Meng, a tech entrepreneur who had come to the United States from China in 2009 to get a master's degree, was kidnapped by the brothers while driving in Cambridge. Davis added that he did not leak the photos.įollowing the photo's release, the suspects murdered an MIT policeman. "We made the decision that the best thing to do was to release the video evidence to the American public before the media did," said DesLauriers. "And you may cause them to flee."įour days into the investigation, however, officials learned that the photos had been leaked and were going to be released by a Boston media station. "If you release the photo of the bombers, you let them know that you know who they are," explained Rick DesLauriers, special agent in charge for the FBI. He said he was met with complete silence. Only police commissioner Davis agreed to do the former. The photos, albeit blurry, were a heated topic amongst officials, who struggled to decide if they should be released to the public or kept in private until more information was found.
#Boston bombing photo police little boy code
At the time, their identities were still a mystery, so they were given the code names "white hat" and "black hat" based on the colors of the baseball caps they were both wearing. "Even after he was cleared, the media was hounding the Saudi Arabian national and even his roommate," said investigative reporter Phillip Martin.Īfter spending hours examining lengthy video footage of the bombing, officials identified the Tsarnaev brothers as the primary attackers. It didn't help that conservatives, even news outlets were also echoing similar hateful rhetoric. One tweet shown in the documentary reads, "Boston Massacre is a BIG DEAL! Bombing of marathon by evil Muslim terrorist." Others read, "This definitely is those Arabs fault" (accompanied with the man wearing a turban emoji) and "I definitely blame the Arabs." The subsequent manhunt further encouraged sleuths and conspiracy theorists to voice their anti-Muslim sentiments online. It was later revealed that the man was not involved in the attack - officials said he "was just at the wrong place at the wrong time." One of the first suspects who was detained in connection to the bombing was an unnamed Saudi man whom police said was seen wearing tattered clothes and exhibited questionable behavior. I immediately knew that they were going to pin it on Islam." "I remember thinking, 'Please don't let it have anything to do with Islam.' Islamophobia was just starting to go away. "When the bombing happened, I was in college," said Youssef Eddafali, a friend of Dzhokhar. "You couldn't help that sinking feeling inside you to think that maybe this is committed by somebody who is a Muslim," said Ismail Fenni, acting imam of Islamic Society of Boston. And following the Boston Marathon bombings, many feared the attack would be associated with Islam, which would fuel more fear and prejudice.
The Sept.11 attacks spurred a new era of Islamophobia and hate towards the Muslim community nationwide.
0 kommentar(er)
