Security profiling renders individual conduct irrelevant once group affiliation is established

Evidence

Since going to Afghanistan to a training camp is now the mark of a terrorist, how Mr Almrei fits this profile as an individual hardly matters. Almrei is simply likely to engage in terrorist activities because of his past religious affiliations and geographical history. Unlike the IRA (whose members are characterized as motivated by a political objective), Al Qaeda is a ‘religious and ideological movement,’ in Layden-Steven-son’s words. ‘The ultimate goal is the takeover of the world by Islam. While that may sound a little fantastic and hyperbolic, essentially, it does come down to the eradication of the infidel and the creation of a puritan form of Islam for the world.’ — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 116

Categorization

• XREF: This is the same logic as ‘the profile is the crime’ reasoning in stop-and-frisk and racial profiling literature — connects to Razack’s broader argument and to Goodwin’s work on suspicion.
• QUESTION: Worth investigating: how did the IRA comparison function rhetorically — as a contrast that legitimizes treating political motivation differently from ‘religious’ motivation?