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According to one witness, the suspect was heard saying “get off the bus, and get out of the country because you don’t pay taxes here.”
Amidst rising rates of violence directed toward Muslims and those percieved to be Muslim in the United States, two men on a commuter train in Portland, Oregon were fatally stabbed and a third injured on Friday after they confronted a man who was allegedly yelling racial slurs at two other passengers, one of whom was wearing a hijab, local media reported.
According to a Portland police spokesperson, the stabbing suspect who is currently in police custody, was allegedly “yelling a gamut of anti-Muslim and anti-everything slurs” at two other passengers.
According to one witness, the suspect was heard saying “get off the bus, and get out of the country because you don’t pay taxes here.”
When three men confronted the suspect and tried to calm him down, he allegedly stabbed them in the neck, killing two and injuring the other.
“Preliminary information indicates that the suspect was on the MAX train yelling various remarks that would best be characterized as hate speech… At least two of the victims attempted to intervene with the suspect and calm him down. The suspect attacked the men, stabbing three, before leaving the train,” the Portland Police Bureau’s official statement read.
It continued to say that witnesses saw “two young women, possibly Muslim, who were on the train at the time of the disturbance and attack, but left prior to police arrival… one was described as wearing a hijab.”
The location and identity of the two women is unknown, although police are currently looking to find and speak with them.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization promoting American Muslim civil liberties based in Washington, D.C., released a statement asking U.S. President Donald Trump to “speak our personally against rising bigotry and acts of racial violence in America targeting Muslims and other minority groups.”
According to CAIR, the past three years have seen a nearly 600% rise in hate crimes targeting Muslims, and those who are perceived to be Muslim.
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