SEATTLE
(Reuters) - Police in Portland, Oregon, arrested a homeless man on
Friday morning for stealing the wedding ring and backpack of Ricky Best,
one of two men fatally stabbed to death last week on a commuter train
while defending two women.
George
Tschaggeny, 51, was arrested at a homeless encampment under an overpass
after a tip from an employee of a Domino's Pizza restaurant in the
area, Portland Police Bureau officials said at a Friday press
conference.
Police
had released surveillance footage on Thursday of a man carrying Best's
backpack leaving the Portland MAX commuter train shortly after the
stabbings.
Tschaggeny
was found wearing Best's ring, which he apparently had removed from
Best's finger after the stabbing, said police spokesman Pete Simpson.
Police
also recovered the backpack but Best's wallet was missing, Simpson
said, adding that his family had
hoped to recover phone numbers Best
carried in the wallet.
Tschaggeny will be charged with theft, evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse, Simpson said.
Best,
Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Micah Fletcher were stabbed on May 26
when they intervened to prevent Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, from
harassing two young women who appeared to be Muslim by shouting ethnic
and religious slurs. Best and Namkai-Meche died of their wounds.
Christian
was arraigned on Tuesday on three felony murder charges, one felony
assault charge, three felony weapons charges and two misdemeanor counts
of intimidation.
In court on Tuesday, Christian shouted, "Death to the enemies of America ... You call it terrorism. I call it patriotism.”
Federal
Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said earlier this
week that the bureau is investigating the attack to determine whether to
charge Christian with terrorism or a federal hate crime.
Immediately
after the attack, the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on
President Donald Trump to condemn violence against Muslims.
In
a Monday tweet, Trump called the attack "unacceptable," and commended
the stabbing victims for "standing up to hate and intolerance."
According
to The Oregonian, a witness to the stabbings said Namkai-Meche’s last
words before being taken away by paramedics were, “Tell everyone on this
train I love them."
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