Salon.com > Boston Marathon bombing

Salon.com > Boston Marathon bombing http://www.salon.com Wed, 03 Jul 2013 01:14:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Listen: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s mother plays prison phone call with son http://www.salon.com/2013/06/04/dzhokhar_tsarnaevs_mother_releases_prison_phone_call/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/04/dzhokhar_tsarnaevs_mother_releases_prison_phone_call/#comments Tue, 04 Jun 2013 13:34:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13316772 The U.K.'s Channel 4 News obtained, via Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's mother, the first recording of the Boston suspect's voice since the marathon bombing. In a phone call from prison, the 19-year-old tells his mother in Russian that he is eating well and in good health. She maintains her son is innocent, while the authorities state that the young suspect has already admitted responsibility for the bombings, both during (possibly admissible) questioning and in a missive reportedly scrawled inside a boat where he hid from the authorities.

Via Channel 4:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/04/dzhokhar_tsarnaevs_mother_releases_prison_phone_call/feed/ 12 Todashev father decries son’s death at FBI hands http://www.salon.com/2013/05/30/todashev_father_decries_sons_death_at_fbi_hands/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/30/todashev_father_decries_sons_death_at_fbi_hands/#comments Thu, 30 May 2013 18:45:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13313036 Abdul-Baki Todashev, father of Ibragim Todashev -- shot dead by an FBI agent while being questioned about his connection to late Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev -- is calling for an investigation into his son's death. He claimed during a Moscow press conference Thursday that the FBI agents killed his son "execution-style" and he displayed a series of gruesome photos, allegedly showing six gunshot wounds in his son's torso and one in the back of his head. As noted earlier, officials have stated that contrary to early reports, the 27-year-old Chechen was not armed when he reportedly launched at the agents. The AP noted that the photographs have note been authenticated. The photos were reportedly taken by his son's friend, Khusen Taramov.

In the days following Todashev's death, Taramov told the press of his shock and anger.

The AP noted:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/30/todashev_father_decries_sons_death_at_fbi_hands/feed/ 4 Tsarnaev friend shot by FBI was not armed http://www.salon.com/2013/05/30/tsarnaev_friend_shot_by_fbi_was_not_armed/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/30/tsarnaev_friend_shot_by_fbi_was_not_armed/#comments Thu, 30 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13312647 Ibragim Todashev, 27, a Chechen immigrant and acquaintance of Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot dead by an FBI agent while being questioned about his connections to the late Boston bombing suspect. Initial reports indicated that the man had launched at agents with a knife, but officials have now stated that the man was unarmed. His friends and family members have responded to his death with anger and suspicion, nothing the Todashev had been cooperating with the authorities.

According to reports, the night before his shooting Todashev, who knew Tsarnaev through mixed martial arts training, had admitted to agents that he and the Boston suspect were responsible for a 2011 triple murder, believed to be over a drug deal. Via the Washington Post:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/30/tsarnaev_friend_shot_by_fbi_was_not_armed/feed/ 25 Before FBI shooting man implicated self, Tsarnaev in triple murder http://www.salon.com/2013/05/23/before_fbi_shooting_man_implicated_self_tsarnaev_in_triple_murder/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/23/before_fbi_shooting_man_implicated_self_tsarnaev_in_triple_murder/#comments Thu, 23 May 2013 11:47:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13306664 Question marks hang over the shooting by an FBI agent in Orlando Wednesday of a young Chechen man with connections to the late Boston bombing suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. According to CBS, during questioning on Tuesday night Ibragim Todashev implicated himself and the elder Tsarnaev brother -- his friend through mixed martial arts -- in a 2011 triple murder. Meanwhile, friends of Todashev are demanding answers about his death, as early reports that the Chechen immigrant had a knife with which he threatened an agent have come under scrutiny.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/23/before_fbi_shooting_man_implicated_self_tsarnaev_in_triple_murder/feed/ 18 Florida man with connection to Tsarnaev killed by FBI http://www.salon.com/2013/05/22/florida_man_with_connection_to_tsarnaev_killed_by_fbi/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/22/florida_man_with_connection_to_tsarnaev_killed_by_fbi/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 11:44:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13305386 According to NBC's local affiliate in Orlando Wednesday, a 27-year-old man shot dead in Florida by an FBI agent had connections to the Boston bombing suspects. Ibragim Todashev was reportedly being interviewed about his links to the elder Tsarnaev brother, Tamerlan, when he attacked the agent and was shot.

