(E!|c Jlortlanh (Observer
Page A2
Campaign
Made Official
co n tin u ed
fr o m f r o n t
huge new bureaucracy,” B raun said in a low -key ap p ear
ance at H ow ard U niversity. H er only introduction cam e
from h er2 6 -y ear-o ld son. M atthew Braun.
“ A w om an can fix the m ess they have created, because
we are practical, we are not afraid o f partnerships and we
are com m itted to m aking the world better forourchildren.”
B raun stunned the political establishm ent in 1992 - the
"Y ear o f the W om an" - unseating an incum bent D em o
cratic senator in the prim ary, tw o-term law m aker Alan
Dixon, on her w ay to w hat w as once considered an
im probable victory in N ovem ber.
H er election w as heralded as an advance for w om en
and m inorities, but her popularity fell am id accusations
that she exercised poor ju d g m en t in visiting N ig eria’s
brutal form er dictator Sani A bacha and m isused cam
paign funds.
A cam paign finance investigation cleared Braun, but
she lost her seat to w ell-funded R epublican challenger
Peter Fitzgerald in 1998. A fter the defeat. President Clinton
appointed her am bassador to New Z ealand.
B raun used her announcem ent speech to present her
vision for the future - “an A m erican renaissance" - and
criticize President B u sh ’s record on national security and
the econom y. U nlike the official cam paign an n o u n ce
m ents by som e o f her nine rivals, Braun took questions
from a handful o f H ow ard U niversity students and report
ers follow ing her speeeh. She fielded broad questions
about poverty and children, and m ore specific queries
about the com m and and control o f U.S. troops in Iraq.
A fierce opponent o f the U .S.-led w ar against Iraq,
Braun said the United States will work to ensure a peaceful
Iraq. “A m ericans d o n ’t cut and run, w e have to see this
m isadventure through ,” she said.
D uring m onths o f cam paigning, B raun has struggled
to build a fund-raising netw ork. She has pleaded for
financial support, especially when speaking to w o m en ’s
groups, but raised less than $250,000 in the first h a lfo f the
year.
Last m onth, she picked up her first tw o m ajor endorse
m ents from the National O rganization for W om en and the
N ational W om en's Political C aucus. L eaders o f both
groups said they w ould help raise m oney for her am ong
their m em bers, and their support gave Braun encourage
m ent to continue her bid beyond the exploratory phase.
B raun ranks near the bottom in m ost surveys, but som e
pol Is show her with m ore support than som e o f her better-
financed rivals. She ranks higher in som e polls o f black
voters.
She has avoided m uch o f the intra-party fighting o fh e r
rivals w ho confront each other in an effort to rise to the
top o f the field. H er criticism has been focused on Presi
dent B ush’s policies at hom e and abroad.
“ A m erica is at a tipping point - if we stay the course we
are on now , w e w o n ’t recognize this country live years
from now ," she said in M onday’s speech.
September 24, 2003
P olice
Patriot Act Called Abuse of Power
C ritics say law is being turned on petty crim inals; not terrorists
tion as “any substance that is de
signed or has the capability to cause
death or serious injury” and contains
toxic chemicals.
C ivil liberties and legal defense
groups are bothered by the string o f
cases, and say the governm ent soon
will be routinely using harsh anti-ter
rorism laws against run-of-the-mill law-
(A P) — In the tw o years since law
en forcement agenc ies gained fresh pow-
ers to help them track down and punish
terrorists, police and prosecutors have
increasingly turned the force ofthe new
laws not on al-Qaida cells but on people
charged with com m on crimes.
The Justice D epartm ent said it has
used authority given to it by the USA
Patriot Act to crack dow n on currency
sm ugglers and seize m oney hidden
overseas by alleged bookies, con art
ists and d n ig dealers.
Federal prosecutors used the act in
June to file a charge o f ’terrorism using
a w eapon o f m ass destruction” against
a C alifornia man after a pipe bom b
exploded in his lap, w ounding him as
he sat in his car.
A North C arolina county prosecu
tor charged a man accused o f running
a m etham phetam ine lab with breaking
a new state law barring the m anufac-
'tu reo fch em ical weapons. Ifconvicted,
M artin D w ayne M iller could get 12
years to life in prison for a crim e that
usually brings about six months.
Prosecutor Jerry W ilson says he
isn ’t abusing the law, w hich defines
chem ical w eapons o f m ass destruc-
| They (Justice
Department) say they want
the Patriot Act to fight
terrorism, then, within six
months, they are teaching
their people how to use it
on ordinary citizens.
— Dan Dodson, a spokesman for the
National Association of Criminal
Defense Attorneys
breakers.
“W ithin six m onths o f passing the
Patriot A ct, the Justice D epartm ent
w as conducting sem inars on how to
stretch the new w iretapping provi
sions to extend them beyond terror
cases,” said D an D odson, a spokes
man for the N ational A ssociation o f
C rim inal D efense A ttorneys. “They
say they w ant the Patriot A ct to fight
terrorism, then, w ithin six months, they
are teaching their people now to use it
on ordinary citizens.”
