The Seattle FBI has asked for the public’s assistance in locating two men “of interest” who have been acting strange on the local ferries. They notified the local press, and provided pictures of the two men, taken by a ferry employee, who was concerned by the “casing” these men were giving.

So, interesting. Even the excellent CounterTerrorism Blog provided a small write up of the request, noting that the request is “extremely rare”, but that after the local office contacted HQ back in Washington DC, they got the green light to enlist the public’s help.

Now comes the ironically named Seattle Post-Intelligencer with their refusal to publish the pictures along with the story:

The Seattle P-I is not publishing the photos because neither man is considered a suspect nor has either been charged with a crime.

Huh? Is this the same media that shows pictures of everything, including accident victims, school children, and upset citizens at the city council meetings? What possible reason is there to not provide the public with the best tool to identify the “men of interest”?

Managing Editor David McCumber explains his decision:

The FBI produces a picture of two men who indeed look like they could be Middle Eastern. Or Latino. Or Italian. Or any of several other nationalities/ethnicities. The FBI says the men have been seen on several ferries and seemed “overly interested in the workings and layout” of the ferries. They request help in getting information about them. They ask local media to run the photo.

What’s an editor to do?

Ferry security is hugely important.

So are civil liberties and privacy.

Last time I checked, the First Amendment provided the right for the media to publish the photos, as there is no expectation of privacy when you are in public. That’s why the Seattle Post-Maybe-Not-So-Intelligent newspaper can run all over town, flashbulbs-a-flashing, and print photos of the rest of us.

Michelle Malkin has a lively post on the issue, and includes some treatment of the newspaper’s Daily Haiku contest that touched on the controversy. Where they actually ask their readers to let them know what they think by putting their thoughts into a “three-line, 5-7-5 syllable bit of pop haiku”. Really, folks, I’m not making this up.

This kind of wimpy, milque-toast handwringing is probably not an effective counter-measure to fight the people who want to saw off our heads with dull knives.