Three Days Later, Trump Finally Mentions Murder of Two Portland Heroes Defending Muslim Women
Doesn’t Mention Alleged Attacker Was a White Supremacist or His Target Was Muslim Women
President Donald Trump has been under fire for ignoring the slaying of two Portland, Oregon heroes. These men stood up to a known white supremacist, 35-year old Jeremy Joseph Christian, to defend two young women, one of whom was wearing a hijab, from his anti-Muslim attacks. They were stabbed to death, their throats slashed, while another man sustained critical injuries. (To be accurate, one of the women has been described as Muslim, and the other as Black, her religion not known. Christian has been arrested but not tried or convicted.)
The white supremacist was reportedly “yelling about hating Muslims and other things for several minutes before people confronted him, possibly trying to defend the young woman wearing a hijab.â€
Many are calling the attack, which occurred hours before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began, an act of terrorism and a hate crime.
“Rick John Best, 53, of Happy Valley, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, of Southeast Portland, and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, all came to the two girls’ defense trying to talk Christian down,” The Oregonian reports.Â
“Christian, who had previously expressed bigoted views about race and religion on social media, slashed at all three men’s necks, killing both Best and Namkai-Meche. Fletcher was wounded, but is expected to survive.”
President Donald Trump until a few minutes ago didn’t call it anything, wholly ignoring the attack – much to the outrage of many, who even noted he had time to denounce the “fake news media” and lie about his “accomplishments on his disastrous overseas trip,” but couldn’t acknowledge the heroics of these two men.
Here are the tweets of some who were outraged at Trump’s decision to ignore their heroics:
Trump’s tweets today…
4 About Fake News
1 Congratulating a man who assaulted a reporter
1 About Europe trip0 Denouncing Portland attack
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) May 28, 2017
Trump tweets today attacking the media: 4
Trump tweets today honoring the murdered Portland men who stood up to anti-Muslim abuse: 0 https://t.co/iaacJ8agpA
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 29, 2017
Trump tweeted 2x today celebrating a candidate that assaulted a journalist but has said nothing yet about the 2 heroes murdered in Portland.
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) May 28, 2017
Call me crazy but had a Muslim killed two white Christians in Portland I suspect our president would have said something
— Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) May 29, 2017
“Fake news” tweets from Donald Trump today: 4
Tweets condemning white supremacist who murdered two in Portland: 0
— Gabe OrtÃz (@TUSK81) May 28, 2017
This is Trump’s 10th tweet today. None of them have mentioned the heroes in Portland. https://t.co/QWn9bkj4F8
— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) May 29, 2017
Donald Trump has yet to mention Portland heroes, a 23-year-old and a Vet, who gave their lives to protect Muslim women from an extremist. https://t.co/k7zbjpqctm
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) May 28, 2017
Trump’s silence on the Portland terrorist attack just indicates his approval of anti-muslim violence. #PortlandStabbing
— Jason Auble (@JasonAuble) May 28, 2017
Not a f’ing peep from @realDonaldTrump. Imagine what the Racist-in-Chief wld say if a Muslim killed 2 whites #Trump https://t.co/rSF2KDllIb
— Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) May 29, 2017
Finally, at 10:51 AM EDT today, not on his personal Twitter account, where he speaks to his followers and where most of his tweets originate, but on the official White House @POTUS account, Trump tweeted:
The violent attacks in Portland on Friday are unacceptable. The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance. Our prayers are w/ them.
— President Trump (@POTUS) May 29, 2017
Note he did not mention that the alleged attacker was a Christian white supremacist, did not mention he was attacking young Muslim women, and did not even mention that one of the victims was a veteran.
Some wondered why he did not tweet it from his personal account:
@POTUS Tweet this on your personal account, too which has twice as many followers (and your most devoted followers).
Or is it here for a reason?
— MatthewDicks (@MatthewDicks) May 29, 2017
Others noted that the President also has never mentioned the murder of a Black newly commissioned U.S. Army lieutenant in Maryland last week, allegedly a man who was a member of the “Alt-Reich Facebook group.”
@POTUS How about the stabbing of Second Lt Richard Collins III in Maryland last week by a guy w ties to hate groups? https://t.co/4P2OLSMIhd pic.twitter.com/woJ9HtnLPy
— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) May 29, 2017
Many note that Trump has a long record of calling attacks outside the nation terrorism well before local officials or others have sufficient evidence to be able to do so, yet here at home often ignores attacks when they are perpetrated by white Christian extremists.
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