Pakistani man's motive behind videotapes still unclear

Greensboro News and Record ^

[AppyPappy]

CHARLOTTE (AP) — The 60-story Bank of America tower in Charlotte. The Texas governor's mansion. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. The Downtown Transit Center in Houston and trolleys in Dallas and New Orleans.

All those landmarks and others were included in footage found in a video camera seized from a Pakistani citizen who was arrested in Charlotte while filming the downtown skyline, including the Bank of America headquarters and a 32-story skyscraper where the local FBI has its offices.

Akhtar entered the United States from Tijuana, Mexico, in 1991, according to immigration records. He told a judge Tuesday that he was born in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, and he has a wife and three children in New York.

[Rutles4Ever]

Would it be more clear if he was wearing a ski mask?

[theDentist]

NOT to the liberal Press. In fact, unless they saw their own buildings (where their newpaper is printed each day, where they wedge their fat butts into chairs) on the video, they'll still just believe it's a Paki with a fixation on western architecture.

[AmericanChef]

Nobody in their right mind would take pictures of public transportation - lock him up!

[monday]

"Nobody in their right mind would take pictures of public transportation - lock him up!"

lol...there are going to be a lot of rail buffs in prison if you get your way.

I expect this guy is a terrorist wannabe, but unless they can tie him to known terrorists, taking pictures isn't a crime. He is in the country illegally so in the end he will be kicked out.

If he really is innocent, he is stone cold stupid. Being Pakistani, his taping of buildings and public transportation is like holding a sign over his head saying "I am an Islamic terrorist, please arrest me!"

[Sacajaweau]

Wife and kids in NY!! Hmmm...So when NY became a no go, they went in an opposite direction?? or is that just what they want us to think?

[siunevada]

A review of Akhtar's immigration file found he did not have a green card, which signifies permanent residence status, and was in the country illegally.

Golly, what a shock.

"Your honor, I am a simple man from Pakistan who has no need to work for a living and I enjoy travelling around this country taking pictures of buildings. Large buildings with many people in them. And buildings which are symbolically significant to the citizens of this country. It's a very simple story."