A friend of the suspect, Khusn Taramiv, said his friend, 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev, was being investigated as part of the Boston bombings and knew Tsarnaev because both were MMA fighters.

Taramiv claims he and Todashev were interviewed by the FBI for nearly three hours on Tuesday.

"(The FBI) took me and my friend, the suspect that got killed. They were talking to us, both of us, right? And they said they need him for a little more, for a couple more hours, and I left, and they told me they’re going to bring him back. They never brought him back," Taramiv said.

"He felt inside he was going to get shot," Taramiv said about Todashev. "I told him, 'Everything is going to be fine, don't worry about it.' He said, 'I have a really bad feeling.'"

Taramiv said he left the interview and when he came back to the apartments he found that there had been a shooting.

"I was completely shocked. I still can’t believe it, you know what I mean?" he said.

Investigations into the Boston Marathon bombing, and particularly Tamerlan Tsarnaev's possible terror links around the world, are ongoing. Next week Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., will lead a bipartisan delegation to Russia to seek answers about why warnings about Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev failed to capture the attention of U.S. authorities.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/22/florida_man_with_connection_to_tsarnaev_killed_by_fbi/feed/ 24 Dzhokhar left note in boat blaming U.S. wars http://www.salon.com/2013/05/16/dzhokhar_left_note_in_boat_blaming_u_s_wars/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/16/dzhokhar_left_note_in_boat_blaming_u_s_wars/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13300262 According to sources, Dhzokhar Tsarnaev scrawled a message on the inside of the boat in which he hid from police, claiming responsibility for the Boston Marathon bombing. The message may serve as admissible evidence, containing similar content to comments the suspect gave investigators before he was read his Miranda rights. CBS reported:

Scrawled with a pen on the interior wall of the cabin, said the bombings were retribution U.S. military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, and called the Boston victims collateral damage in the way Muslims have been in the American-led wars. "When you attack one Muslim, you attack all Muslims," the note added.

Via CBS:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/16/dzhokhar_left_note_in_boat_blaming_u_s_wars/feed/ 15 FBI kept Russian warning on Tsarnaev from Boston police http://www.salon.com/2013/05/09/fbi_kept_russian_warning_on_tsarnaev_from_boston_police/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/09/fbi_kept_russian_warning_on_tsarnaev_from_boston_police/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 19:39:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13294041 As was revealed during Thursday's congressional hearing on the Boston marathon bombings, the FBI never passed on to the Boston police the 2011 warning issued from Russia about the elder Tsarnaev brother, Tamerlan. As the New York Times reported:

Police Commissioner Edward Davis said that though some of his officers worked with the F.B.I. on a joint terrorism task force, they did not know about the Russian tip or the bureau’s subsequent inquiry, which involved an interview with Mr. Tsarnaev and his parents.

Had his department learned about the Russian tip, “we would certainly look at the individual,” Commissioner Davis told the House Homeland Security Committee.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/09/fbi_kept_russian_warning_on_tsarnaev_from_boston_police/feed/ 7 Investigators focus on Tsarnaev’s Russia trip http://www.salon.com/2013/05/09/investigators_focus_on_tsarnaevs_russia_trip/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/09/investigators_focus_on_tsarnaevs_russia_trip/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 13:06:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13293648 Investigators trying to piece together motive and meaning behind the Boston marathon bombings are looking closely at the six months Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the deceased suspect, spent in Russia last year. The 26-year-old who died in a police shout-out is believed to have possible made a number of contacts in Dagestan "from days he might have spent in a fundamentalist Salafi mosque in Makhachkala, the capital, to time spent outside the city with a relative who is a prominent Islamist leader recently taken into custody by Russian authorities," the New York Times noted Thursday.

