Feb. 22 (UPI) — An Oregon jury has found a man guilty of murder for fatally stabbing two men trying to stop him during an anti-Muslim rant in 2017.
The jury found Jeremy Joseph Christian guilty on 12 counts, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault, intimidation, unlawful use of a weapon and menacing, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.
“Our community continues to feel the profound impact from this violent and racist attack that happened more than two years ago,” District Attorney Rod Underhill said. “This verdict supports and upholds the state’s belief that Jeremy Joseph Christian acted intentionally when he committed these crimes.”
The stabbing happened May 2017, on a Metropolitan Area Express light-rail train in Portland.
“This suspect was on the train and he was yelling and ranting and raving, a lot of different things, including what would be characterized as hate speech or bias language,” Portland police Sgt. Pete Simpson said at the time. “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 he was yelling at and they were attacked viciously by the suspect.”
At one point, his remarks were directed at an African-American teen and her friend, an immigrant from Somalia who wore a hijab.
Of the three men Christian stabbed, two died and another recovered from his injuries.
The sentencing phase of Christian’s trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday.
