iStock/Thinkstock(PORTLAND, Ore.) — Micah Fletcher, the survivor of a Portland, Oregon, stabbing attack that allegedly involved hate speech and left two people dead, issued a statement honoring the two who died and offering support to the city’s Muslims.
“I want the Muslim community to know that they have a home here in Portland and are loved,” Fletcher said in the statement. “I want to honor the families who lost their brave fathers, sons, and brothers and I want the media and the country to honor those families. I want to send my condolences and honor those families.”
The 21-year-old Fletcher is a poet who won a 2013 poetry competition with a poem that condemned the mistreatment of Muslims, according to The Oregonian newspaper.
He was taking a light-rail train from Portland State University where he is a student to his job at a pizza shop at the time of the attack Friday, the paper reported.
Fletcher was slashed in the throat but survived, the paper reported.
Police arrested 35-year-old Jeremy Joseph Christian of North Portland in connection with the stabbings, which occurred after commuters on the train, including Fletcher, allegedly tried to calm the suspect, who was yelling what authorities said “would best be characterized as hate speech” directed at two young women, one of whom was wearing a hijab.
Christian, 35, is currently being held without bail at the Multnomah County jail on charges of aggravated murder, attempted murder, intimidation in the second degree and felon in possession of a restricted weapon.
He will be arraigned Tuesday at the Multnomah County Court, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
The deceased have been identified by police as 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and 53-year-old Ricky John Best.
In the wake of the attack, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is asking the federal government to cancel a permit for what he called an “alt-right” rally scheduled for Sunday, saying the event could make a difficult situation worse.
Wheeler also said he is trying to ensure that a permit is not issued for a June 10 event, which is reported by ABC affiliate KATU-TV in Portland to be called #MarchAgainstSharia.
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