Debate Swirls Around 2 Men on a Ferry

You cannot start accusing men with a Middle Eastern appearance of being terrorists simply because they exhibit "suspicious" behaviour. It is a sad statement on our society that a population group in America is being treated with such suspicion. It is reminiscent of the treatment of Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor. Then again, this is Bush's America:

Earlier this summer a concerned crew member of a Washington State ferry boat snapped pictures of two men who had raised suspicions on several ferry rides by asking questions about structural details and entering areas of the boats that are off limits.

Now, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation released two photographs of the men to the public with the goal of identifying them, a debate has erupted over alleged racial profiling, one ferry was shut down briefly this week and the men, while suddenly familiar faces, remain unidentified.

The FBI was wrong in making these pictures public asking for help in finding the individuals. These individuals are being treated as criminals without them committing a crime. What they should've done is to increase surveillance and do some investigations to see if there is something to be concerned about. These individuals are being stigmatized:

“We have some promising leads that have come in since we published the pictures,” said Larry Carr, a special agent with the Seattle field office of the F.B.I. The agency released the images on Monday.

The pictures show two men with dark hair and olive skin standing beside a ferry deck railing overlooking the water. Their hands are in their pockets. Their eyes look toward the camera. In a statement released that day, the agency said the men had “exhibited unusual behavior.” The behavior “may have been innocuous,” the agency said, but law enforcement “would like to resolve these reports.”

The F.B.I. has emphasized that the men are not suspects in a crime and that no threats have been made to the ferry system. But two days after the pictures were released, one ferry, the Puyallup, was shut down for an hour at the main Seattle terminal. Officials said an object found in a men’s bathroom during a routine security sweep prompted the action. The object turned out not to be dangerous, and it was not linked to the two men.