Portland mayor wants upcoming alt-right rallies canceled

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler addressing the public on May 29, 2017 (KATU)

Portland, Ore. (KATU, CNN Newsource) – The mayor of Portland is calling for a cancellation of two upcoming alt-right rallies in the city.

Mayor Ted Wheeler said Monday that the events should be scrapped out of respect for the victims of Friday’s deadly train stabbing.

“It’s okay to be in shock and it’s okay to feel a lot of emotion right now and a lot of sadness. And for some people, there’s a lot of anger. That’s going to continue to come to the forefront in the days ahead, and that’s why I’m asking the federal government and the organizers of next weekend’s rallies to work with me to cancel those events and make sure that they don’t happen.”

The rallies are scheduled for June 4th and 10th, with the first one to be held at a plaza owned by the federal government.

It has already granted a permit for that rally.

On Friday, police say Jeremy Christian stabbed three men.

Witnesses say Christian was yelling hateful slurs towards two girls and the victims were trying to calm him down when Christian stabbed the men.

Two of the men died.

The third man is in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Christian is being held on suspicion of state crimes, including aggravated murder–for which the death penalty is a possible sentence.

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