Suspect in Portland double murder posted white supremacist material onlineChristian had been a prominent and vocal participant in recent “alt-right” rallies in Portland. At a “free speech rally” in Montavilla City Park on 29 April he was captured on video wrapped in an American flag, giving Nazi salutes. Earlier that day, police reportedly confiscated a baseball bat from him. Local reporters captured him yelling racial slurs and threatening to shoot “anyone who tries to disarm me”.
Cat Davila, who was among counterprotesters at the rally, said Christian “showed up part way through the event and came striding straight toward the counter-demonstrator crowd very purposefully waving a baseball bat by his side and staring us down”. As he drew closer, Davila said, police “blocked him and took his bat and from then on he just yelled a lot”.
Christian’s Facebook page revealed obsessive concern with far-right themes. In recent weeks he posted memes and other material attacking “antifascist” protesters who have clashed with various “alt-right” rallies around the country. In the lead-up to the April rally, he posted: “Looking for a couple guys or gals down to unmask anyone wear[ing] a mask at the upcoming Free Speech March”, referring to the anti-fascist practice of disguising protesters’ identities.
Christian also posted openly antisemitic and neo-Nazi material. On 9 May, he claimed to have challenged Nuremberg prosecutor Ben Ferencz to a future debate, in which “I will defend the Nazis”. The same day, he posted “Hail Vinland!!! Hail Victory!!!”, combining a familiar catchphrase that was used at a post-election rally by the activist Richard Spencer.
Portland-based antifascist researcher Shane Burley, author of the forthcoming book Fascism Today, told the Guardian that “Vinland” refers to the area of eastern Canada that Leif Erikson supposedly settled from Iceland. On the far right, he said, it is used as a way of asserting that white nationalists “are Vikings in a new land continuing the ancient battle for the preservation of their people”.
Christian wrote several recent posts opposing male circumcision, writing that “I want a job in Norway cutting off the heads of people that circumcize babies” and posting articles about recent attempts in Norway to ban the practice. Circumcision, Burley said, “is a common men’s rights activist talking point to signify a culturewide persecution of men”.
Christian also posted material from media outlets depicting his participation in the April rally, referring to his use of an American flag as a cape as his “Lizard King Regalia”.
His engagement with far-right politics may be relatively new. A person who knew him in Portland’s heavy metal scene, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that when he first encountered him eight years ago he was apolitical.
“Jeremy has always been an extremely damaged person since I’ve known him,” the person said. “He practically grew up in prison and his childhood was horrific but I’ve always known him to have a kind heart.” Christian had been given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, the person said, and “has an extremely obsessive personality. He gets fixed on a thing or an idea and flies off the edge of the world with it”.
According to records, Christian has a history of violence. In 2002, wearing a ski mask, he handcuffed a north Portland shopkeeper to the counter while stealing cash and cigarettes. Following the robbery, Christian was shot in the face by a Portland police officer.
Searches revealed 2002 convictions for kidnapping in the second degree, carrying and using a dangerous weapon, and robbery in the first degree. Records also showed that Christian had been charged with, but not convicted of, offenses ranging from felon in possession of a firearm to supplying contraband.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/27/portland-double-murder-white-sup...
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