One of the victims in Friday’s Portland hate speech stabbing had Juneau ties.
Portland police say 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche of Southeast Portland and 53-year-old Ricky John Best of Happy Valley, Oregon, were stabbed and killed Friday afternoon at a train station. Witnesses told police they were trying to calm down a man yelling hate speech at two Muslim women. He attacked them, and a third man was also wounded.
Namkai Meche’s sister, Ati Nasiah, lives in Juneau and works for AWARE as a violence prevention and outreach director.
In a letter to President Donald Trump yesterday, Namkai Meche’s mother described her son as a hero who died defending two women threatened by bigotry and terror.
Mother Asha Deliverance of Ashland, Oregon, called on the president to “condemn any acts of violence, which result directly from hate speech and hate groups.”
Trump tweeted Monday:
The violent attacks in Portland on Friday are unacceptable. The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance. Our prayers are w/ them.
— President Trump (@POTUS) May 29, 2017
The suspect is 35-year-old Jeremy Joseph Christian of North Portland. He’s being held without bail and due for arraignment Tuesday.
Namkai Meche’s family members could not be reached for comment. His mother‘s and sister’s Facebook pages are filled with condolences.
Jeremy Hsieh is the deputy managing editor of the KTOO newsroom in Juneau. He’s a podcast fiend who’s worked in journalism since high school as a reporter, editor and television producer. He ran Gavel Alaska for 360 North from 2011 to 2016, and is big on experimenting with novel tools and mediums (including the occasional animated gif) to tell stories and demystify the news. Jeremy’s an East Coast transplant who moved to Juneau in 2008.
