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.

[Grampa Dave]

This is really interesting:

Today: May 07, 2004 at 8:31:24 PDT

Lawyer's Fingerprints Found on Detonators

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MADRID, Spain (AP) -

The fingerprints of the American lawyer arrested in Oregon over the Madrid terror bombings were found on bag containing detonators of the kind used in the March 11 attack, the Spanish government said Friday.

The plastic shopping bag was found inside a stolen van left near the train station from which three of the four bombed trains departed, an Interior Ministry official said.

The detonators in the bag were of the same kind used in the March 11 attacks, which killed 191 people, the government has said previously.

The van was found in Alcala de Henares, about 20 miles northeast of Madrid. Inside it police also found an Arabic-language cassette tape with verses from the Quran, police have said.

[B Knotts]

Another tidbit:

US lawyer fingered for Madrid bombings

The FBI compared the evidence with terrorism cases and discovered the potential match between one of many fingerprints found in the van and a US citizen with military experience who was under investigation for suspected terrorist activity.

The discovery intrigued investigators because of the possible involvement of a US military veteran, a rare figure in al-Qaeda cases, and the suspicion that he could have played a significant role in the plot.

Spanish police believe someone with explosives experience helped the attackers build the bombs. The American fitted the profile of such a bomb-maker or trainer, along with two Moroccan fugitives who were al-Qaeda-trained veterans and potential "field commanders" of the bombing cell, investigators said.

This seems to imply that he may have worked with explosives while in the military.

[johnfrink]

To be honest, I doubt it. If you've read any of the reports about these guys, they were idiots, for the most part. I doubt they would have had any advance information--keep in mind that they've been in custody for some time. Also, keep in mind that while this guy was a lawyer for one of them, it was for a child-custody matter--totally unrelated to the terror charges.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The plastic shopping bag was found inside a stolen van left near the train station from which three of the four bombed trains departed, an Interior Ministry official said.

Is this a special shopping bag?

Totally wierd, ....someone on the bombing team might have been in Portland at one time.....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

a US citizen with military experience who was under investigation for suspected terrorist activity.

That statement could be read to say they were already looking at Brandon Mayfield for other activities!!!!!!

[B Knotts]

Yes, that is what I picked up from other stories. They were already looking at this guy, and when they matched the fingerprint, they grabbed him.

[B Knotts]

This story is now getting picked up in Spain.

Detenido en EEUU un abogado por su supuesta implicación en el 11-M

Nothing new in the story, though, that I saw.

[ezo4]

Its a great part of the country - its the politicians and the liberal morons that make seattle a mess. Otherwise its a great place. I just avoid seattle.

[Grampa Dave]

" US citizen with military experience who was under investigation for suspected terrorist activity. "

That statement could be read to say they were already looking at Brandon Mayfield for other activities!!!!!!

---

I keep getting the feeling that this could be a really big arrest/detention.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Mayfield's father, Bill Mayfield, of Halstead, Kan., said his son spent most of his youth in Kansas and attended Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. Bill Mayfield said he was not able to talk to his son after the arrest.

Are you anywhere near to Halstead?

[Grampa Dave]

"The discovery intrigued investigators because of the possible involvement of a US military veteran, a rare figure in al-Qaeda cases, and the suspicion that he could have played a significant role in the plot.

"Spanish police believe someone with explosives experience helped the attackers build the bombs. The American fitted the profile of such a bomb-maker or trainer, along with two Moroccan fugitives who were al-Qaeda-trained veterans and potential "field commanders" of the bombing cell, investigators said. ========================================================== "This seems to imply that he may have worked with explosives while in the military."

This morning when I read about his military experience, I had three immediate questions:

1. Did he have military experience with explosives?

2. What was his security clearance level?

3. Did he meet his Egyptian wife while on active duty?

All of the above are potential nightmares waiting to happen.

[MeekOneGOP]

..... The van was found in Alcala de Henares, about 20 miles northeast of Madrid. Inside it police also found an Arabic-language cassette tape with verses from the Quran, police have said.

Religion of peace bump !!

[Grampa Dave]

..... "The van was found in Alcala de Henares, about 20 miles northeast of Madrid. Inside it police also found an Arabic-language cassette tape with verses from the Quran, police have said."

