Two men were stabbed to death in Portland, Oregon on Friday when they tried to stop a man from yelling racial slurs at two women who appeared to be Muslim, police say.
The Oregonian reports that the suspect was yelling and ranting aboard a MAX train in Portland Friday afternoon, using “hate speech or biased language,” according to Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson.
At one point, the man began yelling at the two women who appeared to be Muslim, one of whom was wearing a hijab.
{mosads}Two other train passengers attempted to intervene, and the man attacked them.
“In the midst of his ranting and raving, some people approached him and appeared to try to intervene with his behavior and some of the people that he was yelling at,” Simpson said. “They were attacked viciously.”
Two men were stabbed and killed by the suspect. A third person was stabbed but didn’t receive life-threatening injuries, according to The Oregonian.
Police arrested 35-year-old Jeremy Joseph Christian early Saturday morning on suspicion of aggravated murder and attempted murder, but Portland police have not commented on whether or nor Christian is the suspect in the train stabbing, according to the newspaper.
The attack took place just as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins.