A judge has dismissed a $1 million lawsuit filed by the family of an alleged-murderer Antifa activist who was shot and killed by police in Washington.
Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, a self-proclaimed anti-fascist, was wanted for the murder of Aaron ‘Jay’ Danielson, 39 – a member of the ring-wing Patriot Prayer group, in Portland, Oregon on August 29, 2020.
Danielson, who was walking with his friend when he died, was allegedly shot in the chest by Reinoehl after clashes between Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters broke out during a rally.
After the violent incident, Reinoehl fled from Oregon to Washington state. Authorities obtained a warrant for his arrest and launched a manhunt for the fugitive.
On September 3, 2020, a fugitive task force of the US Marshals Service, the FBI, and state and local law enforcement agencies tracked the alleged culprit down near an apartment complex where he was hiding out.
When Reinoehl allegedly tried to dodge his arrest and pulled out a gun, officers shot him dead, according to a statement from Attorney General William P. Barr.
They began shooting at him through his car, sending terrified onlookers diving for cover in the heavily-populated residential area.
Civilian witnesses gave differing accounts of what they saw. All described a chaotic scene with bullets flying while children were outside.
Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, a self-proclaimed anti-fascist, was shot and killed by police while he was on the run in Washington on September 3, 2020
Police started shooting at the suspect through his car, before he stepped out of the vehicle
Cops kept firing and he dropped dead to the ground near mailboxes. His autopsy revealed his cause of death was gunshot wounds to his head and chest.
Reinoehl was injured inside his vehicle, but reportedly got out and tried to hide behind it.
But cops kept firing and he dropped dead to the ground near mailboxes. His autopsy revealed his cause of death was gunshot wounds to his head and chest. His death was ruled a homicide.
Trump, who was serving his first presidential term at the time, said Reinoehl was a ‘violent criminal’ and ‘there has to be retribution’.
Reinoehl’s family sued the task force that gunned down he left-wing protester in 2023, claiming they fired more than 40 bullets without a solid plan for his arrest.
The shots were fired by two Pierce County sheriff’s deputies, a Lakewood police officer and a Washington State Department of Corrections employee.
The excessive force lawsuit, filed in Tacoma on behalf of his children, also alleged cops never identified themselves before drawing their weapons.
‘The actions of the officers, before, during, and after the shooting, show that they either had no plan to arrest the man without injury, made no effort to follow such a plan, or planned to use deadly force from the start,’ the document reads, according to The Oregonian.
Police were allegedly making decisions based on ‘inaccurate, misleading, incomplete, and/or out of context information, such as a claim that Reinoehl considered himself to be at “war with police,”‘ the family claimed.
Aaron ‘Jay’ Danielson, 39, a member of the ring-wing Patriot Prayer group, was shot dead on August 29, 2020
Danielson was walking with his friend when he was killed (pictured: his friend being held back by cops after the shooting)
Danielson was allegedly shot in the chest by Reinoehl after clashes between Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters broke out during a rally
Task force officers confronted Reinoehl wearing regular clothes in unmarked cars. They never told the accused killer who they were, the lawsuit alleged.
He was reportedly struck by at least five bullets – with one through his head and another through his chest.
His family has also said the pistol in his pocket was unloaded and never pulled on the police officers.
‘It was still in his pocket when he was laid out dead on the street,’ the suit reads.
But US District Judge David G. Estudillo ultimately ruled in favor of the authorities last month, The Oregonian reported.
In his 50-page decision, he explained it was not the court’s role to decide if the task force’s plan was detailed enough.
‘There was plan to arrest Reinoehl and command structure,’ he wrote, according to the outlet.
Estudillo also asserted that the responding officers had good reason to be afraid of Reinoehl, given he was wanted for homicide, was likely armed and believed to passionately dislike police.
‘We think he got it wrong, and we intend to appeal,’ Jesse Merrithew, the lawyer representing the Reinoehl family, told The Oregonian.
The excessive force lawsuit, filed in Tacoma on behalf of his children, also alleged cops never identified themselves before drawing their weapons
Before the shooting, her brother had made social media posts about his Antifa beliefs
Just after Danielson died and before Reinoehl was officially named as a suspect, Reinoehl’s sister reported him to police after recognizing him in pictures from the fatal protest.
In a 2020 interview at her Oregon home, April told DailyMail.com her brother had been estranged from their family for three years after stealing medication from their mother who has dementia.
For years he would verbally abuse and bring their mother to tears, manipulating her into giving him what little spare money the single, retired teaching assistant had, April claimed.
April apologized to the victim’s family for her brother’s alleged actions.
‘To the family of Aaron Danielson, I am so, so sorry this happened to you. He didn’t deserve this, nobody does,’ she said.
Before the shooting, her brother had tweeted that he was a member of the left-wing anarchist group Antifa and said he was willing to engage in violence. He other social media posts with similar sentiments.
