Before he was killed by officers, an activist described shooting a Trump supporter in Portland as 'like the beginning of a war'

• The man suspected of fatally killing a right-wing demonstrator during protests in Portland, Oregon, said he saw "a civil war right around the corner."
• Michael Reinoehl discussed the shooting of Aaron Danielson, a supporter of a pro-Trump group, in an interview published by Vice News.
• He said the shot "felt like the beginning of a war."
• Not long after the interview was broadcast, Reinoehl was killed by law enforcement officials as they moved to arrest him.

A man suspected of fatally shooting one of President Donald Trump's supporters during protests in Portland, Oregon, said that he saw "a civil war right around the corner" and that one of the shots "felt like the beginning of a war."

Michael Reinoehl was named in connection with the death of Aaron Danielson in Portland on Saturday night. Federal agents tried to arrest him late Thursday, ending with Reinoehl's death.

Witnesses said they saw Reinoehl shoot before the officers returned fire, though authorities did not immediately confirm that.

He had earlier given an interview discussing the killing of Danielson, which was broadcast Thursday by Vice News.

"Honestly, I hate to say it, but I see a civil war right around the corner," he said. "That that shot felt like the beginning of a war."

In the interview, Reinoehl said he was acting in self-defense and believed that he and a friend were about to be stabbed.

He told the interviewer: "You know, lots of lawyers suggest that I shouldn't even be saying anything, but 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."

Reinoehl was under police investigation over the killing of Danielson, a supporter of the far-right group Patriot Prayer who was taking part in a pro-Trump demonstration in the city.

Reinoehl said in his interview that he saw the Patriot Prayer protest as threatening.

Vice News said Reinoehl spoke with a freelance reporter who shared the conversation with Vice.

"I'm seeing all these vehicles with hatred, people in the backs of the trucks yelling and screaming and swinging bats and sticks at protesters that are just standing there yelling at them," Reinoehl said.

He said he went to help a friend who was surrounded by trucks with armed pro-Trump protesters. "I saw someone that is a dear and close friend of mine in the movement by himself basically confronting all these vehicles," he said.

He continued: "And so I let him know that I'm here, parked my vehicle and joined up with him, found myself in the intersection in front of the food trucks surrounded by trucks and cars that had weapons."

He said a man threatened to stab him and another protester. "Had I stepped forward," he said, "he would have maced or stabbed me."

Reinoehl said he was "confident that I did not hit anyone innocent and I made my exit."

Bystander video shows a man resembling Reinoehl fire two shots at Danielson and walk away.

Reinoehl said he did not turn himself in to the police because he thought the police were collaborating with right-wing protesters and would not protect him.

Protests have taken place in Portland since George Floyd was killed by the police in Minneapolis in late May, sparking protests in the US and around the world.

Those protests have often spilled into violence, particularly when protesters have clashed with right-wing groups and Trump supporters.

The New York Times reported that Reinoehl had regularly protested in recent weeks and acted as a kind of security guard.

Randal McCorkle, another protester, told The Times that "nightly, he would break up fights."

Reese Monson, a Portland protest leader who helps organize the protests' security, said Reinoehl was trained in de-escalation and was "excellent" at it.

The Times reported that Reinoehl said on Instagram in June that "I am 100% ANTIFA all the way!" — aligning himself with a group Trump has blamed for most violence that has broken out amid protests against police brutality.

Antifa, short for anti-fascist, is a leaderless organization that opposes groups it sees as fascist.

"I am willing to fight for my brothers and sisters!" Reinoehl wrote. "Even if some of them are too ignorant to realize what antifa truly stands for. We do not want violence but we will not run from it either!"