FBI seeks help Two out of four of Hawaii's county police departments report they have not been asked to question Middle Eastern immigrants about terrorist activity, as have other police departments across the nation.
finding terrorists
2 of 4 Hawaii police
departments have been asked
to question immigrantsBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comAccording to federal prosecutors in Portland, Ore., the Justice Department requested their police department's assistance in tracking down a national list of about 5,000 men to question about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"The whole idea was to take the load off the FBI," said Oregon U.S. Attorney Michael Mosman yesterday.
Acting Portland Police Chief Andrew Kirkland declined the request to help because it may violate his state law, and he said police in other cities have the same doubts.
Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue would not comment yesterday about whether his department had seen the list, and said only that "we would consider any request while making sure that all rights of our citizens are upheld."
Kauai's Acting Police Chief Willie Ihu said through county spokeswoman Beth Tokioka that he "did not want to comment on this specific list," though the department "has been working with the Department of Justice to support their efforts."
On Maui, Police Chief Tom Phillips said: "We have not been asked to investigate anyone solely based on any nationality. ... I'd be very surprised if that happened here."
However, Phillips did say that "if they (FBI) developed suspects and asked for help, we would help them."
A spokesman for Hawaii County police Maj. Charles Chai said yesterday that the department had also "not been asked" by the Justice Department to round up suspects from any terrorist list. Hawaii County Police Chief James S. Correa was off island yesterday and unavailable for comment.
In Portland, Mosman defended Kirkland, saying he "had the right to disagree" when he refused the Justice Department request.
"It's not illegal, and I think that the premise has merit," Mosman said. "But I'm supportive of their right to decide not to do this particular task."
In San Francisco, police spokesman Jim Deignan said there had been no formal FBI request for help from the city, but "we'll cooperate with the federal authorities."
In Minneapolis, police spokeswoman Cyndi Montgomery said the police chief would look closely at any request to help with interviews. "The department hasn't made a decision as to whether such interviews might conflict with racial profiling policies," she said.
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), said Congress has become more concerned about civil liberties as it has stepped up its battle against terrorists.
"This is a continuation of a very troubling trend," Blumenauer said. "It's a little hard to put a nice face on it."
He noted that Portland has a World War II memorial to Japanese Americans interned in prison camps because of their racial heritage, and warned against repeating such mistakes.
"It's something that Oregonians, particularly people in Portland, are very conscious of," Blumenauer said. "And it has nothing to do with anybody being soft on terrorism."
FBI officials in Honolulu could not verify whether anyone in Hawaii was on the Justice Department's list.
"I don't think this has surfaced here yet," said FBI spokeswoman Pam McCullough.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
