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Published online 10/3/2007 11:09 PM
 Bittersweet justiceHalstead High graduate feels vindicated after court ruling on Patriot Act, but is still shaken by how he and his family were treated by the governmentPortland attorney Brandon Mayfield, mistakenly linked by the FBI to the 2004 Madrid train bombings, said he finally feels vindicated after a federal court ruled last week segments of the U.S. Patriot Act that allowed secret wiretapping and searches of his home and office are unconstitutional.The Halstead High and Washburn Law School graduate, however, said he's unsure whether his three-year battle with the government is over and he remains highly suspicious of federal law enforcement.
Mayfield, 41, called the experience - which began with electronic surveillance and break-ins by the FBI at his home and office and ended with his arrest and two-week detention at a secret location - "a harrowing ordeal." "It was a pretty dark period in my and my family's life," he said. Mayfield became a suspect after a FBI computer erroneously listed him among the top 20 suspects in the bombing - based on an analysis of a partial fingerprint lifted from the scene. Mayfield's attorneys argued he was targeted because of his Muslim faith. He converted to Islam in the early 1990s after he met his future wife, Mona, an Egyptian national, while stationed at Fort Lewis, in Olympia, Wash., while serving in the Army Reserve. On March 21, 2004, just 10 days after the Madrid bombing, FBI agents began to watch Mayfield and follow him and family members around - to and from their local mosque, to Mayfield's law office, to the children's school, even to family activities, according to Mayfield's lawsuit. At some point, the government used the purported fingerprint match to apply to the Foreign Intelligence Security Court (FISC) for authorization to place electronic surveillance in Mayfield's home and office and to conduct "sneak and peek" searches at both locations. "At first we thought we were being burglarized," Mayfield said Wednesday. "We had locks on the doors that had deadbolts which we locked, but found unlocked. Then it happened repeatedly, but we didn't know why." Mayfield said the agents conducting the searches appeared to be incompetent. "The second time we looked for tell-tale signs of a break-in," he said. "They left footprints on the carpet. By custom, we don't wear shoes in the house. Blinds that we left open, they left closed. On one occasion all the VCRs were blinking at the same time." Mayfield said the whole family became suspicious "and paranoid." "I wondered if people were following me and listening to my conversations," he said. "It turned out they were. It was really.... It's hard to describe the kind of box you feel like you're living in. To feel certain someone is following and listening to you, and breaking into your home but not announcing they're there is pretty unsettling. It hurt me to know this is the kind of country I'm living in." In April, the FBI sent Mayfield's prints to Spain, and authorities there said they could not make a match. The FBI then sent an agent to Spain, but again, Spanish officials - who'd already identified suspects - didn't agree with U.S. investigators. Still, the government pursued Mayfield, and in early May, obtained search warrants for his home and office, seizing files and computers, and then arresting him. Mayfield was detained from May 6 to May 20, until news reports revealed the suspect fingerprint matched Algerian Ouhane Daoud. When he was first detained, the government froze all of the family's assets, leaving them with no access to money, said Mayfield's aunt, Beth Vannatta of Halstead. "We couldn't send them money because everything was frozen," Vannatta said. "His mother went out there first and took some money. A week later, they sent his brother with money. Some things that were seized they've still not recovered." Mayfield filed several lawsuits, claiming invasion of privacy and violation of his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. The government settled part of the suit Nov. 29 for $2 million. Along with the settlement, the government issued an apology for mistakes by the FBI. "It was not a personal one, but there was a public apology by the FBI for this blunder, and that's very rare," Mayfield said. "Being from the Midwest, where a handshake and apology go a long way, the apology means a lot to me. They didn't take it lightly, and I appreciate that." The settlement allowed Mayfield to continue his challenge to Patriot Act amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Security Act that allowed agents to search his home and spy on him without first showing probable cause of a crime. The decision to pursue a suit against the Patriot Act "was no longer personal," Mayfield said. "My attorneys did it for no pay. It was a matter of principle. We pursued it because it was the right thing to do." Friday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken was "like icing on the cake," he said. "The judge's decision was not a complete surprise," Mayfield said. "But I was so happy. I was euphoric. It was even sweeter than our settlement with the government on the underlying portion of the suit. I was happy to be a part of the whole process, to try to assert our Constitutional rights. This was not just for me. This was for everyone." Mayfield said he and his family - he has three children, ages 19, 15 and 14 - with the help of support from other family members and their community, are trying to put the whole incident behind them. But they'll always be affected by it, he said. "We do feel somewhere near normal again," he said. "But you can't help but feel jaded by the state of affairs, of this country and politically. There are some positive things happening now. But anything that happens I'll look at with guarded optimism after this." |
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