Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks determined that no charges will be filed against a man who fired shots across the street from an anti-Trump protest at Bayview on South Whidbey April 19.

Banks sent out his analysis of the evidence and the law in a memo Friday morning. The case is closed, he concluded.

The actions of Travis Roane, identified as the tenant who fired the shots, “did not cross the line into criminal behavior,” the prosecutor’s memo states.

“Clearly, the vast majority of civic-minded people would find Mr. Roane’s response to be irresponsible and obnoxious,” he wrote. “However, bringing the prosecutorial authority of the state to bear on a person requires more than public dissatisfaction and opprobrium. Adherence to the rule of law mandates an objective determination of whether each element of a crime can be proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Banks conducted the analysis without the usual formal referral from the Island County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies determined at the scene that no crime had been committed, and the office sent out a press release reiterating this.

The prosecutor decided to look into the matter anyway because of the intense public interest and the nature of the event.

Banks’ analysis clears up some questions and rumors that have been swirling around since the event, which was captured on video by Susan Jensen, an organizer of the rally. Her video quickly spread on social media and was picked up by a Seattle TV station.

The video captured the sound of 12 shots being fired in rapid succession. Firearms experts contacted by Banks determined that the shotgun Roane claimed to have fired could not hold 12 rounds.

“It is possible, and perhaps likely, that more than one gun was fired or that a different gun was fired,” Banks wrote.

Also, Banks found no evidence that the shooter, identified as Roane, shot into the air, stared at the protesters menacingly or purposely tried to intimidate people, as people have alleged on social media and elsewhere. In fact, Banks wrote that he found little evidence that protesters were frightened at the time.

Banks concluded that video taken during the protest showed that “none of the demonstrators appear to have taken any defensive or protective maneuvers in response to the gunshots,” he wrote.

“To the contrary, they continued to hold their signs up, barely reacting to the gunshots,” he wrote. “In Ms. Jensen’s second video, recorded after the shooting, she says that in response to the shooting she ducked but ‘nobody else did.’”

Banks wrote that he received emails from people claiming that “several people hit the ground” without identifying those people or providing any specific details. Likewise, Island County Sheriff Rick Felici said earlier that he received emails claiming that the man shot into the air — which would likely constitute a crime — but his requests for more specifics or sworn statements were “met with crickets.”

In analyzing the case, the prosecutor reviewed reports by four deputies, body camera recordings from two deputies, videos from Jensen and Terry Roth, 911 calls, law enforcement radio traffic recordings and emails from witnesses.

An estimated 450 people participated in the protest at the Bayview park-and-ride and along Highway 525, which has been a site for demonstration for many years. At about 10:44 a.m., 13 people called 911 to report hearing gunfire from a house located across the highway from the protest.

Banks’ memo states that a deputy with the sheriff’s office and a Langley police officer arrived at the home within minutes and encountered Roane, as well as three guests. Roane told a deputy that he was annoyed by demonstrations that happen every weekend.

“He indicated that since the demonstrators ‘make so much noise,’ he decided to ‘make a little noise in the privacy of [his] own house,’” the memo states.

Roane said he shot into an earthen berm at the back of his home, which is in the opposite direction from the highway.

Banks noted that Roane had a Trump sign in the window of the home and that people on the property could be heard revving dirt bikes.

In his legal analysis, Banks found that no state or local laws prohibit the discharge of firearms in the location of the home. The potential crimes that his office considered were assault in the second degree, reckless endangerment, unlawful handling of a weapon, unlawful discharge of a firearm and disorderly conduct.

The memo describes the analysis of each potential charge and the reasons prosecutors declined to charge Roane. Banks wrote that there is insufficient evidence that he intended to create fear or intimidate people, which are necessary elements of several of the charges.

“More likely, taken as a whole, the gunshots, the placement of the ‘Trump’ sign, and the revving the dirt bikes, strongly suggests that Mr. Roane’s intent was to annoy the protesters and convey his displeasure with their demonstration,” Banks wrote. “However childish his response to the protesters may have been, it does not amount to criminal intimidation, or the crime of brandishing.”

Based on the analysis, prosecutors are closing the case.

“It is our sincere wish that interactions between peaceful demonstrators and those who disagree with them remain civil and non-violent,” the memo concludes.