White Supremacist Guilty of Killing 2 Who Came to Aid of Black Teens

Mr. Christian killed two men who had intervened to confront him as he went on an anti-Muslim tirade against two black teenagers.

By Adeel Hassan
Published Feb. 21, 2020
Updated Feb. 22, 2020, 10:30 a.m. ET

Walia Mohamed, a Somali immigrant to Portland, Ore., no longer rides the city’s light rail system. She has stopped wearing her hijab, too. These are simple things, but she no longer feels safe doing either of them.

The last time she rode the train was nearly three years ago, on May 26, 2017, when she was 17. She hadn’t noticed Jeremy Christian on the train at first. But he saw her and another black teenager, and for reasons she still cannot fathom, he began bellowing “Muslims should die!” And “Go back to Saudi Arabia!” And “Kill yourselves!”

A group of men intervened, confronting Mr. Christian. There were heated words and shoving. Only when Ms. Mohamed saw one of the men clutching at his neck, with blood running through his fingers, did she realize that Mr. Christian had a knife.

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Mr. Christian stabbed three of the good Samaritans who intervened. Two died: Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, and Rick Best, 53. The third, Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, was wounded in the neck but survived.

On Friday, Mr. Christian, 38, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder. Mr. Christian, who has a history of making extremist statements on social media, previously served more than eight years in prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, according to court documents.

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