by Lilhe Z. Mtshali via essence.com
Nearly a week after a white supremacist killed two men who were trying to protect two teens, Muslim groups have banded together to raise over $500,000 to support the families of the brave men and one survivor.Army veteran Ricky Best, 53, and college graduate Taliesin Namkai-Meche were stabbed to death Friday by Jeremy Christian while protecting 16-year-old Destinee Mangum and her friend, who was wearing a hijab. Mangum told reporters that Christian was shouting at them to “go back to Saudi Arabia” and to “leave his country.” When Best, Namkai-Meche and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, stepped in to intervene, Christian stabbed all three men.
Fletcher was wounded but survived.
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The Muslim groups, CelebrateMercy and the Muslim Education Trust, created a LaunchGood online fundraising campaign on Saturday to raise money to help with funeral costs for Best and Namkai-Meche and Fletcher’s medical bills. The initial target of the campaign, which was dubbed Muslims Unite for Portland Heroes, was $60,000 and that was raised within five hours.
The total raised so far is over $516,000.
Christian appeared in court on Tuesday and faces charges including two counts of aggravated murder, attempted murder, two counts of second-degree intimidation and being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon, Think Progress reports. Federal authorities are still deciding whether to prosecute him for hate crimes.
Source: Muslim Groups Raise Money For Portland Stabbing Victims | Essence.com
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Reblogged this on Random Ramblings; Myriad Musings and commented:
News like this gives me hope that there is still some shred of decency left in some of my fellow countrymen and -women…
<3
Reblogged this on Espiritu en Fuego/A Fiery Spirit and commented:
There is a flicker of hope in the midst of evil. There are good caring compassionate people in this world.
We have to make sure that Muslims everywhere know that good, caring, compassionate people are the norm and not the exception.Not everywhere is filled with racism despite the fact it appears to be sanctioned from on high these days.
Hugs