Westboro Baptist Church blames gay marriage for bombings
Westboro: We'll Picket Boston Marathon Funerals
Westboro Baptist Church blames gay marriage for bombings
Newser) – We'd call this a new low for Westboro Baptist Church, but these are the people who threatened to picket Sandy Hook. Now they say they'll picket the funerals of the Boston Marathon victims, the Raw Story reports. The church's reasoning, per a press release: "GOD SENT THE BOMBS! How many more terrifying ways will you have the LORD injure and kill your fellow countrymen because you insist on nation-dooming filthy [gay slur] marriage?! ... Massachusetts invited this special wrath from God Almighty when it was the FIRST STATE to pass same-sex marriage."
A We the People petition calls for the WBC to be banned from the funerals, and a Twitter account associated with the Anonymous hacktivists threatens the church: "Dear @WBCSays, I wouldn't f--k with the people of Boston when they're mad. #BostonBeatDown." It was Anonymous that thwarted the Westboro's Sandy Hook plan, the Raw Story notes; the hackers publicized the hotel where church members were staying, and a human shield was formed to block them. Yesterday, the New York Post ran a piece by Libby Phelps Alvarez, a granddaughter of WBC founder Fred Phelps who left the church—and now fights for gay rights.
http://www.newser.com/story/166324/w...-funerals.html
Westboro Baptist Church thanks God for Boston bombs, vows funeral protests
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...ston-bombs-vo/
Westboro Baptist Church said that the bombings during the Boston Marathon were sent by God as punishment for same-sex marriage and that members would definitely show up at funerals to protest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
fivekatz
It is also important to remember that acts of terror are not the sole providence of radical Islam. The second worst act of terror on US soil was committed by right wing-nuts. And I don't know what else one could call the rampant lynching and church bombings of the 60 years of the 20th Century. And it was not Islamic radicals but rather white, bigoted Christian extremists responsible for that rein of terror.
Ordinarily organized terrorist groups claim ownership of their deeds rather quickly and the silence here is notable, while not conclusive.
We all need to let the investigation take its course. Personally I have faith that the White House is not busy trying to spin this into a reason to have a war with a nation state but rather has their eye on the ball. There will be justice I pray.
At any rate a freaking shame that the innocent are used by any group or individual to make statements of displeasure.
this suspect below was cleared now a new suspect police are trying to identify
Authorities checking cellphone records, seek man seen leaving bag near Boston blast site
Investigators in the Boston Marathon case are trying to identify a young man seen on video near the second blast site -- talking on his cellphone before setting down a black bag and dashing away, law enforcement officials told NBC News.
As authorities worked to find more images of the man in the crowd and began examining cellphone records in an effort to put a name to his face, they abruptly canceled an evening briefing on the probe.
Two days after the double bombing killed three people and injured 176 near the race finish line — and on the eve of President Obama’s visit to Boston for a prayer service — the investigation appeared to be making progress.
Law enforcement officials said the man was seen from several different angles at the site of the second blast. One official said a Lord & Taylor department store surveillance camera captured the image.
The FBI has distributed to federal law enforcement agencies a surveillance photo of a man wearing a baseball cap at the scene of the Boston Marathon bombing, asking officials if they have any information about his identity, a senior federal law enforcement official who has seen the photo told NBC News late Wednesday.
The official who has seen the photo described it as showing a man about six feet tall wearing “a white or off white baseball cap.” The FBI was asking for help identifying the individual, the official said.
Federal law enforcement officials have said they have made “significant” progress in the investigation by identifying potential witnesses or suspects who appear in surveillance photos at the site of the second bomb explosion.
But some officials have cautioned they do not yet know the identity of the individuals they are looking for. Asked tonight if investigators knew the identity of the individual identified in surveillance photos, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said “no.” He declined further comment.
An expected press briefing on Wednesday afternoon was postponed and ultimately canceled, but the FBI and other agencies did shoot down afternoon reports from several media outlets that an arrest had been made.
“Despite reports to the contrary there has not been an arrest in the Marathon attack,” Boston police said from an official Twitter account.
The FBI added: “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.”
In another development, the Boston federal courthouse was evacuated Wednesday afternoon. Employees said they were told that a “code red” was in effect and were ordered to leave. The reason was unclear.
Investigators were reviewing more video and photos in an effort to track the movements of the man with the bag before and after the bombing. Records of cellphone calls made in the area at that time could give them another clue to his identity.
Forensic work at the scene has already helped authorities identify major components of the bombs.
They were housed in metal containers — at least one a kitchen pressure cooker — and studded with metal, including fine nails or brads, to make the devices more lethal.
Authorities are focusing on a video of a man putting a bag down at the location of the bombing at the Boston Marathon.
Sources involved in the investigation said that the pressure-cooker device was effectively a “homemade claymore,” a directional explosive that appeared to include a triggering mechanism using a battery pack and a circuit board. Both of those elements were recovered at the scene.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013...last-site?lite
this suspect below was cleared now a new suspect police are trying to identify story above
Quote:
Originally Posted by
natina
Authorities ID person of interest as Saudi national in marathon bombings, under guard at Boston hospital
Police clear the area at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon.
Investigators have a suspect — a Saudi Arabian national — in the horrific Boston Marathon bombings, The Post has learned.
Law enforcement sources said the
20-year-old suspect was under guard at an undisclosed Boston hospital.
