The annual Christmas tree lighting event in downtown Portland at Pioneer Square is always a blast, but one guy wanted to make it even more memorable. Oddly, it seems that he wanted to leave the country after making one last phone call, but was persuaded to stay for the extended festivities.
Paging Tom Potter:
This city is expected today to become the first in the nation to pull out of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, following a series of disagreements between Portland leaders and federal investigators.
Mayor Tom Potter and several city commissioners, frustrated by the FBI’s refusal to grant them full access to classified information, say the withdrawal will signal Portland’s commitment to the protection of individual civil rights.
Portland "mayor" Sam Adams, of course, knew nothing until after the arrest:
Mayor Sam Adams was not told about the suspected plot to bomb the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Pioneer Courthouse Square until after a suspect had been arrested Friday night.
Adams says he is confident that federal, state and local law enforcement officials handled the situation well, however, and that Portlanders were never in danger.
“This is an international terrorism investigation that was top secret and all but a select circle knew about it,” Adams told the Portland Tribune Saturday morning.
In other words, everybody but him knew about it.