Via the Times:

It remains unclear to what degree his months in Russia, which were punctuated by volleys of punishing attacks between the police and insurgents, might have changed his plans. But an official here, who said he did not have enough information to confirm or deny reports of Mr. Tsarnaev’s contacts, said he had concluded that Mr. Tsarnaev intended to link up with militant Islamists — but left frustrated, having failed.

“My presumed theory is that he evidently came here, he was looking for contacts, but he did not find serious contacts, and if he did, they didn’t trust him,” said Habib Magomedov, a member of Dagestan’s antiterrorism commission.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/09/investigators_focus_on_tsarnaevs_russia_trip/feed/ 0 DNA on Boston explosive doesn’t match Tsarnaev’s widow http://www.salon.com/2013/05/03/dna_on_boston_explosive_doesnt_match_tsarnaevs_widow/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/03/dna_on_boston_explosive_doesnt_match_tsarnaevs_widow/#comments Fri, 03 May 2013 18:24:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13289000 The female DNA and fingerprints found on a piece of one of the Boston marathon explosives does not match those of Katherine Russell, the 24-year-old widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Russell had been under suspicion following the discovery of female DNA, but her lawyers insist she had "no inkling" of the marathon plot and she has reportedly been cooperating with the FBI. However, John Miller, a former assistant FBI director, told "CBS This Morning" that the woman remains central to the ongoing investigation:

What continues to puzzle the FBI about Russell is what she knew and when, if anything, Miller said. "What they really want to know from her is, you know, here's a woman who dated Tamerlan, who converted to Islam after they were married, who ... lived in the same apartment -- not a big apartment -- where bombs were being constructed and pressure cookers were being bought two or three at a time," Miller said. "They want to know, 'Is it possible all of this was going on concealed from you, or did you know it the whole time?'"

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/03/dna_on_boston_explosive_doesnt_match_tsarnaevs_widow/feed/ 4 Dzhokhar’s ex-fling speaks about his friendships http://www.salon.com/2013/05/03/dzhokhars_ex_fling_speaks_about_his_friendships/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/03/dzhokhars_ex_fling_speaks_about_his_friendships/#comments Fri, 03 May 2013 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13288810 As is typical when perpetrators of massacres are identified, the media rush to piece together information about the private lives of the suspects -- reaching out to family members, friends and even fleeting former lovers. A woman, speaking anonymously, told her mother she had a "fleeting fling" with the 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was "idolized" by his group of Russian- speaking friends. When the woman lived in the same UMass–Dartmouth dorm as the bombing suspect she also met his three friends charged with obstructing the investigation into the marathon attacks by removing evidence for Tsarnaev's room. Via Mother Jones:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/03/dzhokhars_ex_fling_speaks_about_his_friendships/feed/ 4 Tsarnaev texted friends “LOL” after bombing http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/tsarnaev_texted_friends_lol_after_bombing/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/tsarnaev_texted_friends_lol_after_bombing/#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 16:24:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13287756 Details have emerged about the actions of three friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, all of whom were charged Wednesday with covering up evidence to obstruct the investigation. Two Kazakh students -- Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov -- and a U.S. citizen, Robel Phillipos, all 19, are alleged to have removed Tsarnaev's laptop and a backpack containing fireworks from his dorm room, placing the incriminating items into a dumpster. Via the Guardian:

According to the criminal complaint against Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov, the pair recognised Tsarnaev from pictures released by the authorities four days after the attack. Kadyrbayev is said to have told FBI agents that then he sent text messages to Tsarnaev, who replied "Lol", "You better not text me", and "Come to my room and take whatever you want."

The complaint alleges the Kazakh pair then went with Phillipos to Tsarnaev's dorm room at Pine Dale Hall. They were let in by Tsarnaev's unnamed roommate, who told them Tsarnaev had left some hours earlier.

The FBI says the accused men described how, while watching a movie in the room, they noticed a backpack containing seven red tubes of fireworks, emptied of their explosive powder. Kadyrbayev, by now sure of Tsarnaev's involvement in the bombings, admitted to agents that he decided to remove the backpack "in order to help his friend Tsarnaev avoid trouble".

