Two men are dead because of the Multnomah County district attorney’s decision to embrace “restorative justice” over actual justice. Ironically enough, one of the men who is dead as a result of this policy is one of the rioters District Attorney Mike Schmidt vowed to protect in his attempt not to “leverage the force of our criminal justice system against peaceful protesters.”
“This policy acknowledges that centuries of disparate treatment of Black and brown people have left people with deep wounds,” Schmidt said of his office’s new policy not to prosecute a plethora of riot-related cases. “This policy recognizes in order to advance public safety, we must not only prevent crime but we must also promote economic and housing stability, educational opportunities, strong family and community relationships, mental and physical health and build trust with everybody in our community.”
Now, this is the story of how Portland’s policy of social justice led to two completely preventable deaths.
Our story starts on July 5, when antifa member Michael Reinoehl attempted to resist arrest after carrying a loaded handgun at a protest. If prosecuted, Reinoehl would face jail time, but despite being given a court date, the case against Reinoehl was dropped on July 30 with a “no complaint.”
Such leniency would be odd for anyone charged with scuffling with police over a loaded gun. Considering the fact that Reinoehl was already wanted on a separate warrant for a failure to appear in court, it’s even stranger. The Baker City Herald reports that Reinoehl was “charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance, recklessly endangering another person and unlawful possession of a firearm. He was also cited for driving while uninsured, driving while suspended, and for speeding.” The incident involved Reinoehl and his underage son racing each other at speeds of up to 111 miles per hour past midnight. Reinoehl’s 11-year-old daughter was in the back of his car.
So here you have an antifa member charged with absurdly reckless crimes in two separate instances, and yet law enforcement let him go. The tragedy that ensued was then all but inevitable.
Reinoehl continued to attend Portland’s riots and went on allegedly to kill Trump supporter Aaron “Jay” Danielson. In particular Portland fashion, Reinoehl was not taken into custody, instead engaging in softball interviews with Vice and frolicking around the riots.
When the police finally came for Reinoehl, he reportedly brandished a firearm and was perceived as a threat by the police, who then responded as they had to: by shooting him.
Now, both Reinoehl and Danielson are dead.
At every step of this story, both deaths were preventable. If the police had taken Reinoehl into custody at the scene of either sets of crimes, he would have faced jail time, not a grave, and Reinoehl, whose estranged family claimed he was deeply troubled before the riots, could have received the mental health and addiction help he very well may have needed. Social justice won, and social justice killed.
