Category: Travel News

SEATTLE – When a US Marshals task force killed a self-proclaimed antifa activist in Washington state in September, the Trump administration applauded the withdrawal of a “violent agitator” on suspicion of murder. Last week, local investigators concluded a month-long homicide investigation by announcing that activist Michael Reinoehl most likely shot authorities first, effectively justifying the shooting.

But a review of investigative documents obtained by the New York Times suggests that investigators from the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office have dismissed key conflicting evidence that indicates Mr Reinoehl may never have fired or pointed. gun.

While investigators found a worn bullet casing in the back seat of Mr Reinoehl’s car and pointed out that as evidence he probably fired his gun, the handgun they recovered from Mr Reinoehl had a full magazine, according to several photos compiled by Thurston County. authorities showing Mr. Reinoehl’s handgun. The weapon was found in his pocket.

The federal government-organized task force, made up primarily of local Washington police officers, had sought to arrest Mr. Reinoehl for the August 29 shooting death of a supporter of the far-right group Patriot Prayer during the Loud summer street protests over race and police. The arrest operation quickly erupted into gunfire and Mr Reinoehl died on the street near his car in a residential area of ​​Lacey, Wash.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, where the shooting took place, was not on the task force.

In announcing its findings, the sheriff’s office wrote that “witness statements indicate that there was an exchange of gunfire, which was initiated by Reinoehl from inside his vehicle.” A spokesperson, Lt.Cameron Simper, said that while investigators could not conclude with certainty that Mr Reinoehl fired his gun, he said it was “very likely”.

But one of the witnesses Thurston County investigators relied on to conclude Mr Reinoehl fired his gun was an 8-year-old boy. His father, Garrett Louis, who had rushed to his son’s side at the time of the shooting, has always said he believed the officers opened fire first without shouting any warning.

Of the two other witnesses investigators cited to support the conclusion that Mr. Reinoehl fired his gun, one did not see this happen and the other was unsure.

Fred Langer, an attorney representing Mr Reinoehl’s family, said the law enforcement findings defy common sense.

“They cover themselves,” Mr. Langer said. “The physical evidence does not support what they say.”

Mr Reinoehl had been a constant feature during the racial justice protests in Portland, Ore. Last summer, carrying a gun as a volunteer security guard among protesters and writing online that the protests were doing part of a war with the potential to ‘make it all right’. . On August 29, when a trailer of Trump supporters entered downtown Portland, clashing with left-wing activists, Mr. Reinoehl was on the streets.

Video footage shot by onlookers appears to show Mr Reinoehl approaching Patriot Prayer supporter Aaron J. Danielson as Mr Danielson walked through the area with a box of bear repellent and an expandable baton. Mr. Reinoehl appears to have shot Mr. Danielson, killing him, before running into the night. He later claimed in an interview with Vice News that he fired in self-defense.

Five days after the shooting, Portland police issued an arrest warrant for Mr Reinoehl on suspicion of murder. The Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, whose local law enforcement officers were deputized as Federal Marshals, traced Mr. Reinoehl’s path to Washington State and made a plan to take him into custody.

The investigation by Thurston County investigators obtained by The Times provided key new details, including witness statements, from their months-long investigation into the events leading up to Mr Reinoehl’s death .

Officers believed Mr. Reinoehl possessed a .380 caliber handgun, an AR-type rifle and a shotgun, according to testimony they gave to investigators. They said they had received information – apparently from an informant – that Mr Reinoehl had said he would not be taken alive. The agents described their concern that Mr. Reinoehl was associated with “antifa”, the loose network of activists who mobilized to confront far-right groups and protest against violence by law enforcement.

On September 3, officers took up guard positions near the apartment where Mr. Reinoehl resided, according to their statements. Once there, the chosen radio frequency only worked for a few officers, leaving the others unable to communicate.

Just before 7 p.m., the team saw Mr. Reinoehl exit the apartment and walk towards his vehicle. Sgt. Erik Clarkson of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, a senior officer at the scene, told others to “let him drive if no one was near enough to forbid him,” but his order was not heeded. because of the radio problem, according to his statement.

Lakewood Police Department Constable Michael Merrill moved in and shot his Ford Escape at Mr. Reinoehl’s parked Volkswagen Jetta.

No video appeared to show what happened next, and a murky mix of sometimes conflicting information was used to explain it. None of the police officers carried body cameras or cameras mounted on their vehicles. One of the officers at the scene, a U.S. Deputy Marshal named Ryan Kimmel who did not shoot his gun, declined to make a statement during the investigation.

James Oleole, a Pierce County Sheriff’s Assistant in the passenger seat of Constable Merrill’s Ford Escape, said when law enforcement vehicles pulled over and officers announced themselves, Mr. Reinoehl was in the driver’s seat of his Jetta and made movements with his arms. with the movements that someone makes when they try to grab a weapon they have on them. “

Although he did not see a gun, Deputy Oleole said, he started firing his AR-15 rifle through his own windshield at Mr Reinoehl. Constable Merrill, thinking the shards of glass on the windshield meant he was under fire, exited the Ford Escape, saw what he believed to be Mr. Reinoehl looking for a gun and also opened fire. A third officer, also from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, followed the others in an SUV and blocked Mr. Reinoehl’s Jetta at an angle. Also believing that Mr. Reinoehl was looking for a gun, he opened fire with his 9 millimeter handgun.

As officers threw down a hail of bullets, a total of 40 in all, Mr. Reinoehl exited the Jetta, shielding himself, and took cover behind a truck parked behind him. All three officers said he continuously put his hand around his belt or pocket. An officer from the Washington State Department of Corrections, who had arrived in a third vehicle, saw Mr. Reinoehl walk around the back of the truck and start pulling “a small dark object” from his pocket. This officer also fired and Mr. Reinoehl fell.

Although no officer said Mr. Reinoehl shot them and only one described him lifting something that could have been a gun, investigators concluded that Mr. Reinoehl had most likely fired – showing a spent shell casing they had found in the back seat of the Jetta that matched the .380 caliber handgun found in his pocket.

Investigators never found a matching bullet amid the dozens of bullets sprayed around the scene, and all shots that pierced the Jetta’s front windshield were determined to be incoming bullets fired by officers. . Lt. Simper of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said it was possible Mr Reinoehl shot through an open passenger side window.

The final report also does not address the fact that the handgun’s six-round magazine was still full when officers retrieved it. Lt. Simper said it was possible that Mr Reinoehl loaded an extra round in the chamber before firing and the gun malfunctioned and failed to load a bullet from the magazine after firing.

To reach the conclusion that Mr. Reinoehl fired his gun, investigators also cited the accounts of three witnesses. One of them, Chad Smith, first told reporters that he saw Mr Reinoehl shoot at police officers, but later said he did not see Mr Reinoehl shoot. He reported to investigators that he believed Mr. Reinoehl fired first because the first shot he heard was less powerful than subsequent ones.

Another witness told investigators he believed there had been an exchange of gunfire. The man, who asked not to be identified publicly, said in an interview on Friday that he could not be sure Mr Reinoehl had fired a gun.

Mr. Louis’ 8-year-old son told police that Mr. Reinoehl was shooting at the officers. But when asked what kind of weapon Mr. Reinoehl had fired, he described it as “big” and “two handed”, a description that did not fit Mr. Reinoehl.

Mr Louis said his children learned that the police were “heroes” but that the investigator who questioned his son worded his questions in a way that prompted the boy to say that Mr Reinoehl had shot with him. his weapon.

“He first told me for the first 24 hours that he didn’t know this guy had a gun,” he said.