Federal Task Force Kills Michael Reinoehl, Suspect in the Fatal Shooting of a Trump Supporter Aug. 29

Officers were seeking to apprehend Reinoehl near Lacey, Wash., when he was killed.

Portland police at Southwest 3rd Avenue and Alder Street on Aug. 29, 2020, where a man was fatally shot. (Alex Wittwer)

Michael Forest Reinoehl, a Portland-area man who confessed to the Aug. 29 fatal shooting of Aaron J. Danielson in downtown Portland, was shot to death by a federal task force near Lacey, Wash., tonight as officers moved in to arrest him.

Reinoehl, 48, was a regular at downtown protests this summer and identified himself on Instagram as "100% antifa." This afternoon, Vice News aired an interview in which Reinoehl confessed to shooting Danielson, but claimed it was self-defense. Danielson was participating in a motorcade of hundreds of Trump supporters who rallied in Clackamas County and later swung through downtown.

The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed tonight that its task force killed Reinoehl.

"The Portland Police Bureau had issued a warrant for his arrest earlier in the day and asked the U.S. Marshals to locate and apprehend the suspect," said U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Drew J. Wade in a statement. "The fugitive task force located Reinoehl in Olympia and 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 New York Times, citing three law enforcement officials, first reported Reinoehl's death.

The Associated Press and KOMO-TV also spoke to sources who confirmed Reinoehl was dead. Thurston County Sheriff John Snaza told The Olympian that a U.S. Marshals Service task force fatally shot a man near Lacey. Snaza said the man left an apartment and produced a gun.

The Olympian described the scene in a neighborhood called Tanglewilde:

A neighbor who declined to give his name said he was walking his dog about 7 p.m. when he saw two SUVs pull up parallel to one another — one on 3rd Way and one in an alley and then heard shots, saw gun smoke from the right side and then several shots almost instantly from the left side. He said he took cover behind a parked car.

He estimates he heard 30-40 shots. As the shots were firing, he said another black car converged, and then another.

He saw someone performing CPR on someone, then the coroner arrived.

The Oregonian has reported that prior to Saturday's fatal shooting of Danielson, Reinoehl had been arrested earlier this summer while in possession of a gun and had also been involved in a skirmish downtown that apparently left him with a bullet wound.

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