Campaign for men stabbed defending Muslim woman on train raises $800k

Muslim communities among those raising money to support victims' families

Heart-shaped wreath in memory of victims (AP)

More than $800,000 (£623,000) has been raised for the families of the three men stabbed while defending a Muslim teenager and her friend on a train.

Army veteran Ricky John Best and college graduate Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche were killed following an attack in Portland, Oregon on Friday.

A third man, poet Micah David-Cole Fletcher, was taken to hospital after he was stabbed in the neck, but his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

All three men intervened after a man began yelling racial slurs against the two teenagers, one of whom was wearing a hijab.

Suspect Jeremy Joseph Christian, who allegedly stabbed two men to death on a train in Portland, Oregon when they tried to help a woman who was being harassed because she was Muslim (AFP/Getty Images)

The suspect, Jeremy Joseph Christian, was later arrested.

Muslim communities were among those the raising money for the victims' families, with a fund called Muslims Unite for Portland Heroes collecting $330,543 (£257,625) by Monday morning.

Two more funds to cover the victims' hospital bills, funeral costs and other expenses had together raised more than $500,000 (£390,000) on Monday.

Mr Best, 53, a father of four, was killed on the scene, and 23-year-old Mr Namkai-Meche later died in hospital.

Mr Fletcher, a 21-year-old Portland State University student, won a 2013 poetry competition with a poem that condemned prejudices against Muslims after the 9/11 attacks.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest advocacy group for Muslims in the US, called on President Donald Trump to condemn the attacks.

More than 2,000 people attended the candlelit vigil at the Hollywood Transit Centre, where the attack took place, on Saturday evening.

The FBI said it's too early to say whether the slayings qualify as a federal hate crime. But Mr Christian faces intimidation charges, the state equivalent.

The Portland Mercury, one of the city's alternative weeklies, posted an article on its website saying Mr Christian showed up at a free speech march in April with a baseball bat to confront protesters.

He is expected in court on Tuesday, charged with multiple counts of aggravated and attempted murder and two misdemeanours.