Trump Seems To Endorse Extrajudicial Killing: 'There Has To Be Retribution'
President Donald Trump appeared to support law enforcement officers who take criminal justice into their own hands after U.S. marshals killed a man suspected in a fatal shooting in Oregon last month. “There has to be retribution when you have a crime like that,” Trump said.
Trump’s apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killing came after members of a fugitive task force shot and killed Michael Forest Reinoehl, 39, a self-described anti-fascist, on Sept. 3. Reinoehl was wanted on suspicion of fatally shooting a member of a far-right group in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 29.
“This guy was a violent criminal, and the U.S. marshals killed him, and I will tell you something, that’s the way it has to be,” Trump told Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, a former New York state judge, in an interview that aired Saturday.
President endorsing straight up extra-judicial killing. https://t.co/no1WFA3qlx
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 13, 2020
Trump also appeared to suggest that law enforcement officers take similar action against demonstrators suspected of committing violent acts. He made his comments as protesters across the country demonstrate against racism and police brutality amid the police killings of Black Americans.
“You can’t throw bricks at guys with shields on them,” he said.
Reinoehl’s shooting death came the same day that Trump took to Twitter to call for Reinoehl’s arrest, calling him a “cold blooded killer.”
Authorities said that Reinoehl was armed and resisted arrest at the time he was shot to death. An investigation into the shooting continues.
One witness told The Washington Post that he never saw Reinoehl pull out a gun. Nate Dinguss said he saw officers pull up to Reinoehl in two unmarked police vehicles, get out without identifying themselves and immediately start firing their weapons at him.
But two other witnesses told The Olympian that they saw Reinoehl fire what they thought was an assault rifle at the unmarked SUVs...
