Posted on 05/20/2004 4:05:44 PM PDT by rwfromkansas
Portland Man Arrested In Spain Bombings Is Released
POSTED: 3:36 pm PDT (5:36 central time) May 20, 2004
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Portland attorney Brandon Mayfield, who had been arrested in connection with the Madrid terror attacks, was released from federal custody on Thursday.
His release came soon after Spanish officials said fingerprints found on a bag near the bombing site in Spain were that of an Algerian. U.S. authoritities had previously said the prints were Mayfield's.
That was from: http://www.kirotv.com/news/3328904/detail.html
So it was just a rumor that he had shortly before the bombing been in Spain?
This is what his brother sent me in an e-mail conversation we had:
"My brother has never supported terrorism. Brandon
Mayfield is an immigration attorney, sorry you feel that
by representing his children in order to keep them with
immediate family members and not wards of the state makes
him guilty by association.
I do not know what your proffesion is and dont really
care,
but I teach visual art and not politics, so the only thing
I'm indoctrinating is art methods and art history.
Here's a little advise, watch what you say, you may find
yourself in the same situation my brother is in, and that
is what we should all be fighting for; Freedom against
persucution.
good day,
K.Mayfield"
(lots of spelling errors)...
Portland, Oregon-AP -- An Oregon lawyer who has been linked to the train bombings in Spain has been released from prison.
U-S authorities had said the fingerprints found on a bag near the bombing site belonged to Brandon Mayfield. But Spain now says the prints are that of an Algerian.
____________________________________________
On this they can throw a guy into jail for a week. Not looking good...
I do not know. All I know is that for some reason he was released (perhaps lack of evidence...do not know....not enough info yet).
In any case, he did support terrorists in his legal practice.
"Here's a little advise, watch what you say, you may find
yourself in the same situation my brother is in"
That's good advice these days, unfortunately.
It is a black eye for the FBI.
If this guy was in jail for this long on false fingerprints, it is an injustice. Somebody's head needs to roll.
Details are really sketchy still though..nobody said why the FBI released them since they claimed there was a lot more points of agreement with the fingerprints than Spain. I wish the FBI would release a statement soon.
I'm afraid it's not like "we now know", it's more like "we'll never know"!
Not much of anything surrounding this incident has looked good. They put a guy in jail for a week and then say it was a mistake (I thought fingerprints were supposed to be foolproof nowadays). And dozens of people here on Free Republic gleefully slander him as a terrorist. When the government can arrest anyone on nothing at all something is seriously out of whack Patriot-Act-wise.
And there was a thread a little while back saying that the Senate is debating a treaty for expedited extradition of suspects to Britain, a treaty which knows no statute of limitations. Irish Americans who have family ties to anti-British rebels in Ireland are up in arms about this, as you can imagine.
marking, hoping for more info later here.
I am not sure I follow you here. Are you saying that we should no longer investigate people? Why because they might be offended? He was proven innocent and he was released. Isn this not better then losing a city block? Or perhaps a whole city?
Not sure how the fingerprint mixup happen. I am releived that we still have inteligence groups working to make sure we are safe.
Good thing he isn't ain't teachin writin n rithmatack.
Well, we trusted the FBI a lot more than it seems to be showing itself worthy of. Oh, they occasionally shoot in the face unarmed Boy Scouts who comply with one of two conflicting shouted orders, then defend that as vigorously as possible in court, but nobody seriously doubted their ability to get fingerprints right. Until now.
I don't think he'd been in Spain. But a group of Moroccans had visited Portland, under mystifying circumstances, some weeks before the bombing.
He's probably involved, but I think they don't have enough items of evidence to make it more than circumstantial.
Here is the AP story...a bit more info...from Fox News.com:
"Beth Anne Steele, a spokeswoman for the FBI (search) in Portland, did not immediately return calls asking for comment.
Steve Wax, Mayfield's attorney, said a gag order issued by a federal judge remained in place and he couldn't discuss details.
Mayfield had been arrested as a material witness and has not been charged. It is not clear whether the investigation against him has been dropped."
gnab.
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