>https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/09/arrest-warrant-against-michael-reinoehl-for-2nd-degree-murder-unlawful-use-of-a-firearm-unsealed.html
Michael Reinoehl appears to target right-wing demonstrator before fatal shooting, police say
>Updated 4:38 PM; Today 4:02 PM | OregonLive
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Michael Forest Reinoehl, a 48-year-old man self-described anti-fascist accused of fatally shooting a man in downtown Portland after a pro-Trump rally Saturday night, appears to have targeted Patriot Prayer supporter Aaron J. Danielson, emerging from a hidden alcove of a parking garage before he fired two shots, one striking Danielson’s bear spray can and the other his chest, according to a police affidavit unsealed Friday. Police responding found a single Winchester .380-caliber bullet casing on the street and a metal canister of “Bear Attack Detector” that had a large defect in it just north of Danielson’s body on Southwest Third Avenue. Danielson, 39, was pronounced dead at the scene. He died from a single bullet to the upper right chest, which traveled from front to back and lodged in his left back area, an autopsy found. During a search of Reinoehl’s basement rental unit of a Northeast Portland home on 92nd Avenue home in Northeast Portland, police located ammunition of the same caliber used in Danielson’s shooting. They do not appear to have recovered a gun. Officers in a federal task force Thursday night attempted to arrest Reinoehl on the warrant, which charged him with second-degree murder with a weapon and unlawful use of a weapon. But officers from three different Washington agencies ended up shooting and killing Reinoehl after he walked out of an apartment outside Lacey, Wash. and attempted to flee, according to law enforcement authorities. Multnomah County Judge Angela Franco Lucero had signed the warrant Thursday afternoon. A judge unsealed the 19-page affidavit for the arrest warrant and a search warrant affidavit Friday afternoon. Witnesses told police they saw Danielson pull out a can of mace or bear spray and then heard two shots, the affidavit said. Reinoehl was identified on social media within hours of the shooting, which left 39-year-old Aaron “Jay” Danielson lying dead on Southwest Third Avenue with a gunshot wound to the chest. Police found a large defect in the bear spray canister that was retrieved from the street, leading investigators to believe it was struck by one of two bullets fired by Reinoehl that night. Detectives found Danielson’s identification in a wallet in a right cargo pants pocket. He also had a loaded gun on his waistband and two magazines of 9mm red-tip ammunition in his right cargo pants pocket, the affidavit said. Rienoehl, who described himself as a left-wing anti-fascist, appeared to admit he fired the shots to a freelance journalist in a video posted by Vice News Thursday night. He said he acted in self defense, believing he and a friend of his were about to be maced or stabbed, was aware of what he did and ran from the scene. Homicide detectives reviewed video footage of the shooting caught 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. Homicide detectives closely reviewed Dunlap’s video, as well as surveillance video from the garage on Southwest Third Avenue and Alder Street. As part of the homicide investigation, police learned that Reinoehl had sent a text message to his teenage son on Aug. 7 that read, “Sell me the gun for a quarter pound of weed and $100 I’m getting tired of this shit I need a piece now,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit. In the Vice interview clip, Reinoehl said he acted in self defense. “I had no choice,” he said. But 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.” Reinoehl said in the clip that he decided to speak out, although lawyers advised him against saying anything. He spoke with freelance journalist Donovan Farley. “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. Portland police also Friday asked for the public’s help in identifying a man who was with Reinoehl on Saturday night at the time of the shooting in the city’s downtown. Detectives said they’re still interested in interviewing the man who was with Reinoehl. – Maxine Bernstein