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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 2004)
PaseA2__________ ___________i,!r |Jn rtlan ò © bseruer_____________________ lune2,2004 Freed Muslim Lawyer Speaks Out Court Upholds Imprisonment called fallout of failed minority protections (AP)— Brandon Mayfield, the Portland lawyer wrongfully im prisoned this month in connec tion with terrorist bombings in Spain, said his ordeal underscored a warning he has sounded since his days as a law student. At Washburn in 1996 and 1997, Mayfield said, an interest in con stitutional law spurred him to write a paper cautioning against attacks on personal rights and privileges. He titled the paper “Liberty” - what Mayfield lost after the FBI linked him to the March 11 bomb ings and held him as a material witness for two weeks. “One of the messages o f the paper was you have to protect people even if the majority doesn ’ t agree with them, provided they aren’t breaking the law,” he said Sunday. “That this happened to me was kind o f ironic in that sense." Mayfield, a 37-year-old M us lim convert, said he believes he was targeted for investigation because of his religion. He said his incarceration also pointed out alarming problems with the U.S. Patriot Act, which, among other provisions, allowed FBI agents to search his hom e w ithout his knowledge. “The Patriot Act goes way too far in taking away our privacy and fre ed o m as U .S. c itiz e n s ,” Mayfield said. Mayfield was taken into cus- Brandon Mayfield with his wife, Mona, confer in court. tody May 6 in connection with the bombings, which killed 191 people and w ounded 2,000 o th ers in Madrid. According to court docu ments, the FBI began investigating Mayfield two weeks after the at tacks, when fingerprint examiners narrowed the identification to him. FBI agents raided M ayfield’s hom e and office and confiscated com puters, a key to a safe d e posit box, assorted papers and w hat agents classified as “S p an ish docum ents” but w hich appar- The Patriot Act goes way too far in taking away our privacy and freedom as U.S. citizens. - Portland Attorney Brandon Mayfield found 15 possible matches to a fingerprint found on a plastic bag containing detonators o f the kind used in the bombings. The matches in c lu d ed p rin ts b e lo n g in g to Mayfield, and three FBI examiners ently was foreign language hom e w ork for one o f M ayfield’s three children. In additional evidence aimed at supporting M ayfield’s arrest, the FBI said he attended a Portland mosque and advertised legal ser vices in a publication owned by a man with suspected links to ter rorism. Officials also pointed to a call made by M ayfield’s wife Mona, to a branch o f an Islamic charity with suspected terrorist ties. A rrested and b o o k ed into M ultnom ah County D etention Center in Oregon, Mayfield feared he m ight be incarcerated for months, even years, without a trial. He said connecting him to the bombings had been “preposter ous." M ayfield, who runs a small law office in Portland, never faced any charges. “It was pretty dark days for me the first couple o f days - being treated like I’m public enemy No. 1 and knowing there’s a capital punishment penalty at the end of all of this,” he said. In a rare public apology, the FBI admitted it had blundered in linking M ayfield’s fingerprint to the one from the bag o f detona tors. Mayfield, who had been dis charged from jail the week before but placed under house arrest, was released from all restrictions on his movements. Mayfield said that while he ap preciated the apology, he w asn’t satisfied with the outcome o f the ordeal. He said he was consider ing writing a book detailing his experiences but hadn’t talked to a publisher. Suicide Law Republican administration overruled in Oregonians’ right to die ( AP) — A federal appeals court ordered the Bush administration not to meddle with a state’s as sisted suicide law, ruling that doc tors in Oregon may prescribe lethal doses of medication to terminally ill patients. Ruling on the nation’s only law that allows doctors to assist in has tening the death o f a patient, the court said U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft cannot sanction or hold Oregon doctors criminally li able for prescribing overdoses, as the state’s voter-approved Death With Dignity Act allows. “The attorney general’s unilat eral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically en trusted to state lawmakers inter feres with the democratic debate about physician assisted suicide," wrote Judge Richard Tallman in the 2 -1 opinion by the 9th U.S. Circuit C o u rt o f A p p e a ls. H e said A shcroft's action "far exceeds the scope of his authority under fed eral law.” The Oregon law, approved by voters in 1994, lets doctors pre scribe a lethal dose o f narcotics to terminally ill patients who request assistance. In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could decide whether to allow assisted suicide. The state o f Oregon maintained it had the power to declare for itself what types of medical procedures are allowed. But the Justice Depart ment concluded that suicide is not a “legitimate medical purpose.” Ashcroft had cited the federal Controlled Substances Act when he issued a directive threatening to revoke the licenses of doctors who aid suicides with narcotics. The act declares what drugs doctors may prescribe. ,n a sharp rebuke, U.S. District Judge Robert Jones in Portland, Ore., ruled in April 2002 that the Controlled Substances Act does not give the federal government the power to say what is a legitimate medical practice. Kerry Targets Hispanics, Blacks with Ads (AP) — Democrat John Kerry made his first advertising push into Hispanic and black media, part of an $18 million month long effort. Kerry’s latest commercials, fo cusing on issues rather than his biography, will air on mainstream media outlets beginning W ednes day in 20 states and nationally on cable networks. On Friday, the Kerry campaign began airing its first Spanish-lan- guage general election television ad targeting Hispanics - arguably the most volatile swing group - in six states: Florida, Arizona, New Sen. John Kerry M exico, Nevada, Colorado and Ohio. In S p an ish , the 3 0 -sec o n