Well, today was a roller coaster ride with regard to the investigation of the Boston bombing. After CNN and the AP reported for more than an hour that a suspect had been arrested and was en route to a federal courthouse, that relatively encouraging news devolved into the feds having no one in custody, and a bomb threat at a courthouse, instead.
Contrary to widespread reporting, no arrest has been made in connection with the Boston Marathon attack. Over the past day and a half, there have been a number of press reports based on information from unofficial sources that has been inaccurate. Since these stories often have unintended consequences, we ask the media, particularly at this early stage of the investigation, to exercise caution and attempt to verify information through appropriate official channels before reporting.
The Boston Police announced an FBI briefing of some sort tonight at 8 p.m., but it was canceled. No word from them since.
FBI has cancelled the 8pm briefing tonight.
— Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) April 17, 2013
I’ll tread lightly reporting what loose ends remain tonight. Several news services are reporting that the FBI has photos of two persons of interest, but it’s unclear whether those pictures will be released to the public. Given the canceled presser, maybe they’re not sure whether they’re going to.
Rick Leventhal reported on the photos on “Special Report” tonight on Fox, but declined to show them, so as not to jeopardize the investigation:
The FBI is not sharing the photos with the public.
A Fox News reporter has seen the photos and called them “clear.”
According to the reporter, one of the men has a backpack that appears to match the bag believed to have been used in the attack. The other man also appears to have a bag of some kind.
Other news sources think the photos are forthcoming:
BREAKING: from @johnmillercbs, release of photo of possible suspect in Boston bombing "won't happen tonight; it might happen tomorrow."
— Charlie Kaye (@CharlieKayeNews) April 17, 2013
The LA Times corroborates the idea of two suspects identified via video.
Two possible suspects in the bombings have been singled out in surveillance videos of the scene, sources told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.
U.S. counter-terrorism and law enforcement officials told The Times that a department store video caught images of one man leaving a backpack near the finish line. A second federal official said he has been told that authorities believe a second video or photo showed “two men with two backpacks.”
A counter-terrorism official said the men were picked out because they were carrying black backpacks, as well as because of their demeanor and how they reacted to the bomb blasts. That official said authorities do not yet know the identities of those in the videos.
That sounds like the Lord & Taylor video 4chan has been sleuthing through crowd sourcing, but don’t take my word as definitive on that. The Fox source calling them “clear” suggests maybe the FBI has a better shot than 4chan users got their hands on.
And, while we wait for more information, this will lift your spirits a bit. God bless you, Boston.
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