PETITION OF ACCOUNTABILITY FOR US MARSHAL’S SERVICE TASK FORCES

TO:    Attorney General of the United States, Merrick Garland
and to
Office of Inspector General, US Justice Department

FROM:    US Marshal’s Accountability Project

RE:    Petition to Hold the US Marshal’s Service Northwest Task Force Accountable

INTRODUCTION

The US Marshal’s Accountability Project was formed by social justice activists in the Pacific Northwest to start a national effort to take a close look at and hold the US Marshal’s Task Forces accountable for the history of excessive force used by its many “Violent Fugitive Task Forces” around the country. See http://usmaproject.com for more details.

The formation of this Project was prompted in part by the filing of a federal lawsuit on behalf of the family of Michael Reinoehl, the victim of the fatal police shooting by federal, state, and local police operating under the pretense of a United States Marshall’s Service (“USMS”) task force. The Complaint in that case can be found at the Project’s website above. This Petition asks the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to conduct an audit of the use of force polices of these Task Forces and ensure that justice is done in the Reinoehl lawsuit.

WHEREAS

1. The US Marshal’s Services’ Fugitive Task Forces have been widely criticized for repeated use of excessive force and its lack of accountability in executing fugitive warrants. See this study, performed in conjunction with USA Today and the Arizona Republic newspaper, concluded that the US Marshal’s Task Forces kill an average of twenty-two suspects and bystanders each year far more than any local police department.
2. On September 3, 2020, a US Marshal’s Service “Task Force” shot and killed Michael Reinoehl, in Lacey Washington. He was then being sought on a fugitive warrant out of Multnomah County, Oregon. The Task Force had surrounded Reinoehl in his car, and Defendant James Oleole’s of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office yelled into his police radio “Let’s go take him!”– “Take him, take him now!” Yet at the very same time his fellow officers were cautioning “We’re too far, let him drive,” indicating that they should wait for a better opportunity to apprehend Reinoehl. At no time did Michael brandish or attempt to use a firearm or other weapon. A lawsuit was filed today against the Task Force and its members. Contact: Jesse Merrithew jesse@lmhlegal.com
3. This Task Force was headed by Assistant U.S. Marshal Ryan Kimmel and recruited officers from local police departments, including the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Lacey WA Police Department, and the Washington State Department of Corrections. It is called the “Pacific Northwest Violent Fugitive Task Force” and is one of ninety-four such Task Forces in existence around the country.
4. According to the Prosecuting Attorney of Thurston County, who investigated this shooting: “Deputy United States Marshal Ryan Kimmel has never submitted to an interview or provided a statement or report describing his version of the events. Although Kimmel was on the scene at the time of the officer-involved shooting.”

5. Then-President Trump made this comment on the killing: “We sent in the US Marshalls, took 15 minutes and it was over. 15 minutes it was over. We got him. They knew who he was, they did not want to arrest him and 15 minutes that ended.” OPB 10-15-20
6. On October 15, 2020, Congresspeople Ted Lieu (D CA 33rd) and Kathleen Rice (D NY 4th) wrote a letter to the Inspector General of the US Department of Justice, Michael Horowitz requesting it open an investigation into whether this was an “extrajudicial killing” and questioned the role of President Trump. No such investigation has been conducted. Lieu-Rice Letter
7. The Reinoehl shooting was covered extensively by the New York Times, who recreated the scene.
8. We are concerned that the Task Force involved in this, and other cases, may have functioned as the “judge, jury and executioner” of suspects who are entitled to their day in court.
9. We believe these Tasks Forces should be held accountable in a court of law including in the lawsuit filed by the Estate of Michael Reinoehl against the Task Force and local police departments involved.
10. We find it unacceptable that U.S. Marshal’s Service Ryan Kimmel has refused to be interviewed by the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney to assist his investigation.

NOW THEREFORE

The undersigned hereby petitions the US Department of Justice which oversees the U.S. Marshal’s Service Task Forces and Attorney General Merrick Garland to require Asst. U.S. Marshal Ryan Kimmel to sit for questioning under oath in a deposition conducted by the attorneys for the Estate of Michael Reinoehl in the lawsuit recently filed.

We further request that the Inspector General of the Department of Justice conduct an audit into the use of excessive force by the US Marshal’s Task Forces and that these Task Forces cooperate fully with such an audit.

CO-CHAIRS

• Cindy Domingo (she/her) is a long time social justice advocate in the Pacific Northwest. She served as the Chair for the Committee for Justice for Domingo and Viernes who successfully in 1989 held former Philippine dictators, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, accountable for the 1981 murders of her brother Silme Domingo and fellow ILWU labor leader, Gene Viernes. Professionally, Domingo served as Chief of Staff to a King County Councilmember for 26 years.
• Nikkita Oliver (they/them), is a local Organizer, Artist, Activist, Executive Director, Attorney working and organizing in the Coastal Salish Territories.
• Mike Withey (he/him) is a human rights and personal injury attorney from Seattle, who brought the federal lawsuit against Marcos, and author of Summary Execution: The Seattle Assassinations of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes (WildBlue Press 2018). Also see www.michaelwithey.com.

CONTACT

mike@witheylaw.com ph: 206 999 8308

SIGNED

Cindy Domingo

Mike Withey

Nikkita Oliver