On May 26, 2017, Jeremy Joseph Christian fatally stabbed two men and injured a third after he was confronted for shouting racist and anti-Muslim slurs at two black teenagers, Destinee Mangum and Walia Mohamed, on a MAX Light Rail train in Portland, Oregon, United States.Adeel Hassan, White Supremacist Guilty of Killing 2 Who Came to Aid of Black Teens , New York Times (February 21, 2020). Two of the victims, Ricky John Best of Happy Valley and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche of Portland, were killed; the third victim, Micah David-Cole Fletcher, survived with serious wounds.
Christian was arrested and indicted soon after the attack on charges of murder, attempted murder, and other crimes, including a separate hate-crime assault the day before the fatal attack.Aimee Green, Jeremy Christian guilty on all counts in MAX stabbings trial, including murder and hate crimes , The Oregonian/OregonLive (February 21, 2020). In February 2020, following a jury trial, Christian was found guilty on all counts. Christian was sentenced on June 24, 2020, to two life terms without parole. The attack was widely condemned by the Portland community, politicians, and civil rights groups, some of which said it represented a rise in hate speech, racism, and Islamophobic incidents in the United States.
Attack At about 4:30 p.m. PDT on May 26, 2017, Jeremy Joseph Christian fatally stabbed two people and injured a third on a MAX Light Rail trainMaxine Bernstein, Portland MAX hero's last words: 'Tell everyone on this train I love them' , The Oregonian/OregonLive (May 29, 2017). after he was confronted for directing what the Portland Police Bureau's report later said "would best be characterized as hate speech toward a variety of ethnicities and religions" at two girls. A witness reported that Christian used anti-Muslim slurs and "was screaming that he was a taxpayer, that colored people were ruining the city, and he had First Amendment rights". Portland police described Christian "as yelling and ranting and raving a lot of different things, including what we characterized as hate speech or biased language".
At the time, although not at its rush-hour peak, the train car was crowded, with all the seats filled and some passengers standing. As the man continued ranting, the train operator was heard on the loudspeaker, saying "Whoever is creating the disturbance needs to exit the train immediately." The man continued, however, directing his tirade at a 17-year-old Muslim Somali girl, who was wearing a hijab, and her non-Muslim friend, a black girl, age 16.Madison Park, Teen on Portland train: 'They lost their lives because of me and my friend' , CNN (May 29, 2017).Eder Campuzano & Jim Ryan, Man saw teenagers, one with hijab, and launched into racial tirade , The Oregonian/Oregon Live (May 27, 2017). The man told the girls to "go back to Saudi Arabia", to get out of "his country", and "said they were nothing and they should kill themselves". He also reportedly said that "Muslims should die."
Fearful, the pair moved to the back of the train as two bystanders, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, stepped in to intervene in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. According to a witness, Namkai-Meche told Christian in an angry voice: "You need to get off this train. Please, get off this train." The witness said that the men attempted to form a barrier between Christian and the girls. Then Micah David-Cole Fletcher gave him "a slight push or shove" in an attempt to move him away. Christian fell backward and Fletcher pushed him again. Christian said: "Touch me again, and I'm going to kill you." Whereupon Fletcher immediately pushed him again. Namkai-Meche was filming with his phone. According to police, Christian then stabbed Ricky Best, who was nearby, and Namkai-Meche and Fletcher by slashing them with a knife.Maxine Bernstein, MAX attack unfolded quickly: Extremist cut three in neck, police say , The Oregonian/OregonLive (May 27, 2017). The stabbings happened within less than 12 seconds. At the Hollywood/Northeast 42nd Avenue Transit Center, passengers fled the car, as did Christian. He ran into the Hollywood neighborhood, chased by other passengers who had called 9-1-1.
After Fletcher was stabbed, a man rushed to him and rendered first aid.Surviving victim of Portland MAX train attack got critical medical aid from fourth Samaritan , The Oregonian/OregonLive (May 28, 2017). Three other men gave first aid to Best until EMS personnel arrived. Medics were unable to revive Best and he was declared dead at the scene; Namkai-Meche died later at a local hospital. The two girls also fled the train following the incident, leaving their belongings behind. After the attack, the station and MAX Light Rail trains were shut down in both directions for several hours.
Following their arrival at the station, police were able to locate Christian. A group of at least eight officers arrested him "on the north side of Providence Portland Medical Center on an access road running along Interstate 84, just east of 47th Avenue, at 4:48 p.m.". According to a police affidavit filed subsequently in court, during the arrest Christian threw a folding knife with a blade that hit a police car and bounced off of it. The police affidavit also states that patrol car video footage shows Christian saying after his arrest, "I just stabbed a bunch of motherfuckers in the neck ... I can die in prison a happy man", and about one of the men on the train who had confronted him, he said, "That's what liberalism gets you."
