OREGON – Two people have been stabbed to death in Oregon when they reportedly tried to intervene as a man yelled racist and Islamophobic slurs at two young Muslim women, one of whom was wearing hijab, as American leading civil rights group urged President Trump to denounce growing bigotry.
“President Trump must speak out personally against the rising tide of Islamophobia and other forms of bigotry and racism in our nation that he has provoked through his numerous statements, policies and appointments that have negatively impacted minority communities,” said Nihad Awad, National Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), in a statement sent to AboutIslam.
“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.”
Oregon police announced that two men have died as they were trying to stop a man abusing two women of Muslim appearance.
Witnesses told one local media outlet that the suspect shouted about “hating Muslims” before being confronted.
While the suspect’s rants were not exclusively anti-Muslim, at some point the man directed his slurs at the two women who appeared to be of “Middle Eastern” heritage. One other passenger was injured in the incident, but is expected to survive.
The incident took place at about 16:30 local time (00:30 GMT) on a train at Hollywood Transit Station. Another passenger was wounded before the attacker was arrested.
One of the victims died at the scene, the other died in hospital.
Police have identified the suspect as Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35. He has been charged with offences including aggravated murder, attempted murder, intimidation and being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon.
“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 biased language,” said Sgt Pete Simpson, The BBC reported on Saturday, May 27.
“In the midst of his ranting and raving, some people approached him, appeared to try to intervene with his behavior. Some of the people that he was yelling at, they were attacked viciously by the suspect, resulting in the two deaths and one injury.”
Meanwhile, Awad urged local Muslim communities to step up security measures during the month-long fast of Ramadan, which began tonight.
Earlier this week, CAIR condemned the murder of an African-American Bowie State University student by a suspect who is a member of a white supremacist group on Facebook called “Alt-Reich Nation.”
CAIR recently released a report showing a 57 percent increase in anti-Muslim incidents in 2016 over the previous year. This spike in anti-Muslim incidents was accompanied by a 44 percent increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes during the same period.