Then you are ignorant
Well wait a minute: Was it a man or a woman wearing the niqab? Robber or devout Muslim female?
If it was the former, the identification dilemma persists and from that perspective, it is no different. Behind that motorcycle helmet could be a robber or an innocent rider. Policy is to have him remove his helmet just in case.
The fact that they cared about the motorcycle helmet but didn't seem to care about the niqab suggests one (or more) of several possibilities:
- they have not yet been robbed by someone wearing a niqab
- they have been robbed by someone wearing a motorcycle helmet
- they're discriminating on cultural or religious lines (i.e. they're okay with their "own kind" but not white dudes)
No matter what, I suspect they'll change their tune when they're robbed at gun or knifepoint by a guy disguising himself with a niqab (and it will happen, someday...)