SEATTLE – When a US Marshals task force killed a self-proclaimed antifa activist in Washington state in September, the Trump administration welcomed the removal of a “violent riot” suspected of murder. Last week, local investigators concluded a month-long investigation into the murder with the announcement that the activist, Michael Reinoehl, had probably first shot at authorities to justify the shooting effectively.
But a review of investigative documents obtained by The New York Times suggests that investigators from the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office are discounting important pieces of conflicting evidence that suggest Reinoehl would never have fired or aimed a gun.
While investigators found a used bullet cover on the back seat of Mr. Reinoehl’s car was found and pointed out that he probably fired his weapon, the pistol they had from Mr. Reinoehl has recovered a complete cut, according to several photos compiled by Thurston County. authorities that Mr. Reinoehl’s pistol shows. The gun was found in his pocket.
The federally organized task force, consisting primarily of local law enforcement officers from Washington, tried to persuade Mr. Reinoehl arrested for shooting dead on August 29 a supporter of far-right group Patriot Prayer during the summer’s fierce street protests over race and policing. The arrest quickly broke out in a gunfire and Reinoehl was killed in the street near his car in a neighborhood in Lacey, Wash.
The sheriff’s office in Thurston County, where the shooting took place, was not part of the task force.
In announcing his conclusions, the sheriff wrote that “statements of evidence indicate that there was a gunfire that Reinoehl started from inside his vehicle.” A spokesman, Lieutenant Cameron Simper, said that although investigators could not conclude with certainty that Mr. Reinoehl did not fire his weapon, saying it was “highly likely.”
But one of the witnesses investigators in Thurston County relied on to conclude that Reinoehl fired his rifle was an 8-year-old boy. His father, Garrett Louis, who rushed to his son at the time of the shooting, has consistently said he believes officers first opened fire without shouting any warnings.
Of the two other witnesses cited by investigators to support the conclusion that Mr. Reinoehl fired his rifle, one did not see it happening, and the other one was not sure.
Fred Langer, a lawyer representing the Reinoehl family, said the law enforcement’s conclusions contradict common sense.
“They cover themselves,” he said. Langer said. “The physical evidence does not support what they say.”
Mr. Reinoehl was a constant gathering at racial justice protests this summer in Portland, Ore. He carried a gun as a volunteer security officer among the protesters and wrote online that the protests were part of a war with the potential to ‘fix everything’. . On August 29, when a caravan of Trump supporters drove into downtown Portland and collided with left-wing activists, Mr. Reinoehl on the street.
It seems that the video recordings made by bystanders show that Mr. Reinoehl Aaron J. Danielson, the Patriot Prayer supporter, then approached Mr. Danielson walked through the area with a can of bear repellent and an expandable stick. It looks like Mr. Reinoehl mnr. Danielson shot and killed 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 a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Reinoehl on suspicion of murder. The Northwest Northwest Violent Offenders Task Force, whose local law enforcers have been delegated as federal rangers, said Mr. Tracked down Reinoehl’s road to Washington State and prepared a plan to arrest him.
The investigation by Thurston County investigators obtained by The Times provided important new details, including witness statements, from their month-long investigation into the events that preceded Reinoehl’s death.
Officials believed that Mr. Reinoehl had a 0.380 caliber pistol, an AR-style rifle and a rifle, according to reports they gave to investigators. They said they had – apparently from an informant – received information that Mr. Reinoehl said he would not be taken alive. Officials describe their concern that Mr. Reinoehl is associated with ‘antifa’, the loose network of activists who have mobilized to confront far-right groups and protest violence against law enforcement.
According to officials, on September 3, the officers held supervisory positions near the apartment where Mr. Reinoehl went home. When they were at the scene, their chosen radio frequency only worked for a few officers, so the others were unable to communicate.
Just before 19:00, the team watched as Mr. Reinoehl leaves the apartment and goes to his vehicle. Sgt. Erik Clarkson of the Sheriff’s Department of Pierce County, a senior officer at the scene, told the others “to let him drive if no one close enough to interdict him”, but his order was not heard as a result of the radio problem, according to his statement.
Officer Michael Merrill of the Lakewood Police Department decided to move in and his Ford Escape in the direction of Mr. Reinoehl’s parked Volkswagen Jetta shot.
No video appeared showing what happened next, and a dark mix of sometimes conflicting information was used to explain it. None of the officers were carrying a rear-view camera, nor were cameras on their vehicles. One of the officers at the scene, a deputy U.S. marshal named Ryan Kimmel, who did not fire his weapon, declined to make a statement during the investigation.
James Oleole, a Pierce County deputy sheriff in the passenger seat of Officer Merrill’s Ford Escape, said that while law enforcement vehicles pulled up and officers announced themselves, Mr. Reinoehl was in the driver’s seat of his Jetta and moving his arms “consistently” with the movements someone makes when they try to grab a gun on their person. ‘
Deputy Oleole said he did not see a gun, but he fired his AR-15 gun through his own windshield at Mr. Reinoehl starts shooting. Officer Merrill, who thought the shards of glass from the windshield meant he was under fire, left the Ford Escape, seeing what he said was Mr. Reinoehl grabbed a rifle, and also fired. A third officer, also from the sheriff of Pierce County, followed the others in an SUV and the Jetta of Mr. Reinoehl blocked from a corner. Because he believes that Mr. Reinoehl grabbed a rifle, firing it with his 9-millimeter pistol.
While the officers unleashed a hail of bullets, a total of 40 in total, Mr. Reinoehl left the Jetta and shielded himself and ran after a truck behind him. The three officers reported that he was constantly grabbing his belt or bag. An official from the Department of Corrections in Washington, who arrived in a third vehicle, said Mr. Reinoehl was seen turning behind the truck and began to pull a small dark object out of his pocket. The officer also shot and Mr. Reinoehl the case.
Although no official said that Mr. Reinoehl did not shoot at them, and only one described him lifting something that could possibly have been a gun, the investigators concluded that Mr. Reinoehl most likely fired a shot – referring to a cap they found on the back seat. of the Jetta corresponding to the .380 pistol found in his pocket.
Investigators never found a bullet that matched the dozens sprayed at the scene, and all the gunshots fired through the windshield of the Jetta were determined to be incoming rounds fired by officers. Lieutenant Simper of the sheriff in Thurston County said it was possible that Mr. Reinoehl shot through an open window on the passenger side.
The final report also does not deal with the fact that the pistol’s six-lap clip was still full when officers recovered it. Lieutenant Simper said that it was possible that Mr. Reinoehl loaded an extra round into the room before firing, and that the gun did not work and could not load a round of the cut after he took a shot.
To come to their conclusion that Mr. Reinoehl fired his rifle, investigators also quoted the testimony of three witnesses. One of them, Chad Smith, initially told reporters that he was Mr. Reinoehl was seen shooting at officers, but later said he did not see Mr. Reinoehl did not see shooting. He told investigators that he believed Mr. Reinoehl fired first because the first shot he heard sounded less powerful than later.
Another witness told investigators he believes there is a change of weapon. The man, who asked not to be identified in public, said in an interview on Friday that he could not be sure that Mr. Reinoehl did not fire a weapon.
Louis’s eight-year-old son told officers that Reinoehl shot at the agents. But when asked what kind of gun Mr. Reinoehl fired, he described it as ‘large’ and ‘two-handed’, a description that does not match Mr. Reinoehl’s pocket-sized pistol.
Louis said his children were taught that police officers are ‘heroes’, but that the investigator who questioned his son asked his questions in a way that prompted the boy to say that Reinoehl fired his weapon.
“He initially told me for the first 24 hours that he did not know the man had a weapon,” he said.