I saw a much harder-hitting report on KIRO 7 TV news last night. They didn't use hedging words, such as "appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent," they came right out quoting the sources as saying the men
were Middle Eastern, etc. This article is awash in mitigations that represent the pre-9/11 mentality in the US.
The article fails to mention some of the most key points I saw on the news, such as one of the men drove away in a car that had NO license plates.
I must say I sense a need for our local authorities to get themselves folded into some heavy-duty info exchanges, investigations, and action plans with the feds on this.
I think the ME men videotaping the ferry in SF Bay a couple of weeks ago (there's a thread on FR about it, somewhere, if only I could find it...) also left in a car w no license plate. All in all, very similar.