Boston Marathon bombing

[IraGlacialis]

Well in any case, Alex Jones is rambling about this being so the TSA can take over the US.

[chaglang]

Well. That certainly seems plausible.

[AllThingsKC]

National Anthem from the Boston Bruins game tonight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... CkhEEvsEEA

[KCMax]

Hey Reddit, Enough Boston Bombing Vigilantism

Drudge was linking to an image that showed two Middle-Eastern guys near "ground zero" of the bombing who appeared to be holding very heavy bags, and this was seen as evidence of guilt by a lot of people. I believe those two have been cleared by the police and Drudge has since pulled the image.

[chaglang]

That article merits a great, big from me. Reddit may have been founded in SF, but whatever vigilante history that city has is absolutely immaterial to an online discussion that potentially involves people on 5 continents. People on Reddit aren't vigilanites for speculating about the suspect any more than we are here for doing the same thing. Ditto for the boundless speculation on Facebook. As long as the people speculating don't try to act on those speculations, and as long as they're not doing it as part of the media, I don't see the harm. The mistake the Atlantic writer makes is in trying to hold online commenters to the standards that media should he held to. There's a huge difference between someone posting a photo on Facebook and someone like Drudge or CNN doing it. An obvious weight is given to information shared by the media that isn't given to personal opinions. It seems strange that a member of the media seems not to understand this.

[KCMax]

Trolley Run on April 28 has said they will not allow backpacks or bags at the run.

[longviewmo]

That article merits a great, big from me. Reddit may have been founded in SF, but whatever vigilante history that city has is absolutely immaterial to an online discussion that potentially involves people on 5 continents. People on Reddit aren't vigilanites for speculating about the suspect any more than we are here for doing the same thing. Ditto for the boundless speculation on Facebook. As long as the people speculating don't try to act on those speculations, and as long as they're not doing it as part of the media, I don't see the harm. The mistake the Atlantic writer makes is in trying to hold online commenters to the standards that media should he held to. There's a huge difference between someone posting a photo on Facebook and someone like Drudge or CNN doing it. An obvious weight is given to information shared by the media that isn't given to personal opinions. It seems strange that a member of the media seems not to understand this.

For what it's worth, Reddit banned links from the Atlantic for a while because they were part of a group doing organized spamming of the site.

[chaglang]

The Atlantic was spamming Reddit?

Reddit likes to ban links. Deadspin was banned for a while because they outed one of the more notorious trolls there.

[KCMax]

That article merits a great, big from me. Reddit may have been founded in SF, but whatever vigilante history that city has is absolutely immaterial to an online discussion that potentially involves people on 5 continents. People on Reddit aren't vigilanites for speculating about the suspect any more than we are here for doing the same thing. Ditto for the boundless speculation on Facebook. As long as the people speculating don't try to act on those speculations, and as long as they're not doing it as part of the media, I don't see the harm. The mistake the Atlantic writer makes is in trying to hold online commenters to the standards that media should he held to. There's a huge difference between someone posting a photo on Facebook and someone like Drudge or CNN doing it. An obvious weight is given to information shared by the media that isn't given to personal opinions. It seems strange that a member of the media seems not to understand this.

NY Post seems like a far more egregious "vigilante" than Reddit.

FWIW, Redditors pretty quickly debunked the idea that the guy in the blue jacket was the suspect. Turns out he's a high school track runner.

[aknowledgeableperson]

To men identified as suspects not persons of interest. One is on a cell phone near time of blasts. One left a backpack near the second implosion. Appear to be identified as white males. bostonmarathontips.FBI.gov has pictures.

[aknowledgeableperson]

One down, one to go.
They are brothers, Chechen in nationality, and are or were of legal permanent residents of the USA.

[KCMax]

Crazy overnight in Boston. The suspects are two brothers, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, age 19 and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26. Tamerlan is dead, Dzhokhar is still on the loose. Tamerlan was reportedly run over and killed (NBC says he was killed by his own brother to get away from authorities). Reportedly one of them had an IED strapped to him.

