Racial Profiling, Reality, and Taking Time to Think

Looks like law enforcement is taking investigation of the two young men caught speeding, with explosives in their car, near a Naval base, one step at a time. "2 charged with pipe bombs near Navy base," in the Boston Globe, reports that, after a few days, a joint state-federal investigation hasn't found a link to terrorism.

A representative for another group was able to reach a conclusion much more quickly. "Definitely this is not related to terrorism," said Ahmed Bedier of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The driver and passenger who were pulled over may just be a couple of daft young men. On the other hand, repeating from a previous post, here's what South Carolina police had to deal with:

• A speeding car
• Near a military base with a connection to foreign combatants
• Contains
• Two men of military age
• A laptop they tried to hide
• An explosive device
• The men can't say why they are there
• The men can't say where they're going

I'm no expert, but that looks a little suspicious. No matter who the young men are. My sincere hope is that 'reverse racial profiling' won't happen, where suspicious activity is given a pass, for fear of incurring the wrath of civil rights activists.

Hasty accusations of racial profiling do happen. Before information about the pipe bombs was released, the executive director of a civil rights organization for Muslims in Tampa criticized the arrest as racial profiling.

To be fair, Ahmed Bedier has acknowledged that "If it's clearly a pipe bomb that's a different story. Then there is cause for concern," which sounds reasonable. On the other hand, I haven't seen that he's withdrawn his charge of racial profiling. Certainly not in his blog.