On a late summer evening in Portland, Oregon, the city's ongoing political tensions culminated in a fatal encounter. Aaron Joseph Jay Danielson, a 39-year-old Caucasian male, was shot and killed on August 29, 2020. His death occurred downtown near the intersection of Southwest 3rd Avenue and Alder Street, amidst clashes between participants in a pro-Trump caravan and those protesting against police brutality.
The Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office later confirmed that Danielson died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.
In the hours and days that followed, investigators identified a suspect: Michael Forest Reinoehl, a 48-year-old man who was a frequent presence at the city's protests and had identified as an anti-fascist. A police affidavit, based on surveillance video, indicated that Reinoehl had spotted Danielson and a friend, hid in a parking garage alcove as they passed, and then emerged to follow them. In an interview with a freelance journalist just before his own death, Reinoehl claimed he acted in self-defense, stating he believed Danielson was about to stab him and a friend. However, police found no knife on Danielson, who was carrying a loaded handgun in a holster, a can of bear spray, and an expandable baton at the time of his death.
The investigation moved quickly, and on September 3, 2020, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office filed charges against Reinoehl for second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. That same day, a federally led fugitive task force located Reinoehl in Lacey, Washington, about 120 miles north of Portland. As law enforcement attempted to apprehend him outside an apartment complex, a confrontation ensued. Initial reports from the U.S. Marshals Service stated that Reinoehl produced a firearm, threatening officers. The task force members opened fire, and Reinoehl was pronounced dead at the scene. A subsequent investigation by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office concluded that Reinoehl had a loaded pistol in his pocket when he was killed and that he had fired a round from his car just before the police shot him. During a search of Reinoehl's Portland residence, police found clothing that matched what he wore on the night of the shooting and ammunition of the same caliber as the evidence recovered from the crime scene.
