Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the U.S. government put Muslim communities under siege, resorting to highly publicized arrests to promote its "War on Terror.” 

On 10/04/2002 Patrice  Lumumba Ford was arrested along with 3 other suspects of the Portland Seven in Portland, Oregon. He was accused of traveling overseas in a conspiracy to wage war against the United States, provide material support and resources to Al Qaeda and contribute services to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Lumumba, the last to plead, refused to further the “war on terror” by helping with any more prosecutions. For that refusal, in November 2003, he was given a sentence of 18 years on conspiracy charges as one of the "Portland Seven." By way of enhancing his sentence, the Bureau of Prisons has been lodging him in a series of maximum security prisons.