President Trump is defending the fatal police shooting of Portland anti-fascist activist Michael Reinoehl as “retribution,” after he was accused of killing a far-right Trump supporter. Trump’s remarks to Fox News came after a witness said Reinoehl did not appear to have a gun and was not threatening officers, who never announced themselves or gave commands before killing him in a hail of gunfire on September 3. 

President Donald Trump: “This guy was a violent criminal.”

Jeanine Pirro: “A lot of them out there.”

President Donald Trump: “And the U.S. Marshals killed him. And I will tell you something: That’s the way it has to be. There has to be retribution.”

Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii called out his Republican colleagues for refusing to condemn Trump’s remarks. He tweeted, “Extrajudicial killings are something many Republican U.S. Senators oppose if they happen outside of the United States. But they won’t say anything about this.”