This comes as Fletcher and the world got to see and hear the suspect — whose outspoken support for the white supremacist cause and hatred for Muslims — sparked Friday’s deadly confrontation. Among his statements: “I hope everyone I stabbed died.”
Fletcher sat in the front row of the courtroom, facing Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, who shouted as he made his first appearance in court Tuesday. He’s charged with killing Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, 23, and Ricky John Best, 53. They and Fletcher intervened after he allegedly harassed a 16-year-old girl and her Muslim friend on a Portland light rail train.
From the moment Christian entered the courtroom, he spewed venom, although at no one in particular.
“Get out if you don’t like free speech,” he said, and, “You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism. You hear me? Die.”
This bold boast, and affidavits detailing his hate-filled his rant on the train, came on the heels of a startling report by CNN. After Christian was arrested Friday, the network reported he sat in the back of a police car and said: “I stabbed the two motherfuckers in the neck and I’m happy now.”
The statements by Christian were obtained by recording devices inside the Portland police cruiser.
I just stabbed a bunch of motherfuckers in their neck. Just a punk ass bunch of motherfuckers.
Get stabbed in your neck if you hate free speech.
I’m tearing out motherfucker’s throats, you think I give a fuck who I spit on?
I can die in prison a happy man.
I’m all good. I stabbed two motherfuckers in the neck and I’m happy now. I’m happy now. I can rest easy.
Think I stab motherfuckers in the neck for fun? Oh yeah, you’re right I do. I’m a patriot.
I told him, you ain’t gonna heal punk. And he still wants to put hands on me. Die bitch. Fucking die…. That’s what liberalism gets you.
I hope they all die. I’m gonna say that on the stand. I’m a patriot, and I hope everyone I stabbed died.
It was close for Fletcher, who according to his girlfriend suffered a slash across his neck a mere milimeter from his jugular vein. He underwent two hours of surgery to remove bone fragments from his throat, and was released from the hospital Tuesday. He is a student at Portland State University, and an accomplished poet. Fletcher even composed a poem about the attack while recuperating in the hospital.
I, am alive,
I spat in the eye of hate and lived.
This is what we must do for one another
We must live for one another
We must fight for one Mother
We must die in the name dfreedome if we have
to. Luckily it’s not my turn today.
In 2013, while still in high school, he won a city-wide poetry slam for a piece about anti-Muslim sentiment following 9/11, reported Cosmopolitan.
His mother Margie Fletcher told People magazine her son had always stood up against bullies, because he was often a target of harassment himself. Fletcher has Asperger’s syndrome, which is a mild form of autism.
“All this happened because of somebody who hated anybody who wasn’t like him,” said his mother. Her son was the first one to be slashed by the 3.75-inch long folding knife, according to prosecutors.
Their report shows that Christian was laser-focused on the two teenage black girls from the moment he boarded the MAX train; one wore a traditional Muslim hijab.
“Get the fuck out!” and “Pay taxes!” were among Christian’s rants aimed at the two girls, according to the court document. He also allegedly said: “Go home, we need American here!” and “I don’t care if you are ISIS.”
When a fellow passenger sitting nearby attempted to intervene, the document says, Christian spoke of decapitating heads.
District Attorney Ryan Lufkin told reporters that surveillance and mobile phone videos show Christian making a sudden move toward Namkai Meche, who at that point had stood up to face him. Christian got in his face, saying “Oh, do something bitch,” the report says.
Next, Fletcher got up. Christian shoved Fletcher, and pulled out the folding knife. Fletcher shoved back.
Christian stumbled, but regained his feet and said “hit me again,” as Fletcher told him to get off the train, according to prosecutors.
Christian swung, stabbing Fletcher in the neck, then he turned to Namkai Meche, slashing the knife at him repeatedly, the document said.
When Best — the third victim of the attack and a military veteran — stepped up to intervene, prosecutors said he was stabbed too. Christian allegedly pushed Best back, then stabbed both him and Namkai Meche again.
Best died at the scene, Namkai Meche at a local hospital. Among his last words: “Tell everyone on that train I love them.”
Christian, whose social media postings revealed his affinity for Nazis and political violence. is charged with two counts of aggravated murder, attempted murder, two counts of second-degree intimidation and being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon. To white supremacists, he is a hero for free speech. They applied for two permits for marches next month in support of their cause.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler on Monday called on the federal government to revoke the permit for a rally set for Sunday, June 4th, and to deny permission for a second rally on June 10th.
The two gatherings — organized by different groups — are planned for a park on federal land, which gives federal authorities control over issuing permits.
The American Civil Liberties Union called Mayor Wheeler’s attempt to block the rallies unconstitutional.
“It was really troubling to hear Mayor Wheeler talking about how hate speech is not constitutionally protected,” dos Santos said, “because that is just legally wrong.”
The ACLU, he told Oregon Live, has long stood for the principle of defending the speech of all people, even those considered hateful or vile.
“If we don’t,” he said, “it won’t be long before the speech of people we support will be under attack.”
A GoFundMe account to help offset Fletcher’s financial burden for medical care already surpassed its $250K goal. Other accounts to help the families of the two men killed reportedly have topped $1m in donations.