So what mosque did this tape come from.

Was the sermon of hate special for the Mass Murder in Madrid, or was it just the usual hate the Jews, Christians, Americans and any ally of America?

[Grampa Dave]

One can only wonder how the people of Spain will respond to this.

If we can find some link wih this group and the new people in control of Spain, there might be a new election.

One gets the feeling that this story will be causing a lot of distress for the evil ones here and around the world.

[Grampa Dave]

John, I missed your reply last night.

You posted:

"If he was clumsy enough to leave his prints, I'm really praying he was clumsy enough to leave a wide trail of evidence (like of his contacts) here in the states."

"This could be huge."

"Good to know the FBI is on the ball."

One of the things that jumps out and grabs a lot of us is the home grown Islamofascists are often truly dumb and arrogant. The al Qaeda A team members from Saudi land, Egypt and other middle eastern countries are a lot harder to connect the dots.

The Oregon 7 was an incredibly dumb group of bozos.

This POS is smarter, but it appears that he may have left some incredible trails of evidence. Lets hope so!

[Mr.Atos]

Thank You! I grew up in the exact same city... in Texas. I even spent time in the fever swamps of the Drag and the West Mall of UT, before my personal epiphany. Its simply more intense here in the Northwest; darker, dumber, and somehow more insidious than Central Texas. At least, in Austin people tend to grow out of it as I did. That doesn't happen in Portland... and thus spreads like infection to their children by osmosis and via the public Madrassas.

I'm not talking about 'Liberalism' in the traditional sense as I found more of that in the Republican party in its truest form. And when I refer to good people I mean people that do have the best intentions for their family and their community regardless of religion or ideology. But there exists a threshold of good sense that Americans did universally recognize at one time; the requisite of logic with compassion.

What I am talking about is the irrational confusion of nonsense thinking that has evolved here; the cloak of the modern progressive... The Euro-Leftist, Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Western, Neo-Socialist, Bureaucra-puppet. It infects the mind and prevents reason in times when that faculty is needed most. And it is in tremendous need now, when this nation is in grave danger, and Americans need to suspend the insignificance of partisanship in favor of survival. And tragically, we find, that in Portland and similar cities throught the nation, the capacity for reason is absent.

It may very well get us all killed... or at least a few million of us.

Atos

[ValerieUSA]

More about the President of Mayfield's mosque:

Portland Tribune

Mosque leader: Brothers' plan was 'beyond stupid'
Muhammad and Ahmed Bilal admit to trying enter Afghanistan to fight against U.S. forces

By JIM REDDEN AND JANINE ROBBEN Issue date: Fri, Sep 19, 2003
The Tribune

---

The president of the Beaverton mosque where two members of the so-called Portland Seven worshipped said Thursday that he feels "personally betrayed" by their involvement in a conspiracy to help the Taliban fight against American forces in Afghanistan.

"This is a big disappointment," Shahriar Ahmed said Thursday, when Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, 25, and Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal, 23, each pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy and firearms possession.
"It was beyond stupid," Ahmed said of the now-admitted conduct by the brothers, whom he called "well-liked" worshippers at the Bilal Mosque (no relation). "It was beyond -- anything."

As part of their plea agreements, the brothers admitted to possessing firearms in the United States for training purposes.
They also admitted to traveling to Asia in October 2001 to take up arms and die as martyrs, if necessary, to defend the Taliban, the former fundamentalist government of Afghanistan. At the time, the Taliban was under attack by U.S. forces because of its support for the terrorist organization al-Qaida.
Three other charges against Ahmed Bilal were dropped, and two against Muhammad Bilal were dropped.

Only an event beyond their control -- their inability to enter Afghanistan via Pakistan -- kept them from achieving their objective of fighting with the Taliban, both men acknowledged in written plea agreements.

In his agreement, Ahmed Bilal said that after the group's failure to reach Afghanistan he went to Indonesia, where he obtained contact information -- from a person from Portland -- for an Indonesian-based terrorist organization. The agreement said he was trying to decide whether he wanted to participate in a violent "holy war" by other means.
The person who gave Bilal the contact information is not named in the agreement. None of the Portland Seven was in Indonesia at that time, according to previously released information about the case.

