Amy Coney Barrett: Would I try to ban abortion? I dunno... depends on what the Big Guy thinks!
Amy Coney Barrett: "Would I try to ban abortion? I dunno... depends on what the Big Guy thinks!" Pool / Getty Images

Here's your daily roundup of all the latest local and national news. (Like our coverage? Please consider making a recurring contribution to the Mercury to keep it comin'!)

• According to eyewitnesses on the scene, federal officers didn't identify themselves when deputized officers gunned down Michael Forest Reinoehl, the man who confessed to killing Patriot Prayer supporter Aaron “Jay” Danielson during a protest in downtown Portland in August. Here's what one witness said, according to the excellent reporting from OPB and ProPublica:

She thought the shooters — buff white men dressed in khakis and ballistic vests and armed with rifles — looked less like law enforcement officers than members of a right-wing militia. Perhaps, she said, Reinoehl might have mistaken the lawmen for the far-right vigilantes he feared were hunting for him.

• Oregon's coronavirus death toll has exceeded 600 on the same day the OHA reports 321 new, positive COVID cases and six additional people dying from the virus.

• A man suspected of arson that sparked a wildfire in southern Oregon now faces new charges—for causing the deaths of eight animals in the fire. He also faces charges for arson, criminal mischief, and reckless endangerment.

IN NATIONAL NEWS

• Trump's Supreme Court has cut short the US Census, overruling a lower court's decision to continue gathering vital information about Americans until October 31. Justice Sotomeyer bemoaned the Court's decision saying the "harms caused by rushing this year's census count [which are only done every 10 years] are irreparable."

• SPEAKING OF TRUMP'S SUPREME COURT, nominee Amy Coney Barrett continued to be grilled in her Senate confirmation hearing today, refusing to answer whether she'd recuse herself from any 2020 election case, declined to say whether the Court made a right or wrong call on Roe v. Wade, used the words "sexual preference" instead of "sexual orientation" during remarks about the LGBTQ community, and felt bad about George Floyd's death, but refused to make any broad statement about racism. Sounds like she'll fit in on Trump's court just fine!

• SPEAKING OF "COURT PACKING": After being nagged nearly to death by the question, Joe Biden revealed that he's "not a fan of court packing." (Note: I'm "not a fan" of Oscar Meyer pressed ham... but I'll be damned if I won't inhale a pack when push comes to shove.)

• Don't get your hopes up too high, but Jaime Harrison has raised a GINORMOUS $57 million in his race to unseat Trump turd Sen. Lindsay Graham in South Carolina.

• The much dreaded fall COVID surge is officially here and is spreading quickly across America... but hey... there's a new iPhone to buy!

• A 25-year-old Nevada man is the first person confirmed to have been reinfected with COVID-19, meaning he's contracted the virus two separate times—and the second time was "more severe." This means that contracting the coronavirus once doesn't necessarily mean you're immune to it (KAFF! *President Trump* KAFF! KAFF!) moving forward.

• According to the FBI, the same group of right-wing terrorists who planned to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also plotted to snatch up Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, who (very correctly) blamed the scheme on Trump for his continuing efforts to fuel extremism.

• Here's a great reason to re-up that subscription to the New York Times: An opinion piece by Megan Thee Stallion! Here's a clip of her speaking truth to power:

And it’s ridiculous that some people think the simple phrase “Protect Black women” is controversial. We deserve to be protected as human beings. And we are entitled to our anger about a laundry list of mistreatment and neglect that we suffer.

• In these terrifying times, don't you need a good, wholesome scare? Get your tickets now for SLAY—the short, eight-minute-or-less HORROR film festival from the makers of HUMP! Debuting Oct 15-31! (Ooh, and enter here to possibly win a free pass to SLAY and a free pizza, too!)

• The WEATHER REPORT: A dryer day tomorrow with just a chance of a shower and a high of 63!

• And finally, Trump seems to think he's going to get 95 percent of the Black vote. Hmmm... let's see what Black people have to say about that!