[United States?] Washington State: RIP Anti-Fascist Michael Reinoehl

Anti-fascist revolutionary Michael Reinoehl was assassinated by pigs in Olympia, Washington on September 4 in retaliation for the shooting of a member of the fascist group Patriot Prayer.

Reinoehl claimed responsibility for the shooting as an act of self-defense against the fascist who threatened Reinoehl and a friend with mace and a knife. Reinoehl went to downtown Portland on Saturday night to provide security for revolutionaries who were threatened by a caravan of fascist Trump supporters who paraded through the city center. 

“Had I stepped forward, he would have Maced or stabbed me,” Reinoehl said in an interview. “I was confident that I did not hit anyone innocent and I made my exit… I feel it’s important that the world at least gets a little bit of what’s really going on. 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 color. But I wasn’t going to do that.”

A comrade in the PNW writes about the comrade taken out by a police death squad 

“I’ve spoken with trusted comrades, and Reinoehl is known among us. He’d been seen doing real work opposing Fascists before the self-defense incident. 

I’ve also seen eye-witness accounts of his murder, and that’s what it was. It was a targeted hit by a number of police agencies including US Marshalls special operations/high risk team, the same chuds who were playing at riot cop in Portland. 

They had unmarked SUVs watching the street and they put around 25 rounds into him. He was unarmed, the person whose home he was killed in front of said he had no rifle or other visible gun. 

It’s also notable that 10-15 minutes after his death, there was already a police statement and a New York Times article. The only explanation is that the police and NYT prepared their releases before Reinoehl was killed. 

It was a stone cold hit job, and they want us to know it was. The terror message is “We can kill you in the street and get away with it. We can get to you” 

I think this assassination served a few purposes: first as a revenge killing, since they consider Nazis friends and allies, and second as a chilling effect on armed Left community defense, especially those who speak out about it. 

It appears they timed the kill to occur WHILE his Vice interview was airing and Trump was tweeting about it. They likely knew his self-defense claim would be upheld and they just couldn’t have that precedent out there, and there was likely high level support for the killing. 

There’s not a whole lot of ambiguity left in my mind about this. It doesn’t matter at this point whether Reinoehl wasn’t perfect. When push came to shove, he defended his community, wouldn’t be silent about it, and died for the cause. 

This is not the first civil rights struggle where pigs did outright assassinations. May it be the last.” 

Michael Reinoehl’s own words on revolutionary struggle:

“Every revolution needs people that are willing and ready to fight. There are many of us protesters that are just protesting without a clue of where that will lead. That’s just the beginning that’s where the fight starts. If that’s as far and you can take it thank you for your participation but please stand aside and support the ones that are willing to fight. 

I am 100% ANTIFA all the way! I am willing to fight for my brothers and sisters! Even if some of them are too ignorant to realize what antifa truly stands for. We are currently living through a crucial point in Humanity’s evolution. We truly have an opportunity right now to fix everything. But it will be a fight like no other! It will be a war and like all wars there will be casualties.”

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