Slurs preceded stabbings, police say

PORTLAND, Ore. — A man who police say fatally stabbed two people who tried to stop him from yelling anti-Islamic slurs on a Portland light-rail train spent time in prison for robbery and kidnapping charges years ago, according to court records and a defense attorney.

Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, was being held in the Multnomah County Jail on Saturday on suspicion of aggravated murder, attempted murder, intimidation and being a felon in possession of a weapon.

He will make a first court appearance Monday, and it wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney. A phone at his home in Portland rang unanswered Saturday.

Two people died Friday night and another was hurt in the stabbing after police said Christian yelled racial slurs at two young women, one of whom was wearing a Muslim head covering. The assailant on the train was ranting on many topics, using “hate speech or biased language,” according to a statement from police.

The attack prompted soulsearching in Portland, a city that prides itself on its tolerance and liberal views. A memorial of flowers quickly grew at the scene by a transit station.

“There is too much hatred in our world right now, and far too much violence. Too much of it has arrived here in Portland,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a Facebook post.

Dyjuana Hudson, a mother of one of the girls, told the Oregonian/OregonLive that the man began a racial tirade as soon as he spotted the girls.

“He was saying that Muslims should die,” Hudson said. “That they’ve been killing Christians for years.”

The victims were identified as Ricky John Best, 53, of Happy Valley, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, 23, of Portland