Being a security researcher or journalist doesn't give you a license to put the public in physical danger.
I can't wait for the pathetic outrage when "racial profiling" now means harassing white kids with laptops that fit the profile of hacker.
This is a matter for a company like Google to take on politically, not some beat cop in St. Louis of all places.
Why not engage the FBI? This is not an issue specific to St. Louis. Throwing some researchers in jail solves nothing. This is a way bigger deal than some local offense.
You need an agency with the ability to see the bigger picture.
This basically suggests thousands of cars could be driven off the road and deliberately crashed right now. I'd say that's a threat that they need to deal with at the national level on an immediate basis.
Would you rather wait for a malicious actor like North Korea to get involved before the FBI makes a move?
What I'm trying to say is I'd rather the FBI gets involved and works with these researchers to develop an expedient fix for this problem than some beat cop in St. Louis to bust them and throw them in jail where they help nobody and the threat remains extremely grave.