Posted on 04/21/2013 7:54:34 AM PDT by next media
Thanks. I learned a long time ago that it’s impossible to scrutinize these things objectively “up close” when a story is still unfolding and a lot of conflicting information is out there.
You’re absolutely right. It would be a nightmare trying to find any particular person in a crowd like that. But why weren’t they trying to improve the chances of finding them before others might be killed by releasing ALL the info? (And tragically were - the police officer) Because we can’t mention that they might be from a Muslim-majority ethnicity? That’s more important?
Good points as always though Alberta’s;)
1. The two bombs are detonated on Monday.
2. Unlike most other incidents of this kind, the police are faced with a problem of too much information, not too little information. They literally have thousands of hours of video footage and tens of thousands of still photos showing the scene of the attack in the time before and after the explosions. They get started immediately trying to piece things together.
3. Meanwhile, thousands of amateurs with internet access (and I don't use this term in a negative sense, because there was a lot of great information posted all over the place by these people) start looking at this evidence themselves and begin posting their speculation online. Again -- some of this was extremely well done and had some very astute observations.
4. One problem that becomes apparent is that on a cool spring day in Boston at a major event like the Boston Marathon, there are dozens of people in the crowd who fit the description of a "person of interest" -- i.e., a younger male wearing a jacket or sweatshirt and carrying a backpack or gym bag. One in particular gets a lot of attention -- to the point where he and his father report to the local police station to clear his name, Yes, he's a young male who looks Middle Eastern (he's from Morocco) ... yes, he was at the scene (he's a high school student in the area) ... and yes, he was carrying a gym bag near the finish line of the Boston Marathon (he was a high school track star who had just run the marathon himself)
5. For reasons like this one, the police wisely decide not to broadcast a general description of "any suspicious person" but instead focus on information from people right there at the scene who actually saw what happened in the moments leading up to the bomb blasts. The descriptions these folks provided, coupled with the review of photos and video images, narrows their focus to a couple of guys who arrived at the scene with backpacks but left the scene empty-handed.
6. By Thursday night they don't know the names of these two suspects, but they have descriptions and post their images all over the internet and ask for the public's help in identifying them.
7. The younger brother was probably identified by multiple people immediately, since his photo was so clear. The FBI probably ran his name through their own records and identified the older brother as Suspect #2.
My Grandma taught me, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Obama evidently didn’t receive that message.
8. Once their names and photos hit the airwaves, the two suspects panic and start taking steps to flee the area. They were obviously not prepared to do this, since they had to rob someone and steal his SUV just to get out of town. If they even owned a vehicle and had $200 in cash they probably could have been hundreds of miles away by Friday morning.
What would be very interesting is to know the ratio of tips originating from within the area the terrorists were known to frequent versus elsewhere?
I definitely lean towards your analysis... I see you see what they’re trying to do to us CottShoop...
What you’re saying is very logical and thoughtful. If we had a more reputable president I would be inclined to think that they were following some reasonable advice like yours. As it is… I have my doubts…
They posted the pictures of the suspects NOT the names. They asked the public to help identify them. We didn’t learn their names until the police were chasing them.
I find it not credible that the FBI didn’t know their names when they let those pictures go public.
THey didn’t even describe the clothing, which could’ve helped people go over their photographs to find a more clear photo of the suspect. A guy in a white hat turned backwards would narrow things down .
1. The younger one is 19, and probably has no reason to have his photo show up in a public file that could be used to readily identify him.
2. The older brother -- who DID have prior contact with the law (including the FBI) -- was very difficult to identify because all of the images I've seen show him wearing sunglasses, and wearing a baseball-type cap that cast a shadow over his face.
These two were identified by the public, not the police.
Think of it this way:
Have someone take a photo of you in a public place, and see if ANYONE in law enforcement can identify who you are based just on the photo. But post that same photo on the internet and broadcast it to 300M+ Americans via the internet and television, and you'll have hundreds of people calling the police to identify you.
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