Who is responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing? After hearing initial reports of the tragic event yesterday afternoon, this is a question that unequivocally needs to be answered. We took you through the details about what exactly happened during the two explosions, along with coverage of six unique vantage points. What each of these viewpoints suggests is that the sheer timing of both blasts was a coordinated attack, a fact that the White House has confirmed leads it to be “approached as an act of terror,” though it is unknown if it’s of foreign or domestic origin.
In a bit stronger rhetoric, Representative Bill Keating of Massachusetts, who serves on the House Homeland Security Committee, told CNN that the events were a “sophisticated, coordinated, planned attack.”
Surprisingly, many theories of who, or what, is behind the two explosions (the Boston PD confirmed the reported third blast was “fire related”) have risen from the woodwork. What’s so interesting about these speculations is that they’re coming from a broad range of sources, from right-wing blogs to liberal mainstream media pundits.
The key factor that may be able to tell us more about the identity of who is responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing is simple, yet overlooked: the type of explosive used. While there were two blasts near the marathon’s finish line-zone, it has been reported by multiple sources that law enforcement officials found multiple unexploded devices (though the exact count varies by outlet, but rests in the 2-3 range) nearby.
It’s also important to note that Fox News originally reported the explosive devices contained ball bearings, according to those wounded by the dual blasts. These devices were improvised in nature, placed near ground-level, and are detonated by cell phone signal in many cases, according to the Scientific American.
CNN, which discussed the details of the IEDs as well, reported that the FBI will head the investigation into the devices, to determine if their creators left a unique “signature.” The placement of the detonated devices, along with the reported presence of ball bearings, indicate that the attacker or attackers’ primary objective was to inflict the maximum amount of injuries possible.
At the time of this writing, the tragedy’s unofficial count rests at 144 people injured and three passed away–a injury-to-death ratio above that of other events of similar magnitude in recent history.
Still, it is unclear what the motivations were of those responsible for the attack, and if they are related to any of the potential parties that many outlets have begun to speculate about in recent hours. Let’s go through a collection of them, and it all starts with what analysts on CNN and BBC have suggested:
Right-wing extremist groups
Here’s a clip from the latter, discussing the potential of a “homegrown” attack, not foreign in nature.
Another from CNN, discussing speculations on who is responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing, suggesting “right-wing extremists.”
Immediately, many readers will obviously question the nature of such a claim by outlets that aren’t always moderate in their coverage, as it’s not fair to X-out similarly motivated “left-wing extremists” either.
But that’s not all. There are some equally interesting theories on the parties responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing, and a few may surprise you. We want to be clear here: this information is sourced from other reports within the media; we’re just organizing it in an easy-to-understand manner.
Let’s take a look at the others (source listed below):
A “False Flag” Operation
Via Alex Jones and InfoWars.com
Key quote:
“UM Coach: bomb-sniffing dogs were at start and finish lines. They had loud speakers saying ‘it’s just a drill, everything’s fine, and then ‘boom,’ it happens. That’s done over and over again–7/7, the Madrid bombing, Gladio–they always have drills, so in case the compartmentalized group of mercenaries doing it with police uniforms, or FBI–it varies–get caught: ‘Oh, it was part of the drill.’ […] This is key. It proves that the drill was happening even before, during, and then after the marathon. Do you understand what that means?”
A “suspicious” individual in custody, of Middle Eastern descent
CNN, capture via Chris Geo, YouTube
Key quote:
“He’s in custody, which means he’s not free to go, he’s not under arrest, he’s not charged. He is a Saudi national who was near the scene of the blast. When the blast happened he began to run […] a civilian who thought that this individual was acting suspiciously chased him down and tackled him, and then turned him over to Boston Police, saying ‘I saw this guy hanging around over there, acting suspiciously, and then he ran.’ That may mean a lot; it may mean nothing at all, but authorities that I’ve spoken to–sources who are being briefed on this–say he’s being fully cooperative, he’s denying any involvement in this act.”
Additionally, CNN has reported that “investigators have warned police to be on the lookout for a ‘darker-skinned or black male’ with a possible foreign accent,” due to the fact that he “was seen with a black backpack and sweatshirt and was trying to get into a restricted area about five minutes before the first explosion.”
“Mystery man” overlooking the event
Via Yahoo! News, screen capture via Twitter
Key quote:
“The photo, taken by spectator Dan Lampariello, showed the second bomb explode several hundred yards from the first as runners approached. Among the first Twitter users to spot the mysterious figure in Lampariello’s photo was the operator of a parody account for R&B singer Frank Ocean […] ‘Who’s the guy on the roof?’ one Twitter user asked. ‘He’s not reacting to the detonation.’ ‘The picture of the guy on the roof overlooking the second explosion is the spookiest thing I have ever seen, ‘another wrote.”
