FBI Releases Images of Suspects in Boston Marathon Terrorist Attack

04.18.2013 2:48PM
04.19.2013 12:00AM UPDATE2: page bottom: New FBI photos released overnight.
04.19.2013 01:40AM UPDATE3: Suspect #1, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 died from fatal gunshot and blast wounds.
04.19.2013 11:51AM UPDATE4: page bottom: Names of Boston Marathon Suspects.
04.19.2013 09:03PM UPDATE5: edit: Suspect #2, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19 captured alive.
[times are updated publishing times]

Runners continue to run towards the finish line as an explosion erupts at the finish line of the Boston Marathon
Runners continue to run towards the finish line as an explosion erupts at the finish line of the Boston Marathon (Caption/ image credit: Reