PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — President Trump on Thursday praised the killing of a murder suspect from Portland, saying officers did not want to arrest him.
The suspect was Michael Forest Reinoehl, who was accused of killing Aaron Jay Danielson on August 29, the day of a pro-Trump rally in Portland.
Reinoehl told Vice News a few days later that he was providing security for Black Lives Matter protesters and was afraid a Black friend of his was about to be shot by Danielson.
On September 3, members of a federal task force tracked Reinhoehl to Thurston County in Washington state, where they killed him.
“We sent in the US Marshals, took 15 minutes and it was over. 15 minutes and it was over. They got him. They knew who he was. They didn’t want to arrest him, and 15 minutes, that ended,” Trump said Thursday at a rally in North Carolina.
“We sent in the US Marshals, took 15 minutes and it was over. 15 minutes and it was over. They got him. They knew who he was. They didn’t want to arrest him, and 15 minutes, that ended.”
President Trump
The Thurston County Sheriff said on Wednesday that members of the federal task force fired at least 30 bullets, hitting Reinoehl and homes around him.
Investigators found a handgun in Reinoehl’s front pants pocket. The federal officers have offered conflicting accounts of where his hands were when they opened fire.
They originally said the lives of law enforcement officers were at risk. However, on Tuesday, the New York Times released details of its own report after interviewing 22 witnesses.
All but one reportedly said they did not hear officers identify themselves or give commands before opening fire, and several people thought it was drug violence because the officers arrived and opened fire so fast.
The US Marshal’s office has not commented on the article or the president’s comments.