Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed and Yousef Samir Megahed

Mohamed and Megahed (Photo: Gateway Pundit)

Is this racial profiling?

Ahmed Bedier of the Council on American-Islamic Relations thinks it is.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. -- Two men found with several pipe bombs in their car near a Navy base were charged Monday with possession of an explosive device, authorities said.

A joint state-federal investigation was under way to see whether there was any terrorism connection, said FBI spokeswoman Denise Taiste, but no link had been found. The Navy base is the site of a brig where enemy combatants have been held.

Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed, 24, and Yousef Samir Megahed, 21, both students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, were driving through the area on Saturday to vacation at a North Carolina beach for Mohamed's birthday, their defense attorney said.

"They admitted to having what they said were fireworks. Based on the officer's judgment at hand, based on what he had seen, we judged it to be other than fireworks," Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt said.

Mohamed, 24, said he made devices from items he bought at Wal-Mart, according to an affidavit with his arrest warrant.

Defense attorney Dennis Rhoad said the men have a reason for having the devices and it would become clear in later court hearings.

"The defendants deny the allegations the state and the sheriff have made against them," Rhoad said.

What could possibly be their reason for having the "devices"?

That's a tough question. I guess we'll have to wait until court hearings are held to clear up the confusion.

...The two men were stopped for speeding Saturday night on U.S. Highway 176 near Goose Creek, which is the site of the Naval Weapons Station and houses the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig, a military prison where enemy combatants have been held.

They were heading west, away from Goose Creek, when they were pulled over about seven miles from the sprawling Navy facility, police said.

Officers became suspicious because the men quickly put away a laptop computer and couldn't immediately say what they were doing in the area or where they were going, DeWitt said.

A deputy then found what he thought were explosives in the 2000 Toyota Camry and called the bomb squad. Technicians confirmed the devices were pipe bombs and destroyed them, according to sworn statements in the arrest warrants.

Racial profiling?

Really?

I don't see it.

Mohamed and Megahed were driving around a naval base with pipe bombs and couldn't tell authorities why.

How is that racial profiling?

Technicians on the bomb squad didn't think the devices were fireworks. These people are experts. They know the difference between bombs and fireworks.

Is this a vast racial profiling conspiracy?

That's what CAIR claims.

That's ridiculous.

Mohamed and Megahed weren't targeted by law enforcement because of their race.

They were in possession of explosive devices and acted in a suspicious manner.

It appears that race is a factor here, but it's not racial profiling.

Apologists for Mohamed and Megahed appear to be playing the race card.

Very convenient.