Fox News reported that the suspect suffered severe burns.
It was not immediately clear why the man was hospitalized and whether he was injured in the attack or in his apprehension.
The man was caught less than two hours after the 2:50 p.m. bombing on the finish line of the race, in the heart of Boston.
In addition, Boston police have surveillance video of someone bringing multiple backpacks to the blast site, according to CBS News.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/nationa...9uC2PDGIjYBalO
Suspicions in Boston Attack Turn to Man Seen in Videos
Suspicions in Boston Attack Turn to Man Seen in Videos
BOSTON — In the first major break in the hunt for the Boston Marathon bomber, F.B.I. personnel on Wednesday found security video clips that showed a man they believe may have played a role in planting the explosives that killed three people and injured more than 170 on Monday.
The videos also showed at least a handful of others whom the authorities want to question, either because of what they appear to be doing in the video or their proximity to the blasts, a senior law enforcement official said.
The official said the authorities were trying to boil down the number of people of interest in the videos and would then decide whether to ask the public’s help in locating them.
“It’s a crowd, there are a lot of different angles. It is not like some television-produced video — there’s a lot that isn’t clear,” said the official. “But most interpretations support the notion that one man is seen dropping a bag.”
The official added: “There are several videos with people in them, and we’re looking to talk to more than one guy. It’s still very squishy but there are a lot of interesting people” the authorities want to talk to.
As word spread of the videos Wednesday afternoon, officials emphatically denied a flurry of news reports that they had made an arrest. The F.B.I. was still “looking for a name to put with a face in a video,” one law enforcement official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Those denials did not deter hundreds of office workers and reporters from gathering outside the federal courthouse, where they anticipated that a suspect would be arraigned. A midday bomb scare caused the courthouse to be evacuated and created confusion as the crowds were moved far away from the building and it was ringed by police vehicles. By nightfall, no arrest had taken place.
At Copley Square, the crime scene, several blocks long, remained barricaded as investigators in white hazmat suits scoured the buildings and roofs for pieces of evidence from the two explosions, which occurred at 2:50 Monday afternoon near the finish line of the marathon.
Teams of investigators, including more than 1,000 F.B.I. agents, were tracking possible leads developed on Tuesday after they had discovered remnants from the two bombs.
Those remnants included: parts of one or two kitchen pressure cookers that had evidently been packed with nails, ball bearings and black powder and used as explosive devices; the torn remains of a dark nylon backpack or duffel bag in which one of the bombs had been hidden; and a circuit board, wires and other parts from timing devices. Investigators hoped to track the items back to where they were sold and compile a list of names or descriptions of the buyers.
A piece of the lid of one of the pressure cookers was found on a rooftop near the blast, a law enforcement official said on Wednesday — giving a sense of the tremendous force of the explosion.
The possible break in the case came as investigators scrutinized scores of videos and photographs from surveillance cameras from nearby businesses, as well as from marathon spectators’ smartphones and television crews that were filming the Boston Marathon when the deadly blasts went off. So far, no one has taken responsibility for the explosions.
As the investigation went into a third day, there were signs of jitters around the nation, which was on high alert. New York City officials said there had been an increase in reports of suspicious packages. In Oklahoma City, the scene of a devastating bombing in 1995, City Hall was briefly evacuated Wednesday morning as the authorities examined a stolen rental truck that was parked outside. (There was no bomb, officials there said.)
In Washington, parts of two Senate office buildings were shut down as officials investigated reports of suspicious letters or packages, and the Secret Service said that a letter addressed to President Obama contained a suspicious substance. It was intercepted at a screening facility outside the White House, and federal agents arrested a suspect on Wednesday evening.
If investigators in Boston can find a facial image of sufficient quality from the videos, it could provide a powerful lead.
The F.B.I. has been working for several years to create a facial recognition program, and the video of a suspect or suspects could be matched against the bureau’s database of mug shots of about 12 million people who have been arrested, officials said.
If there is no match, investigators can hunt for the suspects’ images in the voluminous videos and photographs from the bombing site that were submitted by members of the public in response to an F.B.I. appeal. That is still a technically difficult task, because the software is most accurate with head-on facial images and can be thrown off even by a smile, specialists said on Wednesday.
Still, “it’s vastly superior to just watching the video,” said Al Shipp, chief executive of 3VR Inc., a company that sells video analytics software. “You can sort through years of video in seconds. That’s the game changer.”
By piecing together more images of suspects and their movements, the F.B.I. might be able to come up with a name. Even without a name, Mr. Shipp said, investigators could program multiple cameras at airports and elsewhere with the suspects’ images so the cameras would send an alert to them if someone resembling a suspect passed by.
While investigators have focused on the images of the possible suspect, they are continuing to pursue a broad range of other avenues, one law enforcement official said.
“We try not to get tunnel vision about it,” the official said, adding, “we’re working a lot of other possibilities.”
The process, the official said, can be a painstaking one. Once an image like that of a potential suspect is identified, investigators and analysts will seek to track the person in the image, both back in time and forward, seeking other images — photographs and videos — from other sources, looking for different angles and lighting.
Appealing to the public would most likely put more pressure on the suspect. “He’d get nervous and turn himself in, or he could go to ground,” said Philip Mudd, a former senior C.I.A. and F.B.I. official. “But having several million people looking for him outweighs any downside.”