehl to run. He produced a gun and officers fired again, Brady said. Reinoehl died at the scene, his body lying in the street.
Witnesses told The Olympian newspaper that they saw two SUVs pull up and then heard 30 to 50 shots. Two people said they saw Reinoehl begin to fire when he got out of the car. They said officers returned fire.
Four officers fired their weapons, according to Brady. They’re from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Lakewood Police Department and the Washington Department of Corrections, all assigned to the fugitive task force acting in their role as U.S. marshals, he said.
Under a state law that went into effect in Washington in January, the shooting will be investigated by officers from agencies that weren’t involved, with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office taking the lead, Brady said. Investigators were still at the scene at 11 p.m.
“Initial reports indicate the suspect produced a firearm, threatening the lives of law enforcement officers,” a Marshals Service spokesperson said in a statement. “Task force members responded to the threat and struck the suspect.”
Officials said they didn’t know why Reinoehl was in Lacey.
In Portland, Reinoehl, 48, had been identified on social media within hours of Saturday’s shooting as the possible gunman in a split-second confrontation that left Aaron “Jay” Danielson, 39, lying dead after a turbulent car caravan held to support President Donald Trump. Danielson, who participated in the rally, died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Reinoehl acknowledged his involvement in an interview posted Thursday night by Vice News. He said he acted in self-defense, believing he was about to be stabbed. He said he was aware of what happened and then ran from the scene.
Reinoehl has described himself as an anti-fascist and said on social media that he has provided security at some of the Black Lives Matter events in the city.
Reinoehl said in the Vice News interview that he decided to speak out, although lawyers advised him against saying anything.
“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, because there’s been a lot of propaganda put out,” he said.
Reinoehl encountered Danielson walking with a friend after the car caravan had left downtown. Danielson was wearing a ballcap with the insignia of Patriot Prayer, a group of right-wing activists based in Vancouver. The Trump rally had been marked by skirmishes along the route, including people firing paintball guns and streaming pepper spray or mace from trucks and opponents throwing objects at them and blocking streets.
Danielson’s shooting was caught on video by Justin Dunlap, who was livestreaming the demonstration on his Facebook page. He told The Oregonian/OregonLive, “I saw the victim pull something up from his hip with his right hand and a big cloud of mace goes in the air. And then half a second later, there were two pops.”
Danielson can be seen stumbling two or three steps before collapsing on Southwest Third Avenue, south of Alder Street.
In the Vice News report, Reinoehl appears to admit to the shooting, saying, “I had no choice.” He then added, “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.”
Another man dressed in dark clothes was at the scene of the shooting. The Facebook video also shows him also running away after the gunshots.
Reinoehl said he’d been out earlier in the evening Saturday with his son and noticed a number of trucks with American flags driving through the city, but “wasn’t even aware of what was going on.”
He said he spoke to some friends about what he had seen, returned home and then received a call from someone saying it “might be a good idea to come down there. Security may be needed not knowing what that would entail. I had no idea what I was going into.”
He didn’t describe exactly what prompted the two gunshots or provide details on the gun he used, but told freelance journalist Donovan Farley on Vice News that he believed the shooting was justified.
“I am confident that my friend and I’m sure I would have been killed because I wasn’t going to stand there and let something happen,” Reinoehl said.
“I realized what had happened,” he told the interviewer. “I was confident that I did not hit anyone innocent. And I made my exit.”
Portland resident Nate Millsap also caught part of the shooting on video. Millsap, who runs a YouTube channel called Stumptown Matters, had videotaped the pro-Trump caravan heading into downtown over the Morrison Bridge. He was downtown until the last trucks appeared to leave and then decided to walk south on Third Avenue towards the Justice Center.
“I felt like things were winding down,” Millsap told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
While standing at the corner of Third and Washington Street, “I saw some commotion playing out in the street. Some people were intimidating vehicles,” Millsap said.
He was done filming but kept his camera rolling, facing down as he walked.
Millsap said there was a Black man with a Black Lives Matter hat on, yelling at cars stopped at the light, saying things like, “What are you afraid of me for? I’m not the one oppressing people .”
Millsap continued walking south on the west side of Third Avenue.
“Then all of a sudden, I heard a voice yell out, ‘Hey we got two right here. Pull it.’ And then two shots,” Millsap recalled.
He ducked for cover in a nearby alcove of a business, but immediately pulled his camera up to film, capturing Chandler Pappas turning over his friend, Danielson, and asking, “Jay, Jay, are you OK?”
Danielson was with Pappas, another supporter of Patriot Prayer, when he was killed.
In an interview posted to YouTube late Wednesday, Pappas said he and Danielson hadn’t encountered the suspected shooter until moments before the shooting.
Pappas said he and Danielson “became isolated” from other participants in the caravan when the suspected shooter approached. He said “these guys” were shouting at Pappas and Danielson, prompting Danielson to turn around.
He said Danielson “did raise his can” of bear mace. He said he didn’t know if Danielson had a chance to deploy the spray before he was shot.
Pappas said he met Danielson about a year ago, around the time he began attending rallies. Joey Gibson, the leader of Patriot Prayer, called Danielson a “friend and supporter” of the group and has decried his killing.
Reinoehl described himself on social media as “100 % ANTIFA all the way!” He has posted photos of recent protests he’s attended in downtown Portland and elsewhere in the wake of the May 25 killing of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.
In the Vice News interview, Reinoehl said he’s anti-fascist but not a member of antifa or any group.
The night before the fatal shooting, Reinoehl was seen at a demonstration in the Pearl District outside Mayor Ted Wheeler’s condo. Reinoehl had brought his daughter, who was carrying a baseball bat.
He’s also had several recent run-ins with police involving guns this summer.
Shortly after 2 a.m. on July 5, Portland police seized a 9mm handgun from him and arrested him on allegations of possessing a loaded gun in a public place, as well as interfering with police and resisting arrest. The encounter occurred in the 700 block of Southwest Main Street.
While officers were struggling with him and trying to arrest him, the gun dropped from Reinoehl , according to police. He was cited and released, and it’s unclear if the gun was ever returned to him. Police haven’t responded to a public records request for the police report.
He was given a date to appear in court later that month, but the allegations were dropped with a “no complaint,” according to court records. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office said the case is still under review.
On July 26, Reinoehl tried to wrestle a gun away from a man who was involved in a skirmish downtown. Reinoehl was shot in the upper right arm when the man’s gun discharged during the chaotic brawl. The gun’s owner, Aaron Collins of Colton, said he ended up running from the scene and left his gun behind.
The 9mm handgun hasn’t been recovered, said Collins, who wore the pistol in a holster on his hip and had a concealed gun permit. Police are investigating the fracas, they said.
Reinoehl was also wanted on a failure to appear warrant stemming from a June 8 speed racing case in Baker County in eastern Oregon. He and his 17-year-old son were racing in two different cars at speeds of up to 111 mph heading east on Interstate 84 after midnight near North Powder, state police said.
He was driving a 2005 Cadillac STS with his 11-year-old daughter as a passenger, police said. Inside the car, police said they found marijuana, “unidentified prescription pills” and a loaded Glock pistol for which Reinoehl didn’t have a concealed handgun license, state police said.
Reinoehl faced allegations of driving under the influence of a controlled substance, recklessly endangering another, unlawful possession of a gun and driving while suspended and uninsured.
The Marshals Service said it won’t release the names of the officers involved in the shooting of Reinoehl until the investigation is completed.
-- Maxine Bernstein
Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212
Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian