IN THE CHURCH
tvc.dsj.org | June 6, 2017
9
Oregon Catholic father of Four Killed trying to Protect Fellow Passengers
By Ed Langlois
Catholic News Service
PORTLAND, Ore. – On a crowded
Portland commuter train May 26, a
selfl ess Catholic father of four stepped
forward to calm a tense situation. He
was that kind of guy.
Rick Best defended two women
being accosted by a passenger yelling
hate speech about Muslims and other
groups. Best, a 53-year-old member of
Christ the King Parish in Milwaukie,
Oregon, would die for his noble deed.
In less than a minute, he and another
defender were slain, slashed in the neck
in front of horrifi ed onlookers. A third
man survived the knife attack.
The accused killer, 35-year-old Jer-
emy Christian, had been on a racially
charged rampage. With a history of
police run-ins going back 15 years at
least, he was caught on camera in April,
draped in an American fl ag and repeat-
edly yelling bigoted epithets during a
demonstration in Portland. On his Face-
book page, he posted a photo of himself
performing the Nazi salute and declared
himself a white supremacist.
The day before the killings, Christian
hurled a bottle at a black woman at an-
other rail station.
On the unseasonably warm af-
ternoon of May 26, one of the young
women who became Christian’s focus
on the packed train was wearing a hijab;
the other was black.
When the bloodied train stopped
at the next stati on, Christian escaped,
but police captured him soon after. He
remained in custody in Multnomah
County Jail, indicted on two counts of
A Muslim woman prays at a makeshift memorial May 29 in Portland, Ore., for two men who were
killed May 26 on a commuter train while they were trying to defend two young women from a
man yelling racial epithets at them aboard a commuter train, said Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.
Rick Best, a 53-year-old member of Christ the King Parish in Milwaukie, Ore., was one of the
victims. (CNS photo/Terray Sylvester, Reuters)
aggravated murder, one count of at-
tempted murder, two counts of intimi-
dation and one count of being a felon in
possession of a restricted weapon.
Best was pronounced dead at the
scene. Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche,
a 23-year-old graduate of Reed College
in Portland, died later at the hospital.
Injured in the attack and recovering was
Micah David-Cole Fletcher, a 21-year-
old student at Portland State University.
Best leaves a wife, Myhanh Duong
Best, and four children: boys ages 19,
17 and 14, and a 12-year-old daughter.
A veteran who served in combat in
Iraq and Afghanistan during a 23-year
career in the Army, he had worked as a
technician for the city of Portland’s Bu-
reau of Development Services since 2015.
His supervisor, Kareen Perkins, told
Former Lebanese Christian Militia Leader
now Works to Build Peace
BEIRUT (CNS) – Assaad Chaftari,
who once fought in the name of his
Christian faith, is now working for
peace alongside those who would have
once been his enemies in the Lebanese
civil war.
Chaftari is a member of Fighters
for Peace, a small group of former
militiamen from Lebanon’s various
sects. He and others are determined
to prevent future generations from
falling to a similar fate. The group
sponsors workshops, lectures and
events whenever and wherever they
can, confessing their wrongdoings
and showing that redemption and
reconciliation are possible -- and so
is war, if the roots of confl ict are not
openly addressed. Chaftari dedicates
much of his time engaging with Leba-
non’s youth through the organization,
a group of about 25 former civil war
fi ghters who over the last three years
have spoken with more than 7,000 stu-
dents, produced documentaries and
theatrical productions telling their
stories, and run a confl ict resolution
summer camp.
“I really believe there’s a price to
pay for peace,” Chaftari said. “The fi rst
price I paid was standing in front of
the Lebanese. I did what I did, stand-
ing almost nude. Whatever price to
pay to avoid new civil wars, I’m ready
to pay. This is what I’ve been doing
since then.”
KGW-TV: “He was always the fi rst per-
son you would go to for help. I’ve talked
to most of his co-workers today, and
several of them said it’s just like Rick to
step in and help somebody out.”
Best and his wife, who is from
Vietnam, met at Portland Community
College. He retired from the Army as a
platoon sergeant in 2012. Living in the
suburban town of Happy Valley, he de-
cided the local government needed re-
freshing and in 2014 ran unsuccessfully
for the Clackamas County commission,
refusing to accept campaign donations.
In a prepared statement, Portland
Archbishop Alexander K. Sample
sought to comfort a city shocked by the
brutal slayings. The metropolitan area
of more than 1 million averages about
20 murders per year.
“Pray for those who may now feel
unsafe in moving freely about a city
that truly welcomes people of all cul-
tures, faith traditions and walks of life,”
Archbishop Sample said. “Pray for those
whose hearts and minds may be hard-
ened to the love of God and act out in
such violent and hateful ways.”
He said “profound gratitude is owed
to those who bravely stepped forward
to protect the young women who were
being vehemently harassed.”
During a Memorial Day homily at
a cemetery not far from the Best home,
Archbishop Sample told hundreds of
worshippers May 29 that Best learned
in the Army what it means to put one’s
life on the line for others.
Best and Namkai Meche, the arch-
bishop said, gave themselves in defense
of the defenseless. In that, the archbish-
op said, the men closely followed Jesus.
Christ the King Parish is in shock,
but has mobilized to support the Bests.
“This family is so faith filled,”
Deacon Jim Pittman, who served for
years at Christ the King, told the Catho-
lic Sentinel, Portland’s archdiocesan
newspaper. The Bests came to Sunday
morning Mass May 28, just 40 hours
after the killings.
Deacon Pittman has been meeting
with the family. “I told the kids, ‘Your
dad died in the way Christ told us to,’”
he said. Eric, the oldest, told Deacon Pit-
tman that he is not yet ready to forgive,
but does not feel hate.
Deacon Pittman told Eric and the
other children it is all right to cry.
“That’s what our dad always told us,”
responded Eric, who was taking a
lead in making arrangements for his
father’s funeral.
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