PORTLAND, OR (KATU/CNN) – After Friday’s deadly train stabbing in Portland, OR, the city’s mayor is calling for a cancellation of two upcoming alt-right rallies.
The rallies are scheduled for June 4 and June 10 in the city, with the first one to be held at a plaza owned by the federal government.
The government has already granted a permit for the earlier rally.
Mayor Ted Wheeler said Monday the events should be canceled out of respect for the victims of the Friday stabbing. He wants the government to rescind the permit for the June 4 rally and not issue one for the June 10 rally.
"It's OK to be in shock. It's OK to feel a lot of emotion right now and a lot of sadness. and for some people, there's a lot of anger. That's going to continue to come to the forefront in the days ahead, and that's why I'm asking the federal government and the organizers of next weekend's rallies to work with me to cancel those events and make sure that they don't happen,” Wheeler said.
Witnesses to the stabbing of three men Friday, allegedly by Jeremy Christian, say the man was yelling hateful, anti-Muslim slurs toward two girls, and the victims were trying to calm him down when Christian stabbed them.
Two of the men – Army veteran Rick Best and recent college graduate Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche – died. The third, Micah Fletcher, is recovering from serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Christian is being held on suspicion of state crimes, including aggravated murder, for which the death penalty is a possible sentence.
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