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/tsarnaev_texted_friends_lol_after_bombing/feed/ 22 Police, politicians push for increased surveillance post-Boston http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/police_politicians_push_for_increased_surveillance_post_boston_ap/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/police_politicians_push_for_increased_surveillance_post_boston_ap/#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 04:06:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13287739 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Police and politicians across the U.S. are pointing to the example of surveillance video that was used to help identify the Boston Marathon bombing suspects as a reason to get more electronic eyes on their streets.

From Los Angeles to Philadelphia, efforts include trying to gain police access to cameras used to monitor traffic, expanding surveillance networks in some major cities and enabling officers to get regular access to security footage at businesses.

Some in law enforcement, however, acknowledge that their plans may face an age-old obstacle: Americans' traditional reluctance to give the government more law enforcement powers out of fear that they will live in a society where there is little privacy.

"Look, we don't want an occupied state. We want to be able to walk the good balance between freedom and security," Los Angeles police Deputy Chief Michael Downing, who heads the department's counter-terrorism and special operations bureau.

"If this helps prevent, deter, but also detect and create clues to who did (a crime), I guess the question is can the American public tolerate that type of security," he said.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/police_politicians_push_for_increased_surveillance_post_boston_ap/feed/ 0 Three suspects charged in connection with Boston Marathon bombing case http://www.salon.com/2013/05/01/boston_police_three_additional_suspects_from_marathon_bombing_taken_into_custody/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/01/boston_police_three_additional_suspects_from_marathon_bombing_taken_into_custody/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 19:48:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13286726 Updated: 2:35 p.m.

All three suspects have been charged, according to Federal court documents.

The first two suspects, Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, have been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice for "destroying, concealing, and covering up objects" belonging to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The full complaint can be read here.

The third suspect, Robel Phillipos, was charged with making false statements in a terrorism investigation. The full complaint can be read here.

Updated: 12:12 p.m.

NBC News' Pete Williams is reporting that the three suspects currently in custody have been under FBI surveillance for more than a week, and while "there was no indication they had any prior knowledge of the bombing" sources told NBC News that "the FBI had been investigating [the suspects] for about 10 days."

More from NBC:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/01/boston_police_three_additional_suspects_from_marathon_bombing_taken_into_custody/feed/ 104 Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s requests for lawyer were ignored http://www.salon.com/2013/04/30/dzhokhar_tsarnaevs_requests_for_lawyer_were_ignored/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/30/dzhokhar_tsarnaevs_requests_for_lawyer_were_ignored/#comments Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:08:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13285483 Updated, 11:42 a.m. EST: In attempts to further flesh out a picture of the Tsarnaevs, investigators have reportedly discovered that the elder brother, Tamerlan, killed in a police shootout, may have had links to two now-dead militants in Russia. Via New York Magazine:

According to the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Tsarnaev may have been linked to William Plotnikov, a Canadian "boxer-turned-jihadist" (sounds familiar) who died at the hands of Russian forces in the republic of Dagestan last year, while Tsarnaev was visiting...Tsarnaev may have also known, or chatted online, with Makhmud Mansur Nidal, an 18-year-old militant who was reportedly "under surveillance for six months as a suspected recruiter for Islamist insurgents fighting Moscow's rule in the region." Nidal was also killed in Russia, in May 2012 during Tamerlan's six-month visit

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/30/dzhokhar_tsarnaevs_requests_for_lawyer_were_ignored/feed/ 14 Must-see morning clip: “60 Minutes” investigates the Boston bombings http://www.salon.com/2013/04/29/must_see_morning_clip_60_minutes_investigates_the_boston_bombings/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/29/must_see_morning_clip_60_minutes_investigates_the_boston_bombings/#comments Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:13:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13284606 Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis sat with "60 Minutes'" Scott Pelley to discuss the rapid response to the Boston bombing. They identified the Tsarnaevs as suspects by isolating "people who didn't seem surprised" in camera footage of the scene.

