The 2 men who were killed in a Portland knife attack have been identified

The victims of a knife attack on a light-rail train in Portland, Oregon, on Friday afternoon have been identified as a 53-year old Ricky John Best, a US Army veteran of 23 years, and 23-year old Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, a recent college graduate.

The victims, identified by the Portland police and profiled by The Oregonian and Buzzfeed, died trying to deescalate a situation where Jeremy Christian was "ranting and raving" at two young Muslim women with "hate speech or biased language," according to Portland police.

A third victim, 21-year-old Micah David-Cole Fletcher, suffered traumatic injuries but is receiving care and expected to recover.

Christian will be arraigned on Tuesday. The two women who were the subject of Christian's initial outburst made it through the incident physically unharmed, in part due to the efforts of the men who intervened and lost their lives.

NOW WATCH: Former Navy SEAL commanders explain why they still wake up at 4:30 a.m. - and why you should, too

Please enable Javascript to watch this video