Portland
Federal authorities have apologized to an Oregon lawyer detained in connection with the March train bombings that killed 191 people in Spain. Brandon Mayfield, a 37-year-old Muslim convert, was arrested after a fingerprint found on a bag apparently left behind by the bombers was traced to him. Police have since determined that the print belonged to an Algerian man. FBI officials released Mayfield and made a rare official apology. Mayfield, 37, described his two weeks in jail as a “harrowing” and “humiliating” ordeal, and he and his family accused investigators of targeting him because he was a Muslim. “This was a complete witch hunt,” said Mayfield’s brother Kent.
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