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Man Under Investigation in Fatal Shooting of Right-Wing Demonstrator in Portland was Outside Mayor’s Condo Night Before with Daughter
Michael Forest Reinoehl, the 48-year-old man under investigation in the fatal shooting Saturday night of a right-wing demonstrator in downtown Portland, attended a Black Lives Matter protest the night before outside the mayor’s home.
Reinoehl brought his daughter, who was carrying a baseball bat, according to photos by an Oregonian/OregonLive photographer and others present Friday night at Mayor Ted Wheeler’s condominium building.
Reinoehl was dressed in the same light-colored vest that videos and photos show him wearing at the scene of the deadly shooting about 9 p.m. Saturday on Southwest Third Avenue.
Sources familiar with the case but not authorized to speak said police are investigating Reinoehl in connection with the death of Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer. Danielson was shot in the chest and died soon after most cars in a caravan of backers of President Donald Trump drove through downtown and left.
A family member also identified Reinoehl as a man captured in photos and video leaving the shooting scene.
Police have made no arrests in the shooting.
The Friday night protest had the feeling of an evening block party with a DJ and other musicians playing in the street as people danced, while about a dozen demonstrators sat inside the lobby of Wheeler’s residence in the Pearl District, locking arms with a list of demands for the city to address systemic police violence and racism.
One protest participant helping to direct traffic said he noticed Reinoehl, who was not wearing a mask, show up with his daughter. The girl carried a dark baseball bat, photos show.
Oh my. The man, Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, id'd by 4chan as the alledged killer of the Trump supporter last night (not confirmed by auth yet) was charged recently speeding and putting his 11 year old daughter in danger. Irresponsible & sick shit. https://t.co/OpCYu3L9Yf
— Laura Love (@Panopticonomy) August 30, 2020
They walked through the event and then left, walking back to the North Park Blocks. Some people followed, photographing him as he left the area.
Reinoehl calls himself an anti-fascist and wrote in mid-June on his Instagram page, “I am 100 % ANTIFA all the way! I am willing to fight for my brothers and sisters!” He said in a Bloomberg news video interview this summer that he has provided security for other protesters. The video, posted online July 27, showed Reinoehl standing across the street from the Justice Center, and his daughter stepping out of a car parked nearby. “I have my daughter here with me because I’m trying to give her an education,” he said on the video.
He’s posted videos and photos of demonstrations that he’s attended in Portland since late June, accompanied by the hashtags #blacklivesmatter, #anewnation and #breonnataylor.
Reinoehl also was accused of carrying a loaded gun at an earlier protest in Portland. He was cited around 2 a.m. on July 5, accused of illegally possessing a loaded gun in a public place, resisting arrest and interfering with police in the 700 block of Southwest Main Street. The allegations were dropped on July 30, and he spent no time in custody.
He’s wanted on a failure to appear warrant stemming from a June 8 Baker County arrest in a speed racing case that involved his 17-year-old son in eastern Oregon. Reinoehl faces allegations including driving under the influence of a controlled substance, recklessly endangering another, unlawful possession of a gun and driving while suspended and uninsured. His daughter, then 11, was with him in his speeding Cadillac at the time, state police reported.
Reinoehl was raised in Sandy and has had recent addresses in Northeast Portland, Gresham and Clackamas. He described himself on social media and in the Bloomberg video as a professional snowboarder and contractor who has former military experience but “hated” his time in the army.
— Maxine Bernstein
Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212
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