Pacific Centre mall photographers find sympathy on social media

The two men and one youth who gained unwanted attention after taking photographs and video ofadowntown Vancouver mall haveplenty of sympathizers online.

On Saturday, the topic trended both onFacebook and Twitter in Vancouverasusers expressedoutrage about what they described as the racial profiling ofMohammed Sharaz,SalahuddinSharazand Mohammed Kareem.

Mohammed Sharaz,one of the three men who were identified as British tourists,reacted positively to the public's concern but less so to how media outlets handled the incident.

"I've got nocomplaints becauseI've been reading comments online. Most of the people,90 per cent,have actually understood what's happened," said Sharaz.

"The problem is when [media] publishedour photosnaively or whatever, as soon as wesaw the pictures, our faces are not blurred out.I've got a child that's 14 years-old ... it's going to cause him some trauma."

Images of the three menwere released Thursday evening by an online publicationfollowing theleak of ainternal policebulletinwhich described three "Middle-Eastern looking" men but was never meant to be made public.

'Sad moment' for Canada

Later when the three British tourists were cleared of any wrongdoing, userspointed to adouble standard the men were subjected to because of their skin tone.

"Iwork near Pacific Centre, and walk through there quite often,"saidTee Bex, who is listed as being fromAbbotsford, B.C.

"Taking photos inside of it is common, but most people wouldn't bat an eye about a story of fourBrazilian or Chinese tourists taking photos."

Another user, Jenna Marion, reflected on what she foundto be a"sad moment" for Canada.

"I wish I could apologize to those men for the way they were profiled and spoken about," she said.

On Friday, VPD Chief Adam Palmer defended the description of the men as standard practise for anyone police are looking for.

"We release that all the time," he said at the time. "It's as simple as that."

Some were upset that media outlets across the city, including CBC, initially posted non-blurredimages of the men.

Others specifically faultedthe online publication that broke the newslate Thursday.

"I'm pointing directly atVancity Buzzfor stirring up controversy.How their headline went from 'three Middle Eastern men' to 'three men' once the tourists came forward," saidVancouver's IanBryce on his Facebook page.

"It's disgusting that these people were profiled and had to 'out' themselves to stay safe."

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Vancity Buzz editor in chief Farhan Mohamed said his team published the story because it was in the public interest and when contacted to confirm details of the leaked memo, police did not ask them not to run the story.

Jan O'Hara admitted on herFacebook page that she initially shared a link about the police search because it was "worth passing on".

After learning of their innocence, like many others, she clarified the concern may have been overstated.

Otheronline chatteralso called for police to look into the source of the leak.

Palmer says thatwould be challengingas the internal bulletin was sent out to thousands of police officers and civilian staff.