“US police have identified the two men killed by a white supremacist on a train in Portland as they attempted to defend passengers the suspect was bullying.
“On Friday, Jeremy Joseph Christian - a 35-year-old who was known to authorities - stabbed to death 53-year-old Ricky John Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, 23, after they stepped in to defend two girls Christian was bullying.
“At least one of the girls was wearing a headscarf and is believed to be Muslim.
“Christian is reported to have shouted Islamophobic slurs at the girls, as well as other hate speech.
“Police said on Saturday that Best died at the scene and that Meche succumbed to his wounds at a hospital after Christian slit their throats.
“A third victim, 21-year-old Micah David-Cole Fletcher, was also stabbed in the attack and is in serious condition at a hospital in Portland, Oregon. Police say his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.” -- Aljazeera
Regarding this, Dan Rather has an important message for the President:
Dear President Trump,
Their names were Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Ricky John Best. One was a recent college graduate. The other was an Army veteran and father of four. I wish we would hear you say these names, or even just tweet them. They were brave Americans who died at the hands of someone who, when all the facts are collected, we may have every right to call a terrorist. A third brave man, Micah David-Cole Fletcher, was wounded in the knife attack.
This story may not neatly fit into a narrative you pushed on the campaign trail and that has followed you into the White House. They were not killed by an undocumented immigrant or a "radical Islamic terrorist." They were killed in an act of civic love, facing down a man allegedly spewing hate speech directed at two teenage girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab. That man seems to have a public record of "extremist ideology" - a term issued by the Portland Police Bureau.
This "extremism" may be of a different type than gets most of your attention, or even the attention in the press. But that doesn't make it any less serious, or deadly. And this kind of "extremism" is on the rise, especially in the wake of your political ascendency. Most people who study these sorts of things do not think that is a coincidence. I do not blame you directly for this incident. Nor do I think other people should. But what a President says, who he has around him, and the tone he sets can set the tone for the nation at large.
Perhaps Portland, Oregon is off your radar. It is, after all, a rather liberal place. It's even a "sanctuary city." But it is still an American city. And you are its President. Two Americans have died leaving family and friends behind. They are mourned by millions more who are also deeply worried about what might come next.
I hope you can find it worthy of your time to take notice.
Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche and Ricky John Best stepped in to defend two girls being bullied by a white supremacist [Facebook]
