A self-identified anti-fascist is under investigation in the fatal shooting of a man identified as a Patriot Prayer supporter in Portland, The Oregonian reports.
Michael Forest Reinhoehl, a 48-year-old self-identified anti-fascist who has attended protests since late June, is under investigation in Saturday’s shooting.
He described himself as a professional snowboarder and contractor. He said he had military experience.
He was previously cited for possessing a loaded gun, resisting arrest, and interfering with police during another protest in July.
His sister told The Oregonian that she was woken up on Sunday morning by a threatening phone call from someone who told her that “our whole family was in danger unless we turned him over.”
“That’s how I found out,” she told the outlet.
Patriot Prayer supporter killed:
The victim was identified as Aaron “Jay” Danielson, who goes by Jay Bishop, according to the Associated Press.
Danielson was wearing a Patriot Prayer hat when he was killed. Patriot Prayer is a right-wing group that has often allied itself with the Proud Boys in violent clashes in the city.
Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson told the AP that Danielson was a “good friend.”
President Donald Trump blamed the city and state’s Democratic leaders for failing to contain the violence.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler blamed the president.
"It's you who have created the hate and the division. It's you who have not found a way to say the names of Black people killed by police officers even as people in law enforcement have,” he said. “And it's you who claimed that White supremacists are good people.”
The last part of Wheeler's quote was presumably a reference to Trump's comments following the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Though the president has been routinely criticized for saying that there were "good people on both sides," it is important to note the comment is often taken out of its full context, as Trump proceeded to condemn neo-Nazis and white nationalists at the protests just moments later.
Shooting comes after Kenosha killing:
The Portland shooting came days after a 17-year-old Trump supporter killed two people and injured one other amid the unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The shooting took place amid days of violence and protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Trump said he would travel to Kenosha on Tuesday to survey the damage caused by the unrest.
"I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing,” Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers wrote in a letter to Trump. “I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together.”
