PORTLAND - Brandon and Mona Mayfield said at first they had a sensation that they were being followed. Then there were the physical signs.

Little things were askew in their Beaverton home - previously unbolted doors were left bolted, closed blinds would be partially open and there were footprints on a newly vacuumed carpet in a home where, by custom, no one wears shoes.

The Mayfields didn't know then that FBI had been there, building a case to link Brandon to one of Europe's most horrific terror acts in years.

Brandon Mayfield was mistakenly arrested in May 2004 in connection with the deadly Madrid train bombings. He was later released when the FBI said it had misidentified a fingerprint. And on Wednesday, the Oregon attorney and his family settled their financial suit against the government for $2 million.

“The pain and torture and humiliation that this (case) has caused my family is hard to put into words,” Mayfield, a Muslim convert, said at a news conference after the settlement was announced. Mona was at his side.

“The days, weeks and months following my arrest were some of the darkest we have had to endure.”

Although the U.S. government has apologized, the Mayfields said they'll always feel the pain of the ordeal.

“Government agents came into my home, bugged my home, tapped my phone lines and terrified my family, simply because we are Muslim,” said Mona Mayfield.

“(We) have to live everyday with mistrust and paranoia now,” she said. “No amount of money is ever going to solve that.”

The Mayfields will continue to fight the constitutionality of the Patriot Act, which they say was used in the investigation.

“I look forward to the day the Patriot Act is declared unconstitutional, and all citizens are safe from unwarranted arrest and searches by the federal government,” 40-year-old Brandon Mayfield said in a written statement earlier Wednesday.

The U.S. Justice Department has said there was no misuse of the Patriot Act during the Mayfield investigation.

The FBI has said its lab improperly identified the fingerprint. But in the settlement, the federal government states it does not admit liability or fault.

The Mayfields said the settlement, which will primarily go to attorney costs, provides some resolution. But their pursuit of the Patriot Act was not an issue they were willing to settle.

Mayfield argues that the Patriot Act violates the Fourth Amendment because it allows government searches without probable cause that a crime has been committed.

“The Patriot Act is decidedly not patriotic,” said Elden Rosenthal, Mayfield's attorney. “We will vigorously pursue this constitutional challenge to the highest courts in the country.”

The FBI disagreed that Mayfield's religion was a factor, because his faith wasn't discovered until after the fingerprint identification, said Robert Jordan, who heads up the Portland FBI division.

“Of course we regret what happened to Mr. Mayfield, but again, we are proud of what we did here,” Jordan said.

The Mayfields and their attorneys spoke out stridently against several steps the government has made in the fight against terror, saying civil liberties are being violated.

“I know ... what happens when a government stops following the basic rules of law and decides that national security as the government defines it is more important than the rights and securities of the individuals in the country,” Rosenthal said. “That is what happened in Germany in the 1930s and that is what is happening right now, unless we the people - Jew, Muslim, Christian - stand up as one and say we are what is important about the security of our country.”

For the Mayfields, they say the fear and distrust may not ever be stilled.

They say the government has not told them where bugging devices were placed in their home. They do not know what private moments the government may have listened in on. When their fax machine stopped working on Wednesday, Brandon said he gave a second thought as to why.

“I don't ever think they can ever make us whole again,” Mayfield said. “If (the government is) really sincere, let's make steps to make sure it never happens again.”

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Associated Press writers Anne M. Peterson in Portland and Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington contributed to this report.