Suspect in Portland light rail slayings to appear in court

(AP) — The man police say fatally stabbed two other men who tried to shield young women from an anti-Muslim tirade on a Portland, Oregon, light-rail train makes his initial court appearance Monday and the city's mayor says he hopes the slayings will inspire "changes in the political dialogue in this country."

Three other men on the train intervened before police say Christian attacked them, killing two and wounding one.

Christian served prison time after holding up employees at a convenience store with a gun in 2002, court records show.

"[...] we turned around while they were fighting, and he just started stabbing people, and it was just blood everywhere, and we just started running for our lives," Mangum said.

A Facebook page for the event says there would be speakers and live music in "one of the most liberal areas on the West Coast."

Wheeler's call for the rally to be cancelled comes amid a wider debate in the U.S. about the First Amendment, often in liberal cities like Portland and Berkeley, California, and on college campuses, where violent protests between far-right and far-left protesters have derailed appearances by contentious figures.