A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

RE: “Suspect in Portland Hate Crime Murders is a Known White Supremacist,” in which News Reporter Doug Brown relayed the disturbing history of Jeremy Christian, the man who is accused of stabbing Ricky John Best, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, and Micah David-Cole Fletcher on a MAX train on May 26 when the three men intervened on behalf of two young women of color Christian was verbally attacking. Christian, Brown reported, “is a known right-wing extremist and white supremacist.... On April 29, Christian showed up to the right-wing ‘March for Free Speech’ on 82nd Avenue in Montavilla with a baseball bat in an attempt to assault left-wing protesters. The bat was quickly confiscated by Portland police officers. He ranted how he was a nihilist. He’d soon yelled racial slurs... and gave the Nazi salute throughout the day [and] yelled ‘Hail Vinland.’” Brown’s post also included screenshots of Christian’s hateful Facebook posts and detailed Christian’s criminal history, which includes a number of felonies, and convictions for first-degree robbery, second-degree kidnapping, and weapons violations.

Thank you, Doug Brown, for a well-researched article... It would appear that Christian’s Facebook page may now be removed? I couldn’t find it... shocking that Facebook didn’t ban him for the comments you have screenshots of.

Deepest respect and honor to the three men who stood up to him on the train and sympathy to the family/friends of the two he murdered. True heroes.

Mobius

[Taliesin] was our nephew. He was an amazing young man who was doing great things with his life. He was excited about life! We are heartbroken. STOP THE HATE!

Kimberlydare

Why is there never any actual police presence on the MAX? The transit police are glorified private security guards whose primary responsibility is to harass teenagers and (primarily) women who forgot their passes in order to massively fine them and pad TriMet’s bottom line. In the meantime, we have a host of sociopathic and psychotic psychopaths like this douchebag terrorizing everyone on board. Where are the police, Mayor Wheeler?

Totalitariland

I’m curious about the novel, Hold Back This Day, that [Christian] promoted on his Facebook page before it was taken down. Anybody read it?

Jack Ketch

According to the right-wingers posting in this comments section, “real journalism” is when right-wing bloggers post JPEGs.

Waddles

There’s a reason [the suspect] has chains wrapped around his neck. “Wolf collars” (dog collars with spikes on them) are for shepherding dogs so that wolves and coyotes don’t bite their neck. This guy didn’t just stab the people on the MAX—he slit their throats. The chains around his neck are to prevent people from doing the same thing to him.

Arthur Brown


WHO WE ARE

RE: Last week’s cover photo, of Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche’s mother at the vigil at the Hollywood Transit Center on Saturday, May 27.

The cover photo this week... so beautiful. I have looked at it so many times today and will probably hold onto it, it’s so full of love. It’s a good reminder of who most people actually are despite what we are bombarded with. Thank you for bringing such a powerful image front and center. I love you guys.

sallyjwright

Thank YOU, Sally, for disrupting the comments section’s usual contentious back-and-forth with a dose of clear-eyed optimism (something we all need right now). It is a truth universally acknowledged by those of us who write for the internet that comments sections rarely foster reasonable discourse among thinking adults, and instead feed a trash fire of angry sexists who found us on a Google search and don’t read our website. Thanks for reminding us why we do this. As a token of our appreciation, please accept two tickets to the always-friendly Laurelhurst Theater.