Lawsuit filed against U.S. Marshals in 'wrongful death' of Michael Reinoehl
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Lawyers representing the estate of Michael Reinoehl, a man killed by the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force on Sept. 3, 2020, filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that the service and local law enforcement committed a wrongful death.
At 48 years old, Reinoehl was killed as the federal task force attempted to apprehend him in Lacey, Washington. Reinoehl was suspected of fatally shooting 39-year-old Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a supporter of a right-wing group, in the chest a week before.
Reinoehl’s death happened the same day Vice News had planned to air an interview in which he appeared to admit to the shooting, saying, “I had no choice. I mean, I had a choice. I could have sat there and watched them kill a friend of mine of color. But I wasn’t going to do that.”
Federal agents from the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service located Reinoehl after a warrant was issued for his arrest earlier the same day. Detectives obtained the second-degree murder warrant through a Multnomah County judge, according to the Portland Police Bureau. However, the bureau said its officers were not present during the attempted arrest.
At one point, Reinoehl reportedly left the apartment and got into his car. When the task force went to apprehend him, officials say shots were fired into his car and he began fleeing on foot.
More shots were fired — and Reinoehl was declared dead.
In 2020, the U.S. Marshals Service sent a statement to KOIN 6, saying: “The fugitive task force located Reinoehl in Olympia and attempted to peacefully arrest him. Initial reports indicate the suspect produced a firearm, threatening the lives of law enforcement officers. Task force members responded to the threat and struck the suspect who was pronounced dead at the scene.”
However, lawyers representing Reinoehl’s estate say law enforcement “had been in unmarked vehicles, had no visible identification as law enforcement officers, were not heard by any neighborhood residents to identify themselves, and gave Reinoehl no opportunity to surrender.”
Braden Pence, one of the attorneys representing the estate, said the task forces “are attempting to operate in a legal no-man’s land.”
“They are using discredited techniques known to increase the chances of a deadly shooting and are doing so with no accountability whatsoever,” Pence said. “No community would tolerate this lack of accountability in their local police force, and no one should tolerate it simply because they are operating in the auspices of a federal task force.”
Prior to his death, Reinoehl had described himself in a social media post as “100% ANTIFA,” suggested the tactics of counter-protesters amounted to “warfare,” and had been shot at one protest and cited for having a gun at another.
He had been a regular presence at anti-racism demonstrations in Portland.
Stay with KOIN 6 as this story develops.