The program also interviews friends of the Tsarnaev brothers:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/29/must_see_morning_clip_60_minutes_investigates_the_boston_bombings/feed/ 2 The Boston backlash is rooted in America’s paranoid past http://www.salon.com/2013/04/27/the_boston_backlash_is_rooted_in_americas_paranoid_past/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/27/the_boston_backlash_is_rooted_in_americas_paranoid_past/#comments Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13283619 A terrorist attack, small in scale but brutal in effect, shocks the nation. The leading perpetrator is an American with foreign connections, apparently linked – at least in his own mind – to a worldwide movement of violent extremists. Furthermore, this young man in his late 20s with the unpronounceable name had attracted suspicion in the past and struck some observers as unstable, although even members of his own family did not suspect he was planning such a spectacular crime.

In the aftermath of the attack, some people assume it was the work of a sinister global conspiracy against America, despite little evidence. Others see an unemployed and alienated loner, unable to connect to the promise of the American dream, who turned to extremism out of personal despair or mental illness. Many political commentators call for a crackdown on immigration, the restriction of civil liberties and an aggressive military-style counterattack against anti-American radicalism, both at home and abroad. As the nation’s energetic young president puts it, counteracting this tide of violence is the most significant question facing the United States, and one that could even endanger the nation’s future.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/27/the_boston_backlash_is_rooted_in_americas_paranoid_past/feed/ 84 The Blaze seeks Congressional support for Boston Marathon bombing conspiracy http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/the_blaze_seeks_congressional_support_for_boston_marathon_bombing_conspiracy/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/the_blaze_seeks_congressional_support_for_boston_marathon_bombing_conspiracy/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:04:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13283318 Glenn Beck's right wing news site The Blaze has petitioned Congress to help promote a debunked claim about Saudi national ties to the Boston Marathon bombing. The email, sent by a Blaze producer Virginia Grace, asks members of Congress to raise the issue to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FBI director Robert Mueller.

The email was obtained by Media Matters and can be found in full below:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/the_blaze_seeks_congressional_support_for_boston_marathon_bombing_conspiracy/feed/ 44 Glenn Beck is back http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/glenn_beck_is_back/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/glenn_beck_is_back/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:35:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13282730 "I've missed you so much," Jon Stewart whispered longingly at an image of Glenn Beck on Wednesday night's "Daily Show," before kissing his fingers and then pressing them against the virtual cheeks of Beck's floating head in the video box over his right shoulder.

You thought the conservative broadcaster had been banished to the Siberia that is the Internet since he left Fox News in June of 2011, but thanks to some signature conspiracy theorizing in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, Beck is back, baby. Just look at this Google Trends chart for searches of his name beginning the month after he left Fox:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/glenn_beck_is_back/feed/ 32 Homemade bombs made easier http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/homemade_bombs_made_easier/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/homemade_bombs_made_easier/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:45:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13282292 From his hospital bed, Dzhohkar Tsarnaev told investigators that he and his brother learned how to make their pressure cooker bombs from "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom," an article from the al-Qaida-affiliated magazine Inspire, which is easily available online. The news immediately reignited a long-simmering debate about how the United States should confront the problem of access to bomb-making instructions on the Internet. Once again, society is wrestling with the thorny question of how best to balance public safety against the constitutional protection for free speech. What can we do? What should we do?

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/homemade_bombs_made_easier/feed/ 26 The changing facts in the Boston investigation http://www.salon.com/2013/04/25/the_changing_facts_in_the_boston_investigation/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/25/the_changing_facts_in_the_boston_investigation/#comments Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:11:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13281719 In the aftermath of massive, complicated crimes it's not uncommon for a bit of crucial information to be immediately put forward by police, only to be contradicted later on. While it's understandable that initial leads and assertions might end up being wrong in a dynamic situation like the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, wholesale contradictions can encourage skepticism of the motives of those releasing inaccuracies -- as with initial, false reports that Osama bin Laden hid behind his wife when U.S. forces shot him. Another effect of changing details can be to encourage conspiracy theorists who latch onto inconsistencies, and to undermine trust in authorities.

Now, almost a week after the Tsarnaev brothers fought a rolling street battle with dozens of heavily armed police officers, we learned Wednesday night that they had only a single handgun, according to sources who spoke with ABC News and the AP, something that directly contradicts what officials had previously said.

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