Jeremy Christian has frequently used language embraced by the white supremacist movement -- including a racist slur aimed at African Americans, the salute “Sieg Heil” and talk of Jewish control of the government and anti-immigrant sentiments, a prosecution expert testified Thursday in the MAX train stabbings trial.
Pete Simi, an associate professor of sociology at Chapman University in Southern California, told jurors he reached the conclusion that Christian has shown a “high level of explicit bias” that aligns with “white supremacist beliefs.”
“The conclusion I reached, I felt very confident in,” Simi said on the 11th day of Christian’s trial. Simi has studied the movement for more than two decades.
His testimony is key to supporting the prosecution’s contention that Christian was targeting two teenage girls on a Green Line train moments before he stabbed three other passengers, killing two of them.
Christian has been charged with the hate crime of second-degree intimidation for allegedly victimizing the girls -- one an African American and the other from Somalia who was wearing a hijab -- as well as an African American woman the previous night.
Christian faces more serious charges -- first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder -- for killing Taliesin Namkai-Meche, 23, and Ricky Best, 53, and seriously wounding Micah Fletcher, who was 21 at the time of the knife attacks on May 26, 2017.
But the theory that Christian had launched into a hate-filled rant before the stabbings forms an important underpinning for the prosecution’s case.
Witnesses said Christian shouted about Christians killing Muslims and Jews killing themselves, about beheadings, “(Expletive) Saudi Arabia!” and “Go home, we need American here!”
Pete Simi, an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Chapman University, testifies during the Jeremy Christian trial at the Multnomah County Courthouse February 13, 2020. Mark Graves, The Oregonian/OregonLive/Pool Mark GravesMark Graves
Simi and Portland police Detective Michele Michaels testified about Christian’s many Facebook posts.
Among them was one that stated: “No Jews are good people.” Other posts used a derogatory slur for African Americans and “Sieg Heil”, a Nazi term.
Christian also talked about Vikings and Vinland, the part of North America where Vikings explored. Those terms are code words used by white supremacists, Simi said.
Simi pointed to another post by Christian about separating ethnic or religious groups and said that also was an indicator of white supremacy. It read: “I am for Balkanization for Aryans, Nation of Islam and any other racist groups.”
Simi referenced Christian’s request while he was in prison to receive “Christian identity” reading material, which he said is often embraced by white supremacists. Christian spent nearly eight years in prison from 2002 to 2010 for robbing a convenience store.
An Oregon Department of Corrections official testified that Christian got into 12 prison fights and appeared to be targeting Hispanic inmates in some of them.
Defense attorney Dean Smith tried to paint the picture of Christian as “a very curious person” who wanted to learn about world religions. Through his line of questioning, Smith highlighted the many religious study groups or activities that Christian associated with while in prison, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Baha’i Faith and the Pentecostal church.
A point of contention between the prosecution and the defense seemed to be another Facebook post of Christian’s, in which he explained that he isn’t what some people perceive him to be.
“I am not racist and have a half Vietnamese Nephew and large Vietnamese Family,” Christian wrote. “... I will generally knock out a person that calls me a racist. I am White and a Nationalist for Vinland.”
Simi said it’s “very common” for white supremacists to claim they’re not racist.
“They will say, ‘I don’t hate anybody. I just love white people,’” Simi said.
Smith criticized Simi for coming to a conclusion about Christian without ever interviewing him.
“Had you done that you would have learned more things about Jeremy Christian, right?” Smith asked.
“That’s possible,” Simi said.
Also Thursday, jurors watched cellphone video of Christian expressing his intention to stab someone the night before he actually did stab Fletcher, Namkai-Meche and Best. On May 25, 2017, just before midnight, an alarmed passenger on a Blue Line train captured video of Christian ranting.
The video begins with the woman pointing her phone at her purse on her lap, then slowly tilting the phone toward the loud man seated in front of her. The side of Christian’s face and the back of his head, including his distinctive pony tail, can be seen.
Christian exclaims that he wants to stab the train operator.
“I’ll stab you, too, (expletive!)” Christian says. “... Move forward!”
Christian follows up by saying, “I’m about to stab some (expletives). Call the police. I dare you!”
Michaels, the police detective, testified that she also believes Christian made a reference on the video to Demetria Hester, an African American woman with whom he argued an hour or two before.
A photograph of Demetria Hester is entered into evidence at the Jeremy Christian trial inside the Multnomah County Courthouse January 31, 2020 Beth Nakamura, The Oregonian/OregonLive/Pool
“Punk ass (expletives)!” Christian says at one point. “... Telling me what I can and cannot say. ... And then you Mace me. (Expletive) you.”
Hester testified in the first week of the trial that she told Christian to stop a racist tirade on a Yellow Line train earlier that night. Hester said after she stepped off the train, Christian exclaimed “(Expletive), you’re about to get it” and she Maced him. TriMet surveillance video shows Christian throwing the Gatorade bottle at Hester’s head. She suffered an eye injury.
The next day, Christian stabbed Namkai-Meche, Best and Fletcher on another train as it pulled into the Hollywood Transit Center in Northeast Portland, claiming he was acting in self-defense. All three men were stabbed in the neck. Namkai-Meche and Best died within minutes.
In successfully arguing to the judge to allow jurors to watch the video, prosecutor Jeff Howes had the video counters earlier defense testimony that Christian has cognitive deficits and difficulties formulating plans.
“This goes to directly rebut that,” Howes said. “... It gives a snapshot into the defendant’s mind.”
Closing arguments in the trial are expected Tuesday.
-- Aimee Green
o_aimee
Keep up with key trial events and takeaways by signing up for The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Jeremy Christian trial newsletter at oregonlive.com/newsletters.
Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.