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After a federal task force killed the self-described antifa activist Michael Reinoehl on Sept. 3, President Trump praised it as “retribution.” Our new investigation raises doubts about whether officers made any attempt to arrest Reinoehl before killing him https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/us/police-killing-portland-antifa-reinoehl.html
Based on interviews with 22 people who lived nearby and Lt. Ray Brady, the commander of the investigation team, we’ve reconstructed what happened. What we found suggests that officers may have opened fire without warning or even seeing a gun.
Reinoehl was a fixture at racial justice protests in Portland since the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, often carrying a gun and providing security. On Aug. 29, a man who looked like Reinoehl shot and killed far-right protester Aaron J. Danielson.
Reinoehl, identified by @Oregonian as the main suspect, fled to an apartment complex in Lacey, Wash. Operating on a tip passed on by Portland police, the U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force tracked him down.
They set up surveillance around the apartment where they believed Reinoehl was staying. In this thread, I’ll detail the officers’ actions, and what witnesses saw and heard, step by step:
Just after 6:50 p.m., the streets quiet, Reinoehl emerged and began walking to his Volkswagen station wagon, parked on the street about 100 feet away.
Nate Dinguss, who authorities said lived in the apartment where Reinoehl was staying, said Reinoehl was carrying only a cellphone and a bag in his hands. The Marshals’ task force decided to make an arrest, in part to avoid a chase, Lt. Brady said.
Two unmarked S.U.V.s sped toward Reinoehl, moving so quickly and dangerously that residents thought it was a drug deal gone bad. They halted about a foot from his bumper, boxing his car in. Four officers leapt out — some before the vehicles even halted, Dinguss said.
Five eyewitnesses on the street at the time said the officers opened fire before giving Reinoehl any warnings or commands. “There was no, ‘Get out of the car!’ There was no, ‘Stop!’ There was no nothing. They just got out of the car and started shooting,” Garrett Louis said.
Chad Smith described it similarly: “There was no yelling. There was no screaming. There was no altercation. It was just straight to gunshots,” he said. In statements they’ve given to investigators, the officers claim they first shouted “Stop! Police!” Lt. Brady said.
But officers gave conflicting stories about what led them to shoot. One said he saw Reinoehl raise “what they perceived to be a gun,” while two others said they only saw Reinoehl make “furtive movements” toward the vehicle’s center console, Lt. Brady said.
They opened fire, and videos from the aftermath show bullet holes in the driver’s side of the car’s windshield. Reinoehl fled from the vehicle and away from the officers, who continued firing. Then he stepped out from behind a truck, and into the street.
Again, the officers gave conflicting accounts about what happened. One said he saw Reinoehl raise a handgun. But others said Reinoehl only reached toward his pocket. Joined by a fifth officer, they fired again, and Reinoehl fell dead by a set of mailboxes.
Officers say they recovered a .380-caliber handgun from the right front pocket of Reinoehl’s pants, his hand on or near the gun, Lt. Brady said. Inside the Volkswagen, they found a bullet casing matching the caliber.
But none of the officers claims to have seen Reinoehl fire, and there is no evidence that he did, such as a fired bullet or a ricochet mark on the officers’ vehicles, Lt. Brady said. None of the officers involved were wounded.
A visit to the scene by a Times reporter and a review of dozens of videos and images from the aftermath show that at least eight of the officers’ bullets struck civilian property. Some flew by 8-year-old Silas Louis as he rode his bike — Garrett scrambled to carry him to safety.
At least five bullets struck the wall and fence of Angel Romero’s home. One passed through his dining room, narrowly missing his brother and his dogs’ kennels, before lodging in a kitchen wall.
Of 22 nearby residents interviewed by The Times, only one man reported hearing any shouting before the gunshots began. “I respect cops to the utmost, but things were definitely in no way, shape or form done properly,” Garrett Louis said.
Here's our video reconstruction of the moments the led to Michael Reinoehl's killing: https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000007384938/michael-reinoehl-police-shooting.html
According to Lt. Brady, the investigation's commander, none of the officers involved in Reinoehl's killing were wearing bodycams, and none of their vehicles carried dashboard cameras. There is no law enforcement video of what occurred.
Shout to to the dogged @derekknowles89, who shot photos and videos of the crime scene in Lacey and wrung endless details out of nearly two dozen witnesses in order to give us an account of a killing that directly contradicts the administration's narrative.
Our team included: @whitney_hurst, @kimmurphy, @ByMikeBaker, @_stella_cooper, @DrewJordan_NYT, @dim109, and @arielle_designs.
