FBI says men in ferry photo were innocent sightseers

[Newsjock]

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The FBI has called off a global manhunt for two men who looked Middle Eastern and were spotted snapping pictures and demonstrating "suspicious behavior" on a Washington ferry last summer.

The men appeared at a U.S. embassy two weeks ago and identified themselves as European business consultants who were on a trip to Seattle, FBI officials said Monday.

Special Agent in Charge Laura Laughlin said the men took a couple of days off in the middle of the July visit and decided to ride a car ferry. They took photos to show relatives back home, she said.

FBI agents have seen the photos and found them to be innocuous, as was the pair's business activities, according to Laughlin.

... The decision to release the photos was controversial, in part because some news organizations chose not to publish them. The Seattle P-I ruled out publication, citing civil liberties and privacy concerns, which editors felt outweighed the newsworthiness of the images.

... The FBI, in a statement issued Monday, thanked "the many media organizations worldwide that published the photographs and ultimately played a prominent role in resolving this matter, allowing the investigative resources of the multiple law enforcement agencies to be redirected to other important matters."

Read more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/361872_ferryterror06.html

[truthisfreedom]

1. Taking photos while Middle Eastern has become more dangerous than driving while Black!

[libodem]

2. What a beautiful analogy

well put

[saigon68]

10. Ah yes---- DWB

Good way to get killed in "Certain Places"

[EmeraldCityGrl]

3. I just saw this story on the local news and it's revolting.

KING5 news reported, "the men did not "turn themselves in" sooner because they were afraid." Who wouldn't be? Their pictures were plastered all over the news for days with the only distinction being one or both could have possibly been Middle Eastern. Passengers on the ferry were holding up their cell phones taking pictures of them. This is becoming a disgusting place to be from.

[Ian David]

7. What? They didn't think they would have gotten a fair and speedy trial?

Oh, I forgot.

This isn't America anymore.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

4. somebody called security on me...

taking photos of pre-existing body damage to a rental car at the Phoenix airport!

[Ian David]

6. I take photos at the airport every time I go. So I remember where I parked my car. n/t

[yellowcanine]

9. Hey that is a great idea. Never thought of that.....

Get the pic with date and time right on there. Good thinking. This terra crap is getting out of hand.

[Hissyspit]

5. Harold and Kumar Go To The Great Northwest

meet bunch of stupid Americans.

[LibDemAlways]

8. So they were "showing an inordinate interest in the

operation of shipboard systems." Who determined that?

One time I was on a cruise ship with my husband and he saw that some passengers had made arrangements to tour the ship's bridge. He was desperate to get up there, too. Why? Because he has more than a passing interest in shipbooard systems.

Perhaps those men did, too. What has this country come to that a group of visiting businessman can't take a ferry ride without setting off terrorism concerns? Pathetic.

[saigon68]

11. Yes one can't be too safe

</sarcasm>

[LibDemAlways]

12. You'll appreciate this one.

I had just returned from a vacation and was at a friend's house telling an airport security horror story. I had witnessed a 90 year old alzheimer's patient being roughed up by TSA while I was undergoing a bra feel-up in front of my 10 year old daughter, and needless to say I was still pissed.

There was another woman in the room I had never met before. When I finished my story, she said, in all sincerity, "Aren't you glad they are doing their job so diligently? After all, you and that other lady could have been terrorists." She meant it, too.

I laughed out loud and then shrugged it off. I determined long ago that the vast masses are not only sheep, they're morons.

[saigon68]

13. not only sheep, they're morons (Morans)

And they are voting today.

I hope the Chimp doesn't veto Hillary's gas tax roll back--

Not that Congress would pass it anyway