Portland shooting: Suspect who ranted about ‘commies’ identified after activist shot dead at Amir Locke demo

Portland shooting: Suspect who ranted about ‘commies’ identified after activist shot dead at Amir Locke demo​

The alleged shooter who killed one woman and injured five others in Portland at the weekend has been identified by police as Benjamin Jeffrey Smith.

The Portland Police Bureau named the 43-year-old on Tuesday as the main suspect in a shooting on Saturday, in which an activist and campaigner was fatally shot and five others injured.

A roommate of Mr Smith’s who spoke with Oregon Public Broadcasting earlier revealed that he was arrested shortly after midnight on Sunday by the Portland Police Bureau and FBI, who came with an arrest warrant to their apartment.

“He talked about wanting to go shoot commies and antifa all the friggin time,” said Kristine Christenson. “He was just a sad angry dude”

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On Twitter, an account of Saturday’s protest appeared to suggest a homeowner confronted the group of “unarmed traffic safety volunteers who weren’t with any protesters”.

“Four women trying to de-escalate & he unloaded a 45 into us because he didn’t like being asked to leave and stop calling us terrorist c***s,” said the Twitter user, SSDGK. The account remains confirmed.

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***ORIGINAL MESSAGE BELOW***

A preliminary investigation into the February 19, 2022 shooting near the intersection of Northeast 55th Avenue and Northeast Hassalo Street indicates this incident started with a confrontation between an armed homeowner and armed protesters.

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**ORIGINAL MESSAGE BELOW***

The suspect in this shooting is identified as 43-year-old Benjamin Smith. Smith remains hospitalized in serious condition.

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