02 June, 2017
Two groups, the Muslim Educational Trust and Celebrate Mercy, had created the online fundraising program on LaunchGood after a violent stabbing attack in Portland, Oregon, left two men dead and a third hospitalized. The attack happened after three men, including 21-year-old M.
"The little girl who had the misfortune to experience what happened on that MAX, her life is never going to be the same", said Fletcher, filmed in a bedroom while wearing a bathrobe. On Friday afternoon, 35-year-old suspect Jeremy Joseph Christian allegedly hurled insults at two young women, one of whom was wearing a hijab, while traveling on a commuter train.
"Imagine that for a second - being the little girl on the MAX", Fletcher said. Everything about him is cocked, loaded and ready to kill you.
"It felt tense. It felt like something awful was about to happen", said Macy. Police say when three other men on the train, including Fletcher, intervened, Christian attacked them. Police said he stabbed Namkai-Meche, Micah Fletcher and Rick Best after they came to the defense of two young girls who were the focus of his yelling. Images showed that he had a long gash on his neck where the knife had been "millimeters away from his jugular", Fletcher's girlfriend, Miranda Helm, told the Oregonian. The attacker's blade, he said, sliced into his neck but just missed his carotid artery.
"I want the families of those two men (to know) that their children are heroes". This outpouring can be attributed "to put it bluntly - this white savior complex", said Fletcher, who is white.
"He looked directly at me and said 'tell everyone on this train that I love them, '" she recalled. "It didn't feel right", said Macy.
During the approximately seven-minute video, Fletcher thanked supporters for their generosity but anxious that long-standing local attitudes and biases caused aid to flow more freely to him than to one of the girls. "And we must protect each other like that is the truth, no matter what the consequences". "He told us to go back to Saudi Arabia and he told us we shouldn't be here, to get out of his country. I call it patriotism!" and "Death to the enemies of America!" as he made his first appearance in the case Tuesday.
In the patrol auto, Christian can be heard on surveillance video saying he stabbed three people in the neck and that he can "die a happy man", according to court papers.
Christian is now charged with two counts of murder and attempted murder.
Christian's next scheduled court appearance is on June 7 at 9:30 a.m. A Multnomah County grand jury will convene in the coming days to consider additional charges and federal authorities are still deciding whether to prosecute Christian for hate crimes.
Christian "reports he is transient and does not know the last time he had a permanent address", the documents said. Court documents from previous years show he lived with his parents.
Portland's public buses and trains will stop at noon Friday for a moment of silence to honor Namkai-Meche, Best and Fletcher, the city's TriMet transportation service said.
Scott Ryan Presler blamed Wheeler for the cancellation. Wheeler urged organizers to cancel a "Trump Free Speech Rally" in Portland and other similar events next weekend, saying they are inappropriate and could be risky.
