Portland teenager tells of being 'haunted' by murder of her defenders

A black American teenager who saw two men murdered as they defended her from racist abuse on Monday thanked the pair who saved her.

Destinee Mangum, 16, was travelling with her hijab-wearing friend on a tram in Portland, Oregon on Friday when she was accosted by Jeremy Christian.

Christian, a known white supremacist with a violent criminal history, began hurling racist abuse at the girls. Three men intervened to protect them, and Christian stabbed two of the men to death.

"He told us to go back to Saudi Arabia and he told us we shouldn't be here, to get out of his country," said Miss Mangum, holding her mother’s hand as she spoke to a local television station. 

"He was just telling us that we basically weren't anything and that we should just kill ourselves."

Miss Magnum and her friend moved to the back of the train, and a stranger intervened, telling Christian that he "can't disrespect these young ladies like that."

Miss Magnum recalled: "then they just all started arguing."

She continued: "Me and my friend were going to get off the train and then we turned around while they were fighting and he just started stabbing people.

"It was just blood everywhere and we just started running for our lives."

Ricky Best, a 53-year-old army veteran who worked as a technician for the city of Portland, died at the scene.

"He died fighting the good fight, protecting the innocent," said Mr Best's son.

Taliesin Meche, a 23-year-old economics graduate who had just started a job as an environmental consultant, was pronounced dead at hospital.

Rachel Macy, who was on the tram, comforted Mr Meche as he lay dying.

“I told him: ‘You’re a beautiful man. I’m so sorry the world is so cruel,'” she said, adding that she wanted his family to know what he said in his final moments.

“He said: ‘Tell them, I want everybody to know, I want everybody on the train to know, I love them.'  

“He was a beautiful man, that’s what I want people to know.”

A third man, Micah Fletcher, 21, remains in hospital with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries. 

A crowd-funding campaign has raised almost a million dollars to support their relatives.

"In the midst of his ranting and raving, some people approached him and appeared to try to intervene with his behaviour and some of the people that he was yelling at," said Sergeant Pete Simpson of Portland police. 

"They were attacked viciously by the suspect."

"It's horrific. There's no other word to describe what happened today."

Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, described the two murdered men as heroes.

“Two men lost their lives and another was injured for doing the right thing, standing up for people they didn’t know against hatred,” he said.

“Their actions were brave and selfless, and should serve as an example and inspiration to us all. They are heroes.”

President Donald Trump on Monday morning tweeted that the murders were "unacceptable".

"The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance. Our prayers are with them."

Hillary Clinton tweeted on Saturday night: "Heartbreaking. No one should have to endure this racist abuse. No one should have to give their life to stop it."

Philip Gourevitch, an author whose books include an account of the Rwandan genocide and the story of the Abu Ghraib prison, was fiercely critical of Mr Trump's failure to address the murders sooner, describing his “craven silence” as “a stain on America”.

Over the weekend the director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called for the president to condemn the killings.

“President Trump must speak out personally against the rising tide of Islamophobia and other forms of bigotry and racism in our nation,” said Nihad Awad.

“Only a strong statement from the nation’s leader will send a message to bigots that such acts of violence targeting racial, ethnic or religious minorities are unacceptable,” he added.

Mr Trump was previously criticised for failing to mention the murder in February of an Indian immigrant in Kansas, or the shooting of another Indian man in Seattle in March. Yet he has been quick to seize on murders carried out by Isis-supporters – even though they were not carried out in America.

Christian, 35, will appear in court on Tuesday charged with two counts of aggravated murder and one count of attempted murder, for which he could face the death penalty.

He also was charged with misdemeanors: two counts of second-degree intimidation and a count of being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon, police said.

Police are currently going through his extensive social media history, and documenting the litany of anti-Semitic, racist and violent postings. He praised the Oklahoma bomber and spoke of wanting to murder Jews; he also claimed to have voted for Bernie Sanders and hate Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

He had however turned up at pro-Trump rallies, including one held on April 29, where he arrived draped in an American flag and wielding a baseball bat at the right-wing "March for Free Speech".  The bat was quickly confiscated by Portland police officers. 

He ranted how he was a nihilist and began yelling racial slurs, giving the Nazi salute throughout the day.  Several Portland police officers on April 29 appeared to be familiar with him, but not threatened by him. They claimed he had a head injury and was mentally ill.

The night before he murdered Mr Best and Mr Meche he had been mace sprayed by police. Shortly after his encounter with the police, he was filmed ranting on a tram, hurling abuse at the driver and threatening to “stab some -------“.

Miss Mangum said that she was left distraught by Friday’s attack.

"I just want to say thank you to the people who put their life on the line for me," she said, as her voice cracked. 

"Because they didn't even know me and they lost their lives because of me and my friend and the way we look.

"It's haunting me."