Suspect in Portland Antifa murder shot and killed by police.

Suspect in the Portland Antifa murder, Michael Forest Reinoehl. New York Times/The Oregonian.

The suspect in the Portland Antifa murder of a Donald Trump supporter, Michael Forest Reinoehl, was shot and killed by police. New York Times. Reinoehl confessed to the killing in an interview with Vice News and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Reinoehl was heavily involved with the riots in Portland and said on social media that he was "100% Antifa". Reinoehl said he killed Aaron J. Danielson in defense of another person. Witnesses claim that Danielson was reaching for something, possibly a can of mace. Reinoehl had been arrested during the riots for illegally carrying a firearm and resisting arrest, but the charges were dropped. Reinoehl was killed by a federal fugitive task force in Lacey, Washington.

EDIT: A better, local source for this incident. 

My Comment:

Apologies in advance for using the New York Times as a source. Not only were they incredibly biased in favor of Reinoehl, they are also under a paywall if you have read too many articles there. I would normally use a different source, but so far the Times is the first to break this story. 

It's very clear that the media is on the side of Reinoehl. Vice News was able to score an interview with him even though he was a wanted fugitive. That's just insane and I wonder if Vice was forced to give Reinoehl up, though I am guessing that he gave enough up in that interview that the feds were able to track him down. 

It's a massive contrast to the Kyle Rittenhouse case. In that case Rittenhouse was attacked by a mob that was trying to torch a car lot in Kenosha. He shot and killed two of them and the video makes it clear that it's almost certainly self-defense. In comparison, the video in the Danielson murder show there is very little argument for self defense. Even if the witnesses are telling the truth and Danielson was macing someone, that's not usually a justification for lethal force, as mace is not a lethal weapon. But you would never know these things if you only read mainstream media. (To be fair to the New York Times, their coverage of the Rittenhouse case was fairly non-biased for once, so this is mostly other news outlets and tech companies that are showing their bias)

What isn't clear is the circumstances around his death. My guess is that he decided to shoot it out with the police but without any other information that's just speculation. Without any further knowledge it's hard to say whether the shooting was justified or not. Given what he was accused of, the fact he was a member of antifa and the fact that he was already charged with resisting arrest, I am thinking that the shooting will be proven to be justified. We will surely find out soon and with any luck there will be bodycam footage. EDIT: The Olympian article I linked to does indeed state that Reinoehl opened fire on the police. 

I do have to say that it is inarguable that if Reinoehl had been kept in jail after his arrest in July, both he and Reinoehl would still be alive. The prosecutors and government in Portland have been letting rioters go without even a slap on the wrist. If they had actually cracked down on these rioters then this incident never would have happened. 

I am glad that it looks like the feds are finally moving on these Antifa terrorists. Reinoehl was the worst of a bad bunch but it looks like other people are finally getting charged. I know that the President himself was interested in this case and I'm glad to see that some sort of justice happened, even if a trial would have been preferable. 

Why would a trail be preferable? I'm afraid that Antifa will make Reinoehl into a martyr and will use his death for further violence. This violence could be directed at police or other Trump supporters. Now that blood has been shed it's possible that the situation will spiral into a cycle of revenge. Reinoehl was wrong about just about everything but he was right when he said that there will be casualties.