Investigation Christian was booked into the Multnomah County jail. The FBI assisted Portland police in the investigation. Renn Cannon, of the Portland FBI field office, said at the time, "It's too early to say whether last night's violence was an act of domestic terrorism or a federal hate crime."
Theft from a victim In the early morning of June 2, 2017, police arrested 51-year-old George Elwood Tschaggeny, who lived in a small homeless camp near the platform where the train stopped after the attack. According to police and prosecutors, Tschaggeny removed the wedding band from Best's finger and stole Best's backpack and wallet. He was arrested after police viewed surveillance video showing the theft and obtained a community tip on the thief's identity. According to police, he was wearing Best's ring when he was arrested and had the backpack and contents of Best's wallet.Noelle Crombie, Man removed MAX victim's wedding ring as he lay dying, police say , The Oregonian/OregonLive (June 3, 2017). Tschaggeny was a heroin addict.Aimee Green, Man who stole MAX stabbing victim's wedding ring gets another 20 days in jail , The Oregonian/OregonLive (September 10, 2018).Heroin addict who stole wedding ring from MAX stabbing victim apologizes , Oregon Live, Aimee Green, November 14, 2017. Retrieved December 25, 2017. He was arraigned on charges of identity theft, second-degree abuse of a corpse, first-degree theft and tampering with physical evidence.MAX wedding ring theft suspect hides face in court George Tschaggeny made his 1st court appearance Monday , KOIN (June 5, 2017). After a guilty plea on November 14, 2017, he was sentenced to 13 months in jail followed by five years of probation and court-supervised drug treatment.
Prosecution of Jeremy Joseph Christian Indictment and pretrial proceedings Christian was charged with two counts of aggravated murder and one count of attempted murder, as well as three misdemeanors: two counts of second-degree intimidation and one count of being a felon possessing a restricted weapon. At his arraignment on May 30, 2017, Christian began yelling a variety of slogans as soon as he entered the courtroom, shouting: "Get out if you don't like free speech. You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism. You hear me? Die." He also yelled: "Leave this country if you hate our freedom—death to antifa!"
On June 6 the Multnomah County grand jury indicted Christian on 15 counts. Of these, 11 related to the May 26 stabbings (two counts of aggravated murder, one count of attempted aggravated murder, one count of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree assault, five counts of unlawful use of a weapon, three counts of second-degree intimidation and two counts of menacing) and four related to conduct the day before the stabbing, when Christian threw a plastic bottle at a black woman at the Interstate/Rose Quarter MAX Station.Maxine Bernstein, Indictment returned against accused MAX attack killer Jeremy Christian , The Oregonian/Oregon Live (June 7, 2017).Indictment: State of Oregon v. Jeremy Joseph Christian, Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for Multnomah County (June 6, 2017). Another outburst occurred at a brief, 85-second court appearance on June 7.Sara Ganim & Jason Hanna, Portland train stabbing suspect has another outburst in court , CNN (June 7, 2017). Christian shouted that he was not guilty and that he acted in self-defense against the "violent aggression by Micah Fletcher". Christian pleaded not guilty to all charges.Maxine Bernstein, MAX attack suspect back in court for scheduling of bail hearing , The Oregonian/OregonLive (July 18, 2017).
A Portland television station sought the release of warrants and affidavits related to the investigation; in October 2017, a federal judge denied the motion due to concerns that the release could prejudice potential jurors.Judge denies motion to unseal additional court documents in MAX stabbing case , KVAL, Kellee Azar, October 20, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017. In November 2017, a bail hearing was held; Christian was denied bail.Conrad Wilson, Alleged TriMet Killer Jeremy Christian Denied Bail , Northwest Public Radio (November 20, 2017).
On November 1, 2019, pursuant to a new state law, Christian's aggravated murder charges were downgraded to first-degree murder, eliminating the possibility of the death penalty.
Trial, conviction, sentencing, and appeal The trial was initially scheduled to begin in June 2019 but was delayed for an additional six months to allow time for further pretrial proceedings. The judge denied Christian's request for a change of venue. Opening arguments for Christian's trial began January 28, 2020. In February 2019, Christian's attorneys filed a notice indicating that, at trial, the defense planned to raise mental health defenses. The defense team indicated that it might argue three such defenses: a "guilty except for insanity" defense, asserting that Christian was so mentally disturbed as to be incapable of forming criminal intent; a defense that Christian's mental illness made him only "partially responsible" for the offenses; and a defense that Christian was acting under extreme emotional disturbance.