News As Portland city officials consider whether to rejoin the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, it's worth noting not all federal terrorism stings end like the Nov. 26 arrest here of Mohamed Osman Mohamud. The Washington Post had an interesting piece on Sunday about an anti-terrorism operation in Irvine, Calif., that went considerably less smoothly after the FBI tried to use a convicted forger to ...   More

News Portland City Council held its "good ol' fashioned town hall" meeting, as Mayor Sam Adams put it, last night to discuss the possibility of Portland renewing its membership with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. "Tonight is not about making decisions," Adams said. "Tonight is about making sure we're asking the right questions." The discussion whether to rejoin was prompted by the alleged ...   More

News   Two weeks after federal law enforcement officials said they foiled a terrorist attack in downtown Portland, Mayor Sam Adams has responded to calls for re-evaluating Portland’s relationship with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. In 2005, the City of Portland withdrew from the task force, and Adams, then a city commissioner, supported that move. His 2010 plan, released ...   More

News   U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder defended his agency’s use of stings to capture wanna-be terrorists in a speech Friday night to 300 U.S. Muslim leaders in California. The New York Times reported that Holder made specific reference to a Portland sting federal agents concluded against Mohamed Osman Mohamud over the Thanksgiving weekend. “Mr. Holder was given a standing ...   More

News The FBI today announced that Arthur Balizan, one of eight internal inspectors at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., has been appointed the new special agent in charge of the bureau's Portland office. Balizan has an interesting resume, including time in the 1990s spent fighting drug traffickers in Colombia. That was back before the U.S. effort there started going south under the Bush administration. The ...   More

News An update today to this week's Hey, Neighbor! item on the "River Rat." The FBI says the so-called River Rat robbed Chase Bank in Vancouver by gunpoint today, marking his seventh bank robbery in the last two months on both sides of the Columbia River (hence the "River Rat" nickname). The River Rat's list of past bank robberies include: Columbia State Bank, Portland- Aug. 7 Key Bank, Vancouver- ...   More

News The reward for any information leading to the capture of the “River Rat,” who has been robbing banks on both sides of the Columbia River, has been raised from $10,000 to $15,000. The FBI says witnesses to the River Rat's robberies describe the suspect as a white man in his 20s to mid 30s, 165 pounds, and with a medium build. He has been seen wearing a black athletic-style jacket ...   More

News Somebody at the FBI's Portland office has taken a good PR class. The agency is attaching nicknames to suspects that are like catnip to media. I mean, labeling a bank robbery suspect the "Chia Pet Bandit" because, as the FBI press release below says, "his hair can be spiky like the plant growth on the popular toy"? Brilliant. The FBI is asking for the public's assistance in identifying ...   More