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PORTLAND: A suspect in the fatal shooting of a supporter of the Patriot Prayer group in Portland was killed Thursday night as authorities moved to arrest him, the New York Times reported, citing officials familiar with the investigation.
The suspect, Michael Reinoehl, was killed in Lacey, southwest of Seattle, according to the report.
The Oregonian newspaper reported that Reinoehl was under investigation for the murder that took place after Aaron Danielson, one of President Trump’s supporters who arrived in downtown Portland, clashed with protesters demonstrating against racial injustice and police brutality. .
Portland police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a video interview published by Vice News on Thursday, Reinoehl said he had acted in self-defense during the shooting as he thought he and a friend would be stabbed.
“I didn’t have a choice. I mean, I, I had a choice. I could have sat there and watched them kill a colored friend of mine. But I wasn’t going to do that.”
Reinoehl, a self-proclaimed anti-fascist, was active in the Black Lives Matter demonstrations against racism and police brutality in Portland that have lasted for nearly 100 days, according to messages and videos on his Instagram account.
Portland has seen regular nightly protests since police killed George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, in Minneapolis on May 25.
The Donald Trump administration in July deployed federal forces in Portland to suppress the protests.
Trump signed a memorandum Wednesday threatening to cut federal funding to “lawless” cities, including Portland.
