Salon.com > Boston Marathon bombing http://www.salon.com Fri, 03 May 2013 12:29:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 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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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/25/the_changing_facts_in_the_boston_investigation/feed/ 145 Glenn Beck to conspiracy critics: “Bring it on” http://www.salon.com/2013/04/24/glenn_beck_to_conspiracy_critics_bring_it_on/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/24/glenn_beck_to_conspiracy_critics_bring_it_on/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:21:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13281125 On Monday, Glenn Beck insisted that his theory connecting a Saudi national to the Boston Marathon bombing would remain correct until someone could prove to him that it wasn't. The problem with that statement on Monday, as it remained on Wednesday, was that someone (in this case, the Department of Homeland Security) had already done precisely that.

And yet, Beck persisted in his allegations about a massive coverup, and was even emboldened by critics, whom he challenged to "bring it on."

h/t Right Wing Watch

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/24/glenn_beck_to_conspiracy_critics_bring_it_on/feed/ 19 Boston mosque refuses to bury Tamerlan http://www.salon.com/2013/04/24/boston_mosque_refuses_to_bury_tamerlan/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/24/boston_mosque_refuses_to_bury_tamerlan/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:32:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13280651 The aunt of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the Boston bombing suspect killed in a police shoot out, was denied her request to see her nephew buried in a Boston mosque. The aunt of the suspects told NBC that "one of the suspects' uncles approached the imam of a Boston mosque attended by the brothers to request a burial and funeral service but was declined."

This mosque is not the only one in Boston reticent to lay the 26-year-old's body to rest. The denials and equivocations are a part of a broader pattern of Muslims and Chechens understandably distinguishing themselves from the Tsarnaev brothers in the massacre's wake. Via NBC:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/24/boston_mosque_refuses_to_bury_tamerlan/feed/ 5 CNN’s John King on Boston bombing news coverage: “We made a mistake” http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/cnns_john_king_on_boston_bombing_news_coverage_we_made_a_mistake/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/cnns_john_king_on_boston_bombing_news_coverage_we_made_a_mistake/#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:54:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13279714 Media reporters and comedy networks have been laughing at CNN's continuously sloppy news coverage of the Boston bombings, which began on Wednesday when the overeager network erroneously reported the arrest of a "dark-skinned male."

On Tuesday, CNN chief national correspondent John King -- a Boston native -- addressed the network's blunder, telling D.C. radio station WTOP, "The one thing you have to do is look straight in the camera and say, 'We were wrong.'"

"It's my city, too, so it's sort of a double kick in the head to me," King said. "But, the best way to deal with it is to say 'We made a mistake. Here's how we made a mistake.' And then move on."

He explained that he relied on two sources "who have been reputable in the past who simply had bad information."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/cnns_john_king_on_boston_bombing_news_coverage_we_made_a_mistake/feed/ 2 Report: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev confesses http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/dzhokhar_tsarnaev_confesses/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/dzhokhar_tsarnaev_confesses/#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:26:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13279750 From his hospital bed, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has reportedly confessed to planting explosives near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. In response to extensive bedside questioning by federal agents, the suspect -- charged on Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction against people and property -- reportedly admitted to acting alone with his (now deceased) brother, with no connections to outside terror groups.

According to the Washington Post, citing unnamed official sources, "the 19-year-old suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings has told interrogators that the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan motivated him and his brother to carry out the attack":

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/dzhokhar_tsarnaev_confesses/feed/ 31 Must-see morning clip: Jon Stewart rips CNN’s Boston coverage http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/must_see_morning_clip_jon_stewart_on_cnns_frantic_news_coverage/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/must_see_morning_clip_jon_stewart_on_cnns_frantic_news_coverage/#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:19:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13279539 "If there's one thing you can say for this network, it's that they were there," Jon Stewart said dubiously about CNN's chaotic news coverage of the manhunt in Boston last week.

When other networks switched over to news anchors, CNN stayed on the scene in Watertown, Mass., despite having no news to report:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/must_see_morning_clip_jon_stewart_on_cnns_frantic_news_coverage/feed/ 4 Weapon of mass destruction charge, explained http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/weapon_of_mass_destruction_charge_explained/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/weapon_of_mass_destruction_charge_explained/#comments Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:49:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13278767 When you hear the term "weapon of mass destruction," what comes to mind? A nuclear warhead? Biological agents? The sort of armaments so destructive, in fact, they are pitched as grounds for war. Homemade pressure cooker bombs -- as we now know all too well -- can wreak murderous, flesh- and bone-cleaving devastation. But are the devices used in the Boston bombings really weapons of mass destruction?

The Massachusetts U.S. attorney announced Monday that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be federally charged with "using a weapon of mass destruction against persons and property at the Boston Marathon." No one would seek to underplay the heinous act that killed three people and injured over 170. But the WMD charge already prompted some confusion, given the DIY nature of the tools used in the bombings. Nukes they were not.

