University professor says ‘nothing wrong… from a moral perspective’ with Antifa killing ‘fascist’

A professor from the University of Rhode Island has come under fire after he suggested the shooting of a far-right Patriot Prayer supporter was morally justified.

Erik Loomis who teaches history made the comments in a blog post entitled ‘Why Was Michael Reinoehl Killed?’ 

The posting asked whether police deliberately ‘murdered’ 48-year-old Michael Reinoehl.

‘Michael Reinoehl is the guy who killed the fascist in Portland last week,’ Loomis wrote in his blog post from last week. 

‘He admitted it and said he was scared the cops would kill him. Well, now the cops have killed him.’ 

In the blog post, Loomis also included a tweet from historian Manisha Sinha who wrote Reinoehl’s killing ‘seems like a hit job, an extra judicial killing ordered by Trumpsters.’

But it was in the comments where controversy erupted after a reader reminded Loomis that a man had lost his life at the hands of another.

Reinoehl had fatally shot Aaron ‘Jay’ Danielson, 39, on August 29, when Trump supporters ended up clashing with Black Lives Matter supporters in Portland. 

‘Erik, he shot and killed a guy,’ the online user wrote.

‘Reinoehl killed a fascist. I see nothing wrong with it, at least from a moral perspective,’ Loomis wrote back.   

‘I am extremely anti-conspiracy theory. But it’s not a conspiracy theory at this point in time to wonder if the cops simply murdered him,’ Loomis wrote. ‘The police is shot through with fascists from stem to stern. They were openly working with the fascists in Portland, as they were in Kenosha which led to dead protestors.’ 

One reader then asked, ‘What’s so great about assassinating a rando fascist? And in the absence of a sound affirmative justification, it should be easy to envision the drawbacks.’

Loomis was quick to reply with, ‘What’s so great about assassinating random slaveholders, said liberals to John Brown.’

In a separate comment, Loomis wrote, ‘the problem with violence is that it usually, though not always, is a bad idea. That I agree with.’

Loomis appears to be using the term ‘facists’ in the piece to describe Trump supporters and members of Patriot Prayer, a far-right group based in the city. The Southern Poverty Law Center has described them as a far-right hate group,

The group has organized rallies in support of Donald Trump and far-right protests in predominantly liberal areas, which have been met with large numbers of counter-protesters. 

On Wednesday, Loomis wrote another blog post where he stated how he wouldn’t be intimidated by so-called ‘fascists’ trying to ‘cancel him.’ 

Last week, police officers investigating Danielson’s death ended up fatally shooting Reinoehl after finding him in Lacey, Washington, south of Seattle.

Portland police had secured a second-degree murder warrant for Reinoehl in connection with Daniel’s death according to Fox News.

Reinoehl was shot multiple times and killed by US Marshals outside an apartment block in Washington state. 

The officers swooped in on the self-proclaimed anti-fascist to arrest him after he was charged with the murder of right-wing activist Danielson. 

At least four officers, including two Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies, a Lakewood police officer and a state Department of Corrections officer, fired multiple rounds at the suspect during the incident.  

Nate Dinguss, an eyewitness of the police shootout, told The Washington Post Wednesday Reinoehl did not pull a weapon and was eating candy when the officers opened fire without warning. 

Dinguss, 39, said he saw Reinoehl holding a cellphone and eating a gummy worm while strolling to his car outside the Tanglewilde Terrace Townhomes apartment complex about 7 p.m. that evening. 

The witness claimed the cops didn’t identify themselves or try to arrest Reinoehl before opening fire. 

He said Reinoehl hid behind his car when the shooting started and did not try to get inside. 

The car was blocked in by two unmarked police vehicles, Dinguss said.

The witness said the cops unleashed a hail of gunfire on Reinoehl before pausing when one shouted ‘stop’ then opening fire once again.

If the suspect did not pull a gun or reach for a weapon, the officers would have been required to warn him before shooting. 

Reinoehl appeared to confess to Danielson’s death in a video interview with Vice News just hours before his own death.

In the video, Reinoehl said he had acted in self-defense and said his actions were ‘totally justified’.

‘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,’ he said.