A friend of the Portland shooting victim says his partner was ‘executed’ and ‘hunted down’ for his conservative beliefs.
- A man was killed on Saturday in Portland amid clashes between Trump supporters and counterprotesters.
- Chandler Pappas, a friend of the victim, says: “They executed my partner.”
- Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced the state police would be returning to Portland.
Chandler Pappas, a friend of the man who was killed in Portland on Saturday, told The Common Sense Conservative:
“They executed my partner. They hunted him down.”
Credits: The Common Sense Conservative/YouTube
As FOX News reveals, the victim was identified by Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson as Aaron ‘Jay’ Danielson.
On the night of the incident, as counterprotesters gathered for the 95th day of unrest against racism and police brutality, a caravan of supporters of President Trump drove through the city. Shortly after, the two groups еengaged in violent confrontations.
According to Pappas, the opposition is ‘attacking’ them. He explained:
“We have a First Amendment in the country, and for whatever reason, there seems to be this opposition that thinks we can’t do that. They have been attacking us for years. Really for decades in the grand scheme of things but very heavily in Portland.”
In a now-viral graphic video, a man can be seen suddenly dropping to the ground after what appears to be gunfire.
The victim was Aaron ‘Jay’ Danielson, 39, who was shot dead amid confrontations between Trump supporters and counterdemonstrators.
Credits: Democracy Field Trip/YouTube
Pappas says he and Danielson overheard someone saying: “We got a couple of them right here. Pull it out.”
He believes this was the attackers’ reaction after they supposedly noticed his and his friend’s Patriot Prayer caps. In a matter of seconds, the shooter opened fire and fled, as the victim’s friend claims. He continues:
“It takes a second for you to process everything that happened. ‘Did he just shoot at me?’ I’m OK. I turn over, and Jay’s dead because he believed something different. Jay’s not a racist, a xenophobe, or whatever. He’s not an ‘ist’ or ‘ism.'”
The cause of Danielson’s death was determined to be a gunshot to the chest. A man named Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, is currently being investigated for his alleged participation in the fatal shooting.
Portland has repeatedly seen clashes between Patriot Prayers and Antifa members. Pappas described the shooter as a man dressed in white clothes, which is unusual for the people involved with Antifa.
The victim’s friend firmly believes that the attackers were looking ‘for somebody to hurt’.
Pappas added he and Aaron were unarmed, and the Trump rally intentionally isolated them just because they ‘thought they could get away with it’.
Credits: TODAY/YouTube
However, The Portland Tribune reveals that it had interviewed Pappas and Danielson hours before the fatal incident, and both were armed. According to the media, the men were carrying at least one paintball gun, knives, mace, and other tactical gear. It was not clear if they had those items on them at the time of the shooting.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced the state police would be returning to Portland to assist local law enforcement. This statement was in response to the fatal Saturday night shooting.
