Three men and a lady

So, have you heard the one about the three men who were stopped in Florida after a woman in a restaurant overheard them talking about possible terrorist activity on Sept. 13th?

Well, it turns out the whole thing might have been a hoax, perpetrated by the three men in response to suspicious looks they were getting from another patron in the restaurant. So here's my question... will they still be prosecuted? Political correctness indicates they shouldn't, as it would simply reinforce the profiling stereotype for people of middle-eastern descent. But there are laws against screaming "FIRE" in a crowded theatre, and alluding to terrorist threats like this in a public forum must be akin to the former offence.

Hoax aside, I am trying to come to grips with ALL the prior news reports that claim that bomb-sniffing dogs, called to the scene where the men were detained, reported positive hits on both vehicles!

Does that mean that the overzealous press contributed to this fiasco by reporting false information about the dogs? Or is there more to this story that has not yet surfaced. If there truly was no trace of explosive material, does that mean that the dogs can be "tricked" into registering false-positive indications, perhaps in response to the scent of fear or apprehension or (God forbid) culture-specific odours present in the vehicles?

This last point seems repugnant to imagine - that dogs might be doing their own form of "profiling". Let me share a short, loosely-related story... Prior to buying our house, my wife and I had occasion to visit several open houses. The homes were generally clean, with no clue as to the types of food normally consumed or the origin of the occupants (who were absent during the viewings). Yet, in a couple of homes owned by Indian (i.e. people from India) families, there was a distinct odour of curry in the home. Since there was no visible food, I had to assume the odour came from the carpeting, furniture, or other fabric that retained the scent. So, back to the dogs... Might it be possible that the dogs were reacting to a scent in the car's fabric that, while not being "explosive material" per se, may have been reminiscent of scents that were present in other vehicles where explosive material had been located?

I guess it's time to start training police dogs to be more politically correct!