US rules out racial profiling after NY plot

“I don’t think that profiling is good law enforcement,” US Attorney General Eric Holder told NBC news channel when asked if the US would go for racial profiling of Pakistani-Americans in view of the Times Square incident. His statement came amid reports that some Pakistani-Americans were posing as Indians following the incident to avert a backlash.

After the arrest of Faisal Shahzad, some members of the Pakistani diaspora had said they feared a backlash if they identify themselves as Pakistani-Americans. Ruling out any profiling based on nationality, Holder said law enforcement agencies would do better to identify people who are suspicious.

“You ought to pay attention to the person who you have a suspicion about,” Holder argued. “If you look at the arrests that we made in Pennsylvania of white women, those were people who were bound and determined to do something very negative and with regards to the United States.”