Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Federal Police Gun Down Black Lives Matter Activist In Washington

The killing of Michael Forest Reinoehl by federal agents in Washington is yet another instance of the growing threat of police violence against the Left and the working class.

James Dennis Hoff

September 4, 2020
Facebook Twitter Share
Photo: Vice News

In yet another incident of increasing state violence against the Left, federal police shot and killed a self-identified anti-fascist and Black Lives Matter activist, Michael Forest Reinoehl, in Lacey, Washington on Thursday evening. The federal police had arrived with a warrant for Reinoehl’s arrest for the shooting of a Patriot Prayer member at a protest the previous Saturday. Reinoehl had implied that he was the shooter in a Vice interview just the day before, but claimed that the shooting had been in self-defense. “I was confident that I did not hit anyone innocent, and I made my exit,” Reinoehl said in the interview. Patriot Prayer is an extreme right-wing and white supremacist group that, along with other right-wing groups, has been targeting Portland BLM protesters for weeks. On the night of the shooting, heavily armed Patriot Prayer members had descended upon downtown Portland in pickup trucks with Trump and blue lives matter flags, with the sole intent of harassing and instigating clashes with BLM protesters. This follows months of right wing vigilante violence, including the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in February, and comes just days after 17-year old Kyle Rittenhouse showed up armed to a Kenosha, Wisconsin demonstration and shot three protesters, killing two of them. 

You May Be Interested in: The Police and the Right Wing Have Killed Protesters

A 48-year old father of two, Reinoehl had been a regular presence at protests and rallies against police brutality and fascism in Portland since at least early June. According to Portland activists involved in the nightly protests that have taken place since the killing of George Floyd, Reinoehl was a respected member of an informal team of security that had been created by activists to protect themselves against regular violence from far-right elements and the police. In fact, Reinoehl himself had been shot in the arm by a right wing provocateur just about a month prior, when he tried to break up a fight between the man and a group he described as “several minors.” 

There is still much that is unknown about what happened on Thursday, like whether or not Reinoehl had a gun, and whether or not he ever fired a weapon at the police. Regardless, the killing of Reinoehl is in stark contrast to the way that the right-wing vigilante Rittenhouse was treated by the Kenosha police. Rittenhouse, for instance, walked calmly past police officers with his weapon at the ready — even as bystanders yelled to the police that he had just shot several people — and went home. It was only the next day that he was arrested at his house without incident or a single shot fired. Such clear bias, which has been documented by reporters and protesters, shows which side the police are really on. The police are not and never were designed to protect people or to keep the peace. The direct descendants of slave patrols, the police are full of white supremacists who use the uniform to continue to terrorize Black and Brown communities. The role of the police is to manage and control capitalist relations between the ruling class and the exploited working class. Their job, historically, is to quell any unrest or organization that threatens the economic or social system of capitalism in the service of a small bourgeoisie and ruling class who exercise a monopoly on the legal use of force. 

So in this moment of continued uprisings against racism and racist police violence, it is more important than ever that working people learn to watch out for and protect each other from right-wing attacks, whether it be vigilantes or uniformed police, and we unequivocally defend the rights of the working class and oppressed to defend themselves against these forces. However, while protest security groups like the one that Reinoehl was involved in are one way of doing this, they are insufficient. A few armed BLM protesters are no match for the weapons of the police and right-wing militias. Further, self defense is not only about armed militias, but crucially, depends upon the political and social support of the masses. The real power of the working class can only be realized in numbers, through mass self-organization in the workplaces and neighborhoods and through the use of working class methods of struggle such as general strikes. This is why the fight against police violence cannot be separated from the other struggles of working people during this crisis. Only by uniting the fight against police violence and racism with the struggles of the unemployed, immigrants, tenants, organized labor, and against all forms of economic and social exploitation can the working class truly find its power. 

Facebook Twitter Share

James Dennis Hoff

James Dennis Hoff is a writer, educator, labor activist, and member of the Left Voice editorial board. He teaches at The City University of New York.

Twitter

United States

The New Hollywood McCarthyism Emerging Around Palestine

Over the past week, a new Hollywood McCarthyism has emerged: multiple people in Hollywood have jobs and representation over their support of Palestine. We must denounce and fight these attacks which weaken the movement and scare supporters into silence.

Sybil Davis

December 3, 2023
A UAW sign is held next to a "Free Palestine" sign

The UAW Has Called for a Ceasefire. It’s Time for All of Labor to Stand Up.

The UAW International union has joined calls for a ceasefire and is exploring how to divest from Israel. This is a step which should inspire union activists to take up the fight to bring their union into the fight against Israel's attack on Gaza and the struggle against imperialism.

Rose Lemlich

December 2, 2023

A Pause in Genocide Is Not Enough: Jewish Voice for Peace Shuts Down the Manhattan Bridge

Amid a pause in Israel’s offensive on Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace is showing that the movement for Palestine will continue. Civil disobedience must lead to broad protests which bring all sectors of the movement together.

Samuel Karlin

November 26, 2023
Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Tahseen Ahmed wearing Keffiyes. They were shot in Burlington, Vermont, USA.

The Three Palestinians Shot in Burlington Are Victims of Rising Islamophobia

Three Palestinian men were shot in Burlington Vermont while walking down the street. The campaign against Palestine has dehumanized all Palestinians and left them more vulnerable to these types of attacks.

Sybil Davis

November 26, 2023

MOST RECENT

All That's Left, the podcast from Left Voice.

#AllThatsLeftPod: What the Historic UAW Victory Means for the Working Class

In this episode of the podcast, we discuss the historic UAW victory, its shortcomings, and the tasks for the future.

Left Voice

December 5, 2023

Robert Habeck Wrote a Play Praising a Right-Wing Mass Murderer

Germany's Green vice chancellor strikes many as an idealist who has been struggling with the tough realities of government. Yet before he was a national politician, he wrote a play that opens a window into a dark soul.

Nathaniel Flakin

December 1, 2023

The World Kissinger Built Must Die Too

Henry Kissinger died at 100 years old. But his legacy remains in the brutal world system he built and the future generations of imperialist ghouls he inspired. They all must go.

Samuel Karlin

November 30, 2023

Fact Check: Did German Leftists Try to Bomb West Berlin’s Jewish Community Center in 1969?

Answer: No. The bombing was undertaken by West Germany’s domestic secret service, originally founded by Nazis.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 29, 2023