Oregon Man Arrested in Spain Bombings Probe

Fox News ^ | Thursday, May 06, 2004 | Fox News Staff

[Grampa Dave]

WASHINGTON  — FBI agents arrested a Portland, Ore., man Thursday as part of the investigation into the deadly train bombings in Spain, federal officials said.

Brandon Bieri Mayfield, a U.S. citizen, was taken into custody on a material witness warrant, said a senior law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The arrest, first reported in Newsweek, is the first known in the United States with connections to the March 11 bombings in Madrid.

The FBI also searched his home, which he shares with his wife, the official said.

[McGavin999]

He might have been over there as part of his training???

Or they might have been here?

[Fitzcarraldo]

he doesn't look the part of a terrorist.

[blam]

"Newsweek is also reporting that Mayfield was arrested after Spanish authorities allegedly found his fingerprints on bomb-related evidence associated with the March 11 attack."

I don't think we have the whole story on this yet.

[joyce11111]

U.S. Citizen Arrested in Spain Bomb Probe

10 minutes ago

By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writer


Portland, Ore., lawyer Brandon Mayfield, 37, shown in this undated image ...More...
ALOHA, Ore. - FBI agents arrested a Portland lawyer Thursday as part of the investigation into the deadly train bombings in Spain, federal officials said. Brandon Mayfield, a U.S. citizen, was taken into custody on a material witness warrant, said a senior law enforcement official in Washington D.C., speaking on condition of anonymity. The arrest is the first known in the United States with connections to the March 11 bombings in Madrid.

The FBI also searched Mayfield's home, which he shares with his wife, the official said.

Mayfield's fingerprints were found on materials related to the Madrid bombings, said a second senior law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

Beth Anne Steele, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Portland, confirmed two search warrants had been served Thursday in Washington County, which includes Aloha. She would not release further details.

Outside Mayfield's home in Aloha, near Portland, his wife, Mona, said Thursday evening that he is "a good man, a good father, a good husband."

"It's just unfair. It's unfair to myself and it is unfair to my children," Mona Mayfield said.

Material witness warrants, usually kept confidential by a federal judge, are used by the government to hold people suspected of having direct knowledge about a crime or to allow time for further investigation into the witness. Suspects may be held indefinitely without formal charges.

Officials would not provide any further details about the man or his alleged connection with the Madrid bombings, which killed 191 people and injured 2,000 others. Spanish authorities blame the attack on Islamic extremists, possibly linked to al-Qaida.

Eighteen people have been charged to date in Spain _ six charged with mass murder and the others with collaboration or with belonging to a terrorist organization. The FBI and other U.S. agencies have warned that al-Qaida or its sympathizers might attempt to attack mass transit systems in major U.S. cities this summer.

Mona Mayfield said her husband is 37, and that the two have two sons, ages 10 and 15, and a 12-year-old daughter.

Her husband, a former Army officer, was born in the small Oregon coastal community of Coos Bay, she said. He converted to Islam in 1989, she said, and attends a mosque in nearby Beaverton that reportedly was searched by FBI agents Thursday.

Portland attorney Tom Nelson, who described himself as Mayfield's friend and mentor, said Thursday afternoon that he received a call from Mayfield Thursday, pleading for help. Nelson said Mayfield would be represented by a public defender.

"His wife was in tears because of the way the search was conducted. The FBI apparently hurt things in the house, left things in disarray," Nelson told reporters outside Mayfield's home. "He is a regular run-of-the-mill guy."

Nelson also said Mayfield had never traveled to Spain.

Earlier this year in Portland, the last of six men and a woman were sentenced on charges of conspiring to wage war against the United States by helping al-Qaida and the former Taliban rulers of Afghanistan.

Mayfield represented one of those people, Jeffrey Leon Battle, in a custody case involving Battle's son. Law enforcement officials did not know of any contacts between Mayfield and the other Portland terrorism defendants.

Mayfield had attempted to have Battle's son, who went by the Muslim name Esau in Portland, placed in the custody of an uncle who had also converted to Islam, rather than with his mother and Battle's former wife, Angela Rowden of Houston. Rowden was awarded custody of the boy, who now goes by the name Geoffrey.

___

Associated Press writer Curt Anderson

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Nelson also said Mayfield had never traveled to Spain.

If true.....?

[B Knotts]

Michael Isikoff was just on Greta. He said that this guy had been detained secretly. The reason anyone knows about it other than him and his wife is because Newsweek broke the story on their web site this afternoon.

They believe the evidence is solid tying him in some way to the Madrid attacks. As I said earlier, they have his fingerprints on a bag containing bomb ingredients, recovered from the wreckage.

His wife says he's a "good man."

[Walkingfeather]

apparently his fingerprint were on a suitcase of bomb making material found in spain

[oceanview]

we know. the issue is - how did it get there, did he travel to spain? how, if he was being tailed by the FBI?

[oceanview]

right, so what does that mean? the material or the suitcase was assembled in the US, in Tacoma, and shipped to Spain? no way. something missing in this story.

[Chani]

ping on the HTML bootcamp lol

[B Knotts]

Some other people in this thread said he had never been to Spain. But, just speculating now...what if he maybe gave someone a bag of money/valuables/papers/etc., perhaps to finance the operation, that they took to Spain, and then used to carry the materials to the trains?

There are all sorts of ways he can be implicated in this, even if he never went to Spain. Material support, you know?

[Oorang]

In arabic the name bilal means "First Convert Of Muhammad".
It seems to be a commonly used name both for people and for mosques. Perhaps when you convert to islam you can take on a symbolic name. If you do a google search for mosques in America you will find quite a few with bilal in the name.

[B Knotts]

Friends, Family Defend Portland Lawyer

He was apparently born in Coos Bay!

[Sacajaweau]

Thanks for the translation. I did do a search and yes, there are many by that name. Remember Akbar, the Muslim-American soldier who threw the grenade into our soldiers tent. He belonged to a mosque by the name of Bilal, also.

[B Knotts]

Incidentally, a correction from some incorrect info I posted earlier. This lawyer did not defend Jeffrey Battle in his criminal case; he represented him in a custody case afterwards.

[blam]

"Nelson said Mayfield would be represented by a public defender."

Suck off the public teat just like all the other Islamic bastards!

[oceanview]

oh, I don't doubt his involvement. i am just wondering how he could get this material to them while under surveillance, how did he communicate with them,

[Oorang]

I had forgot that, thanks.

[B Knotts]

American Reported Linked to Madrid Bombing-Newsweek

Reuters was sure to get in a little leftist tinfoilism:

Brandon Mayfield is a former Army officer and a vocal critic of the Bush Administration's foreign policy, Kent Mayfield said, but he declined to elaborate.

Agents raided Brandon Mayfield's home, taking computer equipment and his wife's credit cards, leaving her with just a driver's license, Kent Mayfield said, adding that the couple had three children.

"I think the reason they are holding him is because he is of the Muslim faith and because he is not super happy with the Bush administration. So if that's a crime, well you can burn half of us," Kent Mayfield said.

[VOA]

His wife says he's a "good man."

sounds like we've got ourselves a couple of Rosenbergs here...maybe.