Last month, before the marathon massacre, Wired's Spencer Ackerman explored the way in which the WMD designation has become so expansive that it is barely descriptive. "U.S. law isn’t particularly diligent about differentiating dangerous weapons from apocalyptic ones," wrote Ackerman in a post about possible WMD charges brought against Eric Harroun, a U.S. Army veteran who joined the rebellion in Syria. Ackerman noted:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/weapon_of_mass_destruction_charge_explained/feed/ 109 Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will not be tried as enemy combatant http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/dzhokhar_tsarnaev_will_not_be_tried_as_enemy_combatant/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/dzhokhar_tsarnaev_will_not_be_tried_as_enemy_combatant/#comments Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:45:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13278654 According to White House spokesman Jay Carney Monday, Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will not be tried as an enemy combatant, but will face trial in a federal court. Via the Boston Globe:

Pointing to other terrorists who have been tried and convicted in federal court, [Carney] said, “The system has repeatedly proven that it can successfully handle the threater that we continue to face.”

He also said that US citizens cannot be tried before military commissions. Tsarnaev is a naturalized US citizen. He was sworn in as a citizen in September.

According to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's Office, the 19-year-old is with charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against persons and property in U.S. resulting in death:

[embedtweet id="326389100867375106"]

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/dzhokhar_tsarnaev_will_not_be_tried_as_enemy_combatant/feed/ 27 Boston suspect reportedly responding to questions in writing http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/boston_suspect_reportedly_responding_to_questions_in_writing/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/boston_suspect_reportedly_responding_to_questions_in_writing/#comments Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:25:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13278460 Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the suspect in the bombings at the Boston Marathon, is reportedly beginning to respond to investigators questions by writing down answers, due to a serious wound to his throat that is preventing him from speaking.

NBC News reports:

Nearly 48 hours after he was taken into custody following an intense gun battle and manhunt, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was communicating with a special team of federal investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. He was responding to questions mostly in writing because of the throat wound, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The suspect remains in serious condition.

The throat wound may be the result of a suicide attempt, investigators said.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/boston_suspect_reportedly_responding_to_questions_in_writing/feed/ 0 FBI under scrutiny over handling of Boston suspect http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/fbi_under_scrutiny_over_handling_of_boston_suspect/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/fbi_under_scrutiny_over_handling_of_boston_suspect/#comments Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:21:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13278269 The FBI is facing harsh questions over their handling of now-deceased suspected Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, following the emergence of evidence that the FBI interviewed the Tsarnaev brother in 2011 at the request of the Russian government over concerns that he had links to radical Islam. While Chechen rebels have denied any such links, congressional leaders have still accused the FBI of "dropping the ball" with regards to the suspect. The Guardian reported late Sunday:

Michael McCaul, Republican chair of the House homeland security committee, told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday that the FBI had questions to answer. "He was interviewed by the FBI in 2011 and let go. He traveled back to Russia and spent six months there," McCaul said.

On his return he immediately posted jihadist videos on YouTube, McCaul said. "Clearly something happened in that six-month timeframe. He radicalized at some point." McCaul said he wanted to know why no flags were raised on Tsarnaev that would have helped officials track his movements.

It was reported Sunday that a hold was placed on a citizenship request by the 26-year-old as a result of the FBI's previous interest in him. The New York Times claimed officials at the Department of Homeland Security decided not to grant his application after a routine background check uncovered the 2011 interview by agents.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/22/fbi_under_scrutiny_over_handling_of_boston_suspect/feed/ 2 How Boston exposes America’s dark post-9/11 bargain http://www.salon.com/2013/04/20/how_boston_exposes_americas_dark_post_911_bargain/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/20/how_boston_exposes_americas_dark_post_911_bargain/#comments Sat, 20 Apr 2013 21:20:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13276983 To put it mildly, this has been a bad week for democracy and a worse one for public discourse. In the minutes and hours after the bombs went off in Boston last Monday, marathon runners, first responders and many ordinary citizens responded to a chaotic situation with great courage and generosity, not knowing whether they might be putting their own lives at risk. Since then, though, it’s mostly been a massive and disheartening national freakout, with pundits, politicians, major news outlets and the self-appointed sleuths of the Internet – in fact, nearly everyone besides those directly affected by the attack – heaping disgrace upon themselves.

We’ve seen the most famous TV network in the news business repeatedly botch basic facts, while one of the country’s largest-circulation newspapers misreported the number of people killed, launched a wave of hysteria over a “Saudi national” who turned out to have nothing to do with the crime, and then published a cover photo suggesting that two other guys (also innocent) might be the bombers. We’ve seen the vaunted crowd-sourcing capability of Reddit degenerate into self-reinforcing mass delusion, in which a bunch of people whose law-enforcement expertise consisted of massive doses of “CSI” convinced themselves that a missing college student was one of the bombing suspects. (He wasn’t – and with that young man’s fate still unknown, how does his family feel today?)

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