Dzhokhar was born in Kyrgyzstan, Tamerlan was born in Russia. Both are of Chechen ethnicity. Authorities believe they have lived in the US since 2002 or 2003.

Tamerlan was a med student. Dzhokar was by some accounts a well-liked assimilated high school kid. A man calling himself their uncle says Tamerlan was a "loser." Tamerlan was supposedly in a photo essay where he remarked ""I don't have a single American friend, I don't understand them."

Here is Dzhokar



One of them killed a security guard at MIT last night. A transit worker was injured in a firefight.

All transit has been shut down in Boston. Boston and many surrounding cities are in lockdown. It must be surreal there, like out of a terrible action movie.

[bobbyhawks]

I forget what it was that prompted me, but I flipped on the Boston police scanner via an iOS app last night right before the officer down call went out (I think ~10:00). I was up until 3 AM and heard the call-ins from the incident at MIT all the way through the police surrounding an entire neighborhood. There were live descriptions of grenades, loud explosions, packages being thrown from cars, 60+ shots fired, in one car, now in another car, and another car... It was unbelievable, gut-wrenching stuff, and I can only imagine what must have been going through the minds of those police officers chasing guys in close proximity, armed to the teeth, throwing bombs at them, possibly strapped with explosives. The story behind how these guys got all of this ammunition, long guns, automatic hand guns, and the knowledge to make even crude explosives in large quantities will be one of the most interesting, and perhaps revealing in history. If they amassed this stuff on their own and learned how to do this stuff without training, we are in serious trouble. I hate to hope for things, but if they have a connection to some training cell, perhaps we will gain critical intelligence that will lead to other arrests.

[aknowledgeableperson]

There are some reports that there is a third suspect in the bombing. This person was a teammate of the younger brother on the wrestling team.

Interview with uncle was very interesting. If you get a chance to see a replay catch it.

There is still no announced connection that this was a international terrorist plot or that they were even connected to a terrorist organization.

Added: The younger brother appears to be surrounded in a house. Negotiations for surrender going on.

[heatherkay]

knowledge to make even crude explosives in large quantities

A few minutes on Google, plus a solid high school chemistry education, would do the trick. Plus, wasn't one of the guys supposed to be studying at UMass Dartmouth to be an engineer?

[KCMax]

There are some reports that there is a third suspect in the bombing. This person was a teammate of the younger brother on the wrestling team.

Interview with uncle was very interesting. If you get a chance to see a replay catch it.

There is still no announced connection that this was a international terrorist plot or that they were even connected to a terrorist organization.

Added: The younger brother appears to be surrounded in a house. Negotiations for surrender going on.

And I really hope they catch him alive, because without him, I'm not sure we answer a whole lot of questions.


The supposed Amazon Wish List of the older brother.

- How to Make Driver’s Licenses and Other ID on Your Home Computer

- The I.D. Forger: Homemade Birth Certificates & ​Other Documents Explained

- Secrets Of A Back Alley ID Man: Fake Id Construction Techniques Of The Underground

- The Lone Wolf And the Bear: Three Centuries of Chechen Defiance of Russian Rule

- Organized Crime: AN INSIDE GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL INDUSTRY

- How to Win Friends & Influ​ence People

People say he was "assimiliated" and smoked pot and was a very competitive boxer hoping to compete for the US in the Olympics one day. But more recently he appears to have become radicalized for Islam, following a fundamentalist Islamist on Youtube.

Seems like the younger brother was being influenced by the older brother.

[chaglang]

Cambridge is a small town.

NPR host's nephew was a friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Other CRLS alums include Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Patrick Ewing.

[AllThingsKC]

Tonight's Royals/Red Sox game in Boston has been postponed 'to help support efforts of law enforcement officers.'

[im2kull]

Trolley Run on April 28 has said they will not allow backpacks or bags at the run.

Why don't they just ban Bombs? That would be the most logical step, right?

[chaglang]

Trolley Run on April 28 has said they will not allow backpacks or bags at the run.

Why don't they just ban Bombs? That would be the most logical step, right?

zOMG you should totally suggest that.