In accepting their pleas, U.S. District Judge Robert Jones sentenced Ahmed Bilal to 10 to 14 years in prison. Muhammad Bilal, who entered into a virtually identical agreement, was sentenced to eight to 14 years. If they had gone to trial and been convicted on all charges, they could have received stiffer sentences.

Raised money at mosque

The brothers -- American-born Muslims who spent part of their childhood in Saudi Arabia -- collected thousands of dollars from other worshippers at the Bilal Mosque for their trip to Asia by falsely representing that they needed the money to help their parents in Saudi Arabia, according to mosque President Ahmed.

(yeah, right)

"They said the Saudi government was getting ready to throw their parents out," Ahmed said. "They said their father had told them, 'You have to come back. We're collecting the entire family to decide what to do.' We (the mosque members) felt very angry at the Saudis."

Ahmed said the Bilals were well-liked and admired for their ability to speak both English and Arabic. "Their reading of the Koran (in Arabic) was extremely nice," he said.

(I wonder if they taped some of their lovely readings?)

Ahmed said he knew both brothers "fairly well" personally. "It's my job," he said, adding that he and other worshippers were questioning why they apparently had not been able to influence the young men in more positive ways.
"The community feels utterly disappointed by them," he said. "Such a stupid waste of time on their part. What a waste."

Three set for trial

In entering the pleas, the Bilals joined another of the Portland Seven, Maher Mofeid "Mike" Hawash, in agreeing to cooperate in the investigation and prosecution of "other individuals involved in criminal and terrorist activity."
The 38-year-old Hawash, who apparently was not involved in the firearms possession and training activities, pleaded guilty in August to the less serious conspiracy charge, in exchange for a likely sentence of seven years.

The Bilals' pleas mean that only three of the Seven are scheduled to go to trial in January: Jeffrey Leon Battle; his ex-wife, October Martinique Lewis; and Patrice Lumumba Ford. They are charged with conspiring to levy war against the United States, providing material support and resources to al-Qaida and contributing services to al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Ford and Battle also face firearms-related charges, and Lewis and Ford are charged with money laundering for allegedly wiring money to other co-defendants who were in Asia as part of the alleged conspiracies.

One of Ford's attorneys, Marc Sussman, was present when the Bilals entered their pleas Thursday. Asked what the pleas meant for his client, Sussman replied, "Two more witnesses against him."

Unlike previous court appearances, there were no supporters present in the courtroom.
The indictment against the Bilals and Hawash also had included allegations that they had conspired to help al-Qaida; however, none of the three made any admissions concerning al-Qaida as part of their guilty pleas.

A seventh defendant, Habis Abdulla Al Saoub, has not been apprehended.

According to Ahmed Bilal and Hawash, it was Al Saoub -- whom both knew personally -- who solicited them to join a group of individuals planning to travel from Portland to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban. Ahmed Bilal then asked his younger brother to join the group, according to Muhammad Bilal's plea petition.
According to an associate of Ahmed Bilal's, Muhammad Bilal was reluctant to leave to fight in Afghanistan because he had a new baby. The associate said that his older brother persuaded him to do so after speaking to him at great length and "manipulating Islamic scriptures to make him think it was the right thing to do."
The associate, whose statements appear in an arrest affidavit for Hawash, was not quoted by name. She was interviewed by the FBI in March 2002.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The evil ones are busy around the world. Interesting developments on the North Korean explosion involving Syria. I pinged you to that thread. Link here:

Ryongchon Explosion Occurred While Transporting Military Cargo? (Syria, WMD Connection)

And a Mosque in Karachi had an explosion killing a number of Shiites. I posted that thread:

13 Killed, Others Hurt in Pakistan Bombing

And there may be more evidence of an Atta 9/11 connection with Saddam:

New evidence of Saddam link to 9-11: records indicate Atta meeting with Iraqi official in Prague

[blackie]

Death to all terrorists and to their supporters ~ Hang 'em High!

We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists, democrats and the mainstream media are sad ~ very sad!

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

[Poohbah]

Oregon Man Arrested in Spain Bombings Probe

His fingerprints are all over the bag...but he's never been to Madrid.

He just happens to be a Muslim, and just happens to have represented the Portland al-Qaeda members as their attorney.

Purely coincidental, I'm sure.