The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States. It recognizes those people who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." 

On Friday, May 26, 2017, Ricky John Best, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, and Micah David-Cole Fletcher stood up against the rising tide of hate and intolerance in this country when they intervened to prevent Jeremy Joseph Christian from assaulting two young Muslim women on a light-rail train in Portland, Oregon. Best and Meche were stabbed to death and Fletcher was seriously injured.

President Trump can make a powerful statement that we will not accept a future where men like Jeremy Joseph Christian feel empowered to attack Americans simply because of their religion or the color of their skin, and that Ricky John Best, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, and Micah David-Cole Fletcher represent the best of us for selflessly defending the right of their fellow Americans to live in peace and enjoy what FDR called the freedom from fear.  

For these reasons, we call on President Trump to award the heroes of Portland the highest civilian award of the United States, The Presidential Medal of Freedom.