Portland Suspect: 'You Call It Terrorism, I Call It Patriotism'

Victim Micah Fletcher is focused on healing
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 31, 2017 9:34 AM CDT
Portland Suspect: 'You Call It Terrorism, I Call It Patriotism'
Jeremy Christian shouts as he is arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday.   (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP, Pool)

"I got stabbed in the neck on my way to work, randomly, by a stranger I don't know, for trying to just be a nice person," says Micah Fletcher. "I don't know what to do after that." In one of his first interviews since suffering a serious wound to his neck during a stabbing attack on a MAX train in Portland, Ore., the 21-year-old student says he's "physically and mentally" injured and focused on healing "as much as I can, in whatever way I can," per KGW. Fletcher, who is out of the hospital, adds he's "nobody special" and that standing up to alleged attacker Jeremy Christian was simply "the right thing to do," per KPTV. According to KGW, Fletcher pushed Christian after he made comments about "decapitating heads" to two teenage girls.

Police say Christian then stabbed Fletcher and two others who stood up to him. Rick Best, 53, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, did not survive. Charged with aggravated murder in their deaths, Christian appeared to defend his actions in court on Tuesday as Fletcher looked on. "You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism. You hear me? Die," he said, per CNN. "Death to the enemies of America. Leave this country if you hate our freedom," he added. According to court documents, Christian confessed to the attack inside a patrol car. A video camera allegedly recorded him saying, "I just stabbed a bunch of [expletive] in their neck ... I can die in prison a happy man." He allegedly added, "I hope they all die," per the Oregonian. He is due back in court on June 7. (More hate crime stories.)

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