Man Under Investigation For Portland Shooting Faced Earlier Gun Charge

Police haven’t announced any official suspects in the shooting of a member of the Patriot Prayer group in Portland, Oregon on Saturday night, but unofficially sources have told the Oregonian newspaper that they’re investigating a 48-year old veteran of the U.S. Army after a family member helped identify him as the person seen leaving the area in downtown Portland immediately after Aaron Danielson was shot.

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48-year old Michael Forest Reinoehl describes himself on social media as “100% Antifa” and portrayed himself as a wannabe revolutionary in posts going back several months.

“Every Revolution needs people that are willing and ready to fight,” he wrote in June, comparing it to his time in the Army.

“I am 100 % ANTIFA all the way! I am willing to fight for my brothers and sisters!” he said, insisting he would not “run” from violence.

“It will be a war and like all wars there will be casualties,” he wrote, calling protesters and ANTIFA “my brothers in arms.”

He also claims to have been hit by a rubber bullet while working “security” at protests, and most recently posted video of a flag being burned by a mob chanting “F–k Trump.

Back in early July, Reinoehl was arrested at a protest in downtown Portland for illegally carrying a firearm, resisting arrest, and interfering with police, but like the vast majority of those arrested in the city’s protests, the charges were dropped by the Multnomah County D.A.’s office.

He was given a date to appear in court later that month, but the allegations were dropped on July 30 with a “no complaint,” according to court records. The documents don’t indicate why prosecutors decided not to pursue the accusations. Reinoehl spent no time behind bars.

Brent Weisberg, a spokesman for Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, said the office is still reviewing that July case involving Reinoehl.

Schmidt earlier Sunday decried the deadly violence. He took office on Aug. 1 and quickly announced that he wouldn’t pursue low-level charges against demonstrators, such as interfering with police or resisting arrest. He wasn’t district attorney when the office handled Reinoehl’s gun case.

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Reinoehl also has a warrant out for his arrest in connection to with an incident in eastern Oregon back in early June, after he was pulled over for racing his 17-year old son on a highway at speeds that reached more than 100 mph. When Reinoehl was stopped, police found “marijuana, ‘unidentified prescription pills’ and a loaded Glock pistol for which Reinoehl didn’t have a concealed handgun license,” according to the Oregonian. He was charged with DUI, recklessly endangering another, unlawful possession of a gun and driving while suspended and uninsured, but skipped out on his court date.

In an interview with the Oregonian, Reinoehl’s sister described how her brother’s become estranged from her family over the past few years.

“On the one hand, this whole thing surprises the daylights out of us, because we always thought he is a lot of bark, not a lot of bite,” she said. “But he’s also been very impulsive and irrational.”

Reinoehl has stolen their mother’s seizure medication and owes a lot of debt, often giving his relatives’ addresses as his own to avoid responsibility, she said.

He has a son and daughter and is split from their mother, she said.

“I have friends, family and loved ones on both sides of the conflict,” Reinoehl’s sister said. “Violence begets violence and hatred begets hatred. This is not the solution. My heart goes out to the victim. It always has, before I even knew my brother was involved.”

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Let’s be clear: at this point police haven’t officially said that Reinoehl is a suspect in Aaron Danielson’s murder, and even if he is charged, in the eyes of the criminal justice system he’s still innocent until proven guilty.. just like Kyle Rittenhouse in the shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

A court of law is far different than the court of public opinion, however, and we’ve already seen heavy-handed attempts from the Let to criticize and shame those who’ve tried to raise money for Rittenhouse’s defense. Something tells me we’re about to witness a new double standard, where any statement in support of Rittenhouse is taken as support for a murderer, while support for Reinoehl will be seen as just standing up for anti-fascism.

In fact, in Portland, Antifa agitators cheered Danielson’s death just hours after it happened, though the media has largely ignored their response to the homicide. Do you think they’d do the same if the ideologies of the victim and possible perpetrator were reversed?

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