ExtremismAntifa Protester Suspected of Killing Trump Supporter in Oregon
For the first time, a self-identified member of the militant movement known as antifa has been implicated in a fatal shooting and is reportedly under investigation in the killing of a supporter of President Donald Trump on Saturday in Portland, Oregon. If Reinoehl is implicated in the case, it would mark the first time in recent years that an antifa supporter has been charged with homicide, said Brian Levin, an expert on terrorism and extremist movements. Gary LaFree, a University of Maryland criminologist, says “We’re getting these situations where people with opposing perspectives are going in as volunteers” to enforce their views in violent ways, while the police “are not exactly sure what to do in this circumstance,” he said. “I think it’s going to be inevitable if you keep having situations like this, things are going to get out of hand.”
For the first time, a self-identified member of the militant movement known as antifa has been implicated in a fatal shooting and is reportedly under investigation in the killing of a supporter of President Donald Trump on Saturday in Portland, Oregon.
The left-wing protest movement has resorted to violent measures in the past in opposition to right-wing extremist groups but has stopped short of lethal tactics.
The victim, Aaron “Jay” Danielson, was shot in the chest during violent skirmishes between members of a right-wing group called Patriot Prayer and counterdemonstrators that included antifa and others.
Police are investigating but have not named a suspect. Portland’s largest newspaper, The Oregonian, however, reported that Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, has been identified by his estranged sister as the gunman.
“We reached out to police and confirmed that we recognized Michael in the screenshots,” the sister told the paper.
Asked for confirmation of the reported investigation, a Portland Police Bureau spokesperson said via email, “This is a homicide investigation, and the detectives are actively pursuing the case.”
The FBI said it is supporting the investigation.
Unusual Case of Lethal Violence
If Reinoehl is implicated in the case, it would mark the first time in recent years that an antifa supporter has been charged with homicide, said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University.
“Unlike the white supremacist and the far right, which glorifies mass violence by loners and small cells against minorities and enemies, hard-left violence has generally been less fatal and more directed towards property, racists and to a lesser extent police and journalists,” Levin said.
Gary LaFree, chairman of the University of Maryland’s criminology department, said the case could potentially be included in the university’s Global Terrorism Database as the first act of terror linked to antifa.
The case comes as President Trump continues to accuse antifa and other radical leftist groups of instigating the violence in Portland and elsewhere, touting his tough-on-crime policies and telling voters that they won’t be safe in Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s America.
In a statement released Monday, Biden condemned the violence in Portland.
“The deadly violence we saw overnight in Portland is unacceptable,” Biden said. “Shooting in the streets of a great American city is unacceptable. I condemn this violence unequivocally.”
Trump, however, took Biden to task for failing to condemn antifa by name.
