Editorial
PORTLAND, Ore. — In 2005 the Portland City Council voted to pull out of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force – leaving not only Portland, but also the region, with a void of local engagement in investigating and preventing acts of terrorism.
That absence should end this week as the City Council considers a resolution that not only returns Portland police officers to the terrorism task force, but also sets a national model for ensuring that civil rights are protected and local and national laws are followed along the way.
If the City Council needs a reminder of why it is important to act, it need only consider a Beaverton-area resident’s plot late last year to detonate a bomb on the night of the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony at Pioneer Courthouse Square.
But in Portland – a community that seemingly fears imagined threats to civil rights more than the direct threat of terrorism – elected leaders often make strange choices.
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