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Last week, investigators in Washington concluded that Michael Reinoehl, the antifa activist killed by a federal task force in September, had likely opened fire. One problem: They found his gun with a full clip.
@ByMikeBaker and I on the new case files: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/10/us/michael-reinoehl-killing-investigation.html
@ByMikeBaker and I on the new case files: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/10/us/michael-reinoehl-killing-investigation.html
Officers found an I.O. Hellcat .380 caliber handgun in Reinoehl's pocket. Its six-round clip was full. In the back seat of his car, they found a spent casing matching the gun. But they never found the bullet he supposedly fired.
Investigators theorize Reinoehl might've loaded a seventh round into the chamber, fired, and the gun malfunctioned during reload, leaving the clip full. But there is no evidence they tested either the gun or Reinoehl for gun shot residue.
Investigators relied on three witnesses to conclude that Reinoehl shot at officers. We had already spoken to them, and many others. One was an 8-year-old boy interviewed two weeks after the fact, and all three have changed their stories over time. None saw Reinoehl fire.
We found other interesting things in the case files, like the officers' statements to investigators, which showed that on Sept. 3, they were geared up for what they saw as a confrontation with an armed person at war with police whose antifa sympathies made him more dangerous
We also found that the task force officers had only around three hours to prepare before beginning the operation to arrest Reinoehl, and that when they arrived, their radios were malfunctioning
This meant that when officers ID'd Reinoehl, the senior sergeant on the scene — who had previously told the team that they would call in SWAT if Reinoehl didn't "go mobile" — was not heard when he instructed everyone to let Reinoehl drive away if they couldn't stop him.
The task force officer who began the gunfire did so before he even got out of his SUV, firing his AR15 through his front windshield and spattering his colleague with glass shards. He never saw Reinoehl point a gun, only that he was reaching for something.
Read our piece on the newly released case files here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/10/us/michael-reinoehl-killing-investigation.html
And our original investigation of Reinoehl's killing by a federal task force, based on the accounts of 22 witnesses, here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/us/michael-reinoehl-antifa-portland-shooting.html
And our original investigation of Reinoehl's killing by a federal task force, based on the accounts of 22 witnesses, here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/us/michael-reinoehl-antifa-portland-shooting.html
I should also say that @ryanjhaas and @OPB have been doing great reporting on the Reinoehl killing, and have reported extensively on the case files as well: https://www.opb.org/article/2021/04/07/police-radio-problems-led-to-chaotic-scene-when-officers-killed-portland-activist/
And shout out to @drimcalban for first drawing my attention to the photo of the handgun with the full magazine.
NEW: Audio from the Reinoehl raid posted by @Oregonian.
At 1:54-1:56, an officer, likely Sgt. Clarkson of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, can be heard telling the other officers, "We're too far, let him drive." Instead, they moved in.
At 1:54-1:56, an officer, likely Sgt. Clarkson of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, can be heard telling the other officers, "We're too far, let him drive." Instead, they moved in.
Deputy Oleole of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office makes the unilateral call to take Reinoehl. "Shit, bro," someone says over the radio. Within seconds, Oleole is firing at Reinoehl through his own windshield without ever having seen a gun.
