Man accused of killing prominent Portland anti-fascist confessed to police, prosecutors say

The timeline of Christopher Knipe’s arrest indicates news reporting and legal action may have played a role
A man who had long denied his role in the death of a well-known anti-fascist demonstrator confessed to police that he was driving the vehicle that struck and killed the man in the late hours of Oct. 11, 2019, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Friday by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.

“Okay, I guess I better come clean then,” Christopher Knipe allegedly told a Portland police detective who questioned him June 28 – nearly three years after Sean Kealiher was hit by a silver Ford Explorer owned by Knipe while he was leaving Cider Riot, a now-closed bar that was popular with leftist activists.

On Thursday afternoon police arrested Knipe, 47, and charged him with one count of second-degree murder. Knipe appeared in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Friday afternoon where he entered a plea of not guilty and was assigned an attorney. He remains in custody.