d co m m ercial d escrib es K erry as a V ietn am v eteran and a D em o cra t w ho “ know s th at in W a sh in g to n , the W orld W ar II M e m o rial is a m o n u m en t to s o l d iers w ith nam es such as G arcia, C h a v ez and O ritz .” The commercial also shows pho tos of Kerry in Vietnam, with artist’s renderings of the monument and Hispanic veterans, while listing their last names. Kerry also will expand his adver- tising starting next week to media outlets targeting blacks, including running commercials on cable’s Black Entertainment Television Black lawmakers had told Kerry’s campaign that it must target ads to black communities to help mobi lize the Democratic vote. With its June TV ad purchase Kerry's campaign follows through on two promises: to target some of its advertising to ethnic and racial groups and to expand the number of battleground states from the 17 already seeing heavy levels of com mercials. Seattle Monorail Catches Fire near Experience Music Project (AP) — A monorail caught fire outside a Seattle museum Monday, forcing firefighters to use ladders to evacuate dozens of passengers. Nine people were hospitalized. including a firefighter who injured a knee, but none o f the injuries was considered serious and no one appeared to have been burned, Seattle Fire Department spokes- c,’r JJorHanh (Dhseroer Established 1970 USPS 959880 _______________________________ woman H elen Fitzpatrick said. About 40 people were evaluated at the scene for respiratory problems from the smoke, she added. The cause o f the fire was under investigation. About 100 people were aboard the train when it caught fire outside the Seattle C enter’s Experience Music Project, a rock ‘n’ roll mu seum. Thousands of people gath ered at the center over the holiday weekend for the annual Folklife Festival. Fire officials said the fire was brought under control Monday evening. Streets were closed in the area. 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 E ditor - in -C hief , P ublisher : Charles H. Washington E ditor : M ichael R eporter : Leighton Jaymee R. Cuti D istribution M anager : C reative D irector : O ffice M anager : Mark Washington Paul Neufeldt Kathy Linder The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will he relumed if accompanied by a self addressed envelope All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. O 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMIS SION IS PROHIBITED The Portland Observer-Oregon's Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member of the Na tional Newspaper Association- Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representa tive Amalgamated Publishers. Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer PO Bos 3137, Portland, OR97208 Periodical Postage paid In Portland, OR Subscriptions are $60.00 peryear Train Wreck Kills Two (AP) — A freight train struck a man and four children as they crossed a private railroad bridge north o f Vancouver Monday, kill- in g them ananda 12-year-old child. The group, on a Memorial Day outing to the beach, apparently ig nored the "No Trespassing” on the bridge over the Lewis River be tween Woodland and Ridgefield. Arm Kight. 30, and Ashley Falk, 12, were killed. Right’s twochildren, 12-year-old Heaven Campbell and 7- year-old Matt Thompson, were in jured, as was 6-year-old Wayne Frye, the son of Right’s fiancee. The three children survived by hugging the bolts on the sides of the bridge, but Ashley fell into the river. It was unclear whether she died from the i mpact of the train or drowned. “I remember this really loud bang, and dad told us to get on the edge,” said Wayne, referring to Kight. “My dad didn't make it. He fell.” Area residents have grown ac customed to running across the trestle. In the last five years, at least twoothers have been killed by trains on the bridge, residents said. The parents o f a missing college student, Cammy and Greg Wilberger of Corvallis, face reporters to appeal for the public's help in finding their teenage daughter. Police Expand Search for Brooke Wilberger Reward swells to $30,000 (A P )— As the search for a miss ing Brigham Young University stu dent moved into its eighth day, a $30,000 reward was offered for any information leading to the 19-year- old’s safe return. Brooke Wilberger, whose par ents live in Veneta, was last seen a week ago, at the apartment complex her sister manages in Corvallis. Lt. Ron Noble, a spokesman for the Corvallis police department, said police have focused on four “persons o f interest,” one of whom was arrested over the weekend on unrelated burglary charges. Sung K t» Kim, 30, o f Tigard was later released on $250,000 bail, ac cording to jailers at the Benton County Jail. Kim was arrested for burglary at George Fox College by Newberg police May 13 on a search warrant that found more than 1,000 items, including large quantities of w om ens’ underwear. He also is charged with an April b u rg la ry at O re g o n S tate University’s Sacket Hall, which is very near the site where W ilberger was last seen. He was released on the 17th. “In addition to that, there are over400 names from our tip line that we are looking at,” Noble said. “Mr. Kim has been more out in the public eye, but the investigation isn’t stop ping there.” Noble also said that police are considering any and every tips, including those that come from psychics. A lso M o n d ay , W ilb e rg e r’s friends and fam ily planned to gather at a com m unity prayer rally in C orvallis. The Church o f Jesus C hrist o f L atter-day S aints, to which W ilberger’s family belongs, was to take the lead in the prayer service. The search for W ilberger is now focusing on natural areas near Corvallis. More than 1,200 volun teers have searched more than 2,000 acres in Benton County in the past w eek, looking for the m issing woman. 5 0 3-2880033 FAX 503-288-0015 nçvvs^pQiVandçiDseryer.cQir siX^iXia^PixtlarKXbsew.ccm r “ Subscribe! Fill out, Clip out & Send to: Portland (Dbsemer Attn: Subscriptions PO Box 3137, Portland OR 97208 s u b s c r ip tio n s a re j u s t $ 6 0 p e r y e a r (please include check with this subscription form) N ame : . A ddress : T elephone : . No lie MAX needs over 2 blocks to stop Be safe—stay off the tracks T R I© M E T w5 ■*«-•
