Suspect in Portland shooting of Trump supporter shot dead as officers try to arrest him

Michael Forest Reinoehl said to have admitted to shooting – but in ‘self defence’

A suspect in the shooting of a Donald Trump supporter in Portland has been killed by federal agents as they moved in to arrest him.

Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, was shot dead on Thursday evening by officers sent to detain him in the city of Lacey in Washington state.

An official said the father-of-two, an antifa supporter, was killed after pulling out a gun in a confrontation with officers.

Thurston County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Ray Brady said four officers fired their weapons.

Reinoehl had been a suspect in the death of Aaron “Jay” Danielson, 39, at a pro-Trump rally on August 29. The rally was held to counter the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that have gripped Portland for the past 100 days, and saw the Trump supporters fight with anti-racism protesters.

At almost the same time as The New York Times reported Reinoehl’s death, Donald Trump used Twitter to call for his arrest.

“Why aren’t the Portland Police ARRESTING the cold blooded killer of Aaron ‘Jay’ Danielson,” the US president wrote.

“Do your job, and do it fast. Everybody knows who this thug is. No wonder Portland is going to hell!”

On Monday, Reinoehl appeared to have confessed to the killing of Danielson, a member of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer. But he suggested he had acted in self defence, in the belief that he and a friend were going to be stabbed by Danielson.

In an interview published by Vice, he said: “You know, lots of lawyers suggest that I shouldn’t even be saying anything, but I feel it’s important that the world at least gets a little bit of what’s really going on.”

He added: “I had no choice. I mean, I, I had a choice. I could have sat there and watched them kill a friend of mine of colour. But I wasn’t going to do that.”

Antifa, or anti-fascist, refers to a group of far-left activists.

In an Instagram post in June, Reinoehl wrote that every revolution needed people willing and ready to fight.

“I am 100% ANTIFA all the way! I am willing to fight for my brothers and sisters! ... We do not want violence but we will not run from it either! ... Today’s protesters and Antifa are my brothers in arms,” he said.

Police in Lacey, 60 miles southwest of Seattle, had no immediate information about the shooting of Reinoehl and directed The Independent’s enquiries to the US Marshals Service, a federal law enforcement agency that is part of the department of justice. The agency provided no further details on the incident.