A ttorney G eneral John A shcroft
com pleted a 16-city tour last w eek de
fending the Patriot Act as key to pre
venting a second catastrophic terror
ist attack. Federal prosecutors have
brought more than 250crim inal charges
under the law, with m ore than 130 con
victions or guilty pleas.
The law, passed tw o m onths after
the Sept. 11 attacks, erased m any re
strictions that had barred the govern
m ent from spying on its citizens, grant
ing agents new pow ers to use w ire-
•taps, conduct electronic and com puter
eavesdropping and access private fi
nancial data.
Stefan Cassel la, deputy chief for legal
policy for the Justice D epartm ent’s as
set forfeiture and money laundering
section, said that while the Patriot A ct’s
primary focus was on terrorism, lawmak
ers were aware it contained provisions
that had been on prosecutors’ wish lists
for years and w ould be used in a wide
variety o f cases.
Skinheads Charged in Racial Attack
Portland police have ar
rested tw o men on assault,
w eap o n s and in tim id atio n
charges after they allegedly
attacked a black m an and
threatened another.
P o lic e say 2 0 -y e a r-o ld
Bryce W oods and 23-year-
old D ennis M o th ersb au g h
a re tw o s e l f - d e s c r ib e d
skinheads.
T he investigation began
Sunday after a security guard
saw the tw o men arguing with
a black man near N orthw est
Dennis Mothersbaugh and Bryce Woods
B ro ad w ay and N o rth w est
C ouch Street.
The guard broke up the ar
gum ent and a short tim e later
police say the black man w as
stabbed in the back.
Police say the suspects fled
and then threatened another
black m an w ith a gun.
D etectives responded to the
scene and linked the tw o crim es
after finding a security cam era
captured the second crime.
Police say both attacks are
racially m otivated. T he sus
pects arc jailed in M ultnom ah
C ounty.
Portland Terror
Case to Test Patriot Act
(A P I— The A m erican C ivil Liber
ties U nion has taken aim at the U SA
Patriot A ct in an early court test o f
secret w arrants the FBI says it needs
for the w ar on terrorism .
F riday’s b rief filed in U.S. D istrict
Court in Portland marks the first ACLU
challenge to the w arrants in a crim inal
case, said D avid Fidanque, director
o fth e A C L U ’s O regon chapter
The FBI used the secret w arrants
— called Foreign Intelligence S ur
veillance C ourt w arrants — to plant
bugs and tap phone conversations o f
A m erican M uslim s and Portland-area
residents now on trial for conspiring
to support the T aliban and al-Q aida.
C ongress first allow ed the secret
w arrants in 1978, in a law that curbed
the pow ers o f the FBI and CI A to spy
on U.S. citizens for political purposes.
The w arrants’ uses w ere restricted
to FBI agents hunting for foreign
spies.
But afterthe Sept. 11 attacks, C on
gress passed the Patriot A ct allow ing
agents to use the w arrants against
U.S. citizens in crim inal cases.
Unlike typical crim inal search w ar
rants, the FBI is not required to show
probable cause.
Offender Relapse
(A P )— V oth y C h h ay w a sa fre e
man - for 42 m inutes.
Released from theC lark C ounty
Jail at 7:25 a.m. last W ednesday, he
w as booked back in by 8:07 a.m . for
investigation o f car prow ling - the
sam e charge on w hich he w as pre-
viouslyjailed.
S h e riff s deputy Tim G osch w as
called outside the county co u rt
house about 8 a.m . after a Juvenile
C ourt w orker saw a man try' to open
the door o fh e r w hite 2003 Lexus.
G osch found C hhay, 19, nearby
and arrested him . He h a d ju st been
released pending trial in another
car-prow ling case.
Bilal Brothers Plead Guilty to Conspiracy
"Think of it as a
hand-held power company."
Although rare, power outages can occur year-round.
If this happens, a flashlight can be a lifesaver when you
need it. Besides the flashlight, toss in a portable radio, fresh
(AP) — Tw o o f the “ Portland
Seven” terror suspects face at least
eight years in prison after pleading
guilty to charges o f conspiring to
helpal-Q aidaand the Taliban during
the w ar in Afghanistan.
Ahmed B ilal,25, and hisbrother,
Muhammad Bilal, 23, both appeared
before U.S. D istrict Judge Robert
Jones to form ally enter their pleas
after Jones announced the agree
m ent W ednesday.
The brothers also pleaded guilty
Ahmed and Muhammad Bilal
to firearms charges in exchange for
dism issing the main charge o f con
spiracy to levy w ar against the US.
Both had been accused o f trav-
eling with four other m en to C hina
shortly after the Sept. 11 ,2 0 0 1, ter
rorist attack in a failed attem pt to
enter A fghanistan and fight w ith
the T aliban against U.S. forces.
A hm ed Bilal agreed to a term o f
10 to 14 years w hile his younger
brother agreed to 8 to 14 years,
pending sentencing.
A nother Portland defendant has
pleaded guilty. T hree have pleaded
innocent, and the seventh person
charged last year is a fugitive.
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