The family of Michael Reinoehl, an anti-fascist activist killed by police in 2020, has filed a federal lawsuit alleging civil rights violations. The suit claims officers from a taskforce led by the US Marshals Service fired more than 40 bullets without identifying themselves outside an apartment complex in Lacey, Washington.
Reinoehl was wanted for the fatal shooting of Aaron 'Jay' Danielson, a far-right activist, during a pro-Trump rally in Portland on 29 August 2020. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of his children, seeks compensation for pre-death pain and suffering and for emotional injury caused by the 'highly publicized, sensational and political nature' of his killing.
Witnesses told the New York Times they did not hear officers identify themselves before opening fire. Then-President Donald Trump praised the killing as 'retribution', stating the marshals 'didn't want to arrest him'. The lawsuit alleges that officers had no plan to arrest Reinoehl without injury or planned to use deadly force from the start.
Reinoehl, who said he provided security at Black Lives Matter protests, told Vice News he acted in self-defence when he killed Danielson. The taskforce had been told Reinoehl would be violent and 'would not be taken alive', according to documents published by Vice. A prosecutor in Washington declined to file charges against the officers involved.
