Patrice Lumumba Ford is a resident of Portland, Oregon, who made headlines in late 2002 when he, and several of his friends were arrested on suspicions of terrorism and treason for an alleged plot to aid the Taliban.
Ford, who has also gone by the name "Patrick L. Ford", grew up with a fairly normal existence in Portland. Although both of his parents were members of the Black Panther Party, he attended the prestigious (and mostly white) Lincoln High School, Morehouse College, and also underwent training in the even more prestigious Portland State University Chinese Language program. At some point, in the 1990's, he learned about the Islamic faith, and eventually became an orthodox Muslim. Despite having radical views, he was an intern for the very unradical mayor of Portland, Vera Katz, although his position was terminated several years before his arrest due to an "incident".
The act of treason for which he was arrested, along with his alleged co-conspirators, "The Portland Six" is a little hazy. According to the government, he masterminded the scheme of going to Afghanistan to fight against the United States Army, and in addition gave financial support to several suspect organization. However, even according to the allegations, he never got closer to Afghanistan than Xinjiang, and the money he funneled only came to a few thousand dollars. As such, it seems that the arrest, even if it was true, is merely a Dog and Pony show to catch someone with vague terroristic plans, and not an attempt to crack down on a hardened fighting cell.
However, since Ford is still awaiting trial, it remains to be seen what the true facts of the case are.