After multiple reports and eye-witnesses sharing their accounts of the fatal police shooting of an anti-fascist activist in Washington last month, Donald Trump has weighed in on the topic. According to the police, the US Marshals shot and killed Michael Reinoehl on September 3 after he left an apartment building in the Lacey suburb of Olympia and got in a car.
Reinoehl, who was wanted on a charge of murdering right-wing activist Aaron Danielson, became brought a lot of heat on the US Marshals as several eyewitnesses claimed that the officers did not identify themselves.
The New York Times reported that all but one of 22 eyewitnesses corroborated on the extrajudicial killing of an Antifa activist. Five of the eyewitnesses reportedly said the US Marshals began shooting as soon as they got off their unmarked SUVs and identified Reinoehl.
Initially, the Marshals Service had said that Reinoehl produced a firearm threatening the lives of the officers, but at least five witnesses said Reinoehl appeared unarmed.
Now Trump brags about extrajudicial killing of Antifa activist
"Two days went by. Three days went by. I said, 'Why the hell haven't they arrested him?' And they knew who he was. And we sent in the U.S. Marshals. And in 15 minutes it was all over. That was the end of it. That was the end of it," Trump said to a cheering audience in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
Trump: We sent in the US Marshals, took 15 minutes and it was over... They knew who he was, they didn’t want to arrest him and 15 minutes that ended pic.twitter.com/fJA5BsJVeF
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) October 15, 2020
Previously, Trump had called the shooting "retribution" after Reinoehl allegedly killed the far-right Trump supporter in Portland on August 29.
Shooting that killed Reinoehl
The sheriff's office is in charge of the ongoing investigation into the shooting. According to Thurston County Sheriff's Lieutenant Ray Brady, more than 30 rounds were fired at Reinoehl. Witnesses said the firing happened when Reinoehl was in the car. An autopsy revealed he died from gunshot wounds to the head and upper torso.
Reinoehl's gun was recovered and was said to have rounds in it. But it hasn't been revealed if it was the same gun that was used in the Portland shooting. When the police recovered the .380 calibre handgun, it was found in Reinoehl's front pocket and his hand was on or near the gun when he was fatally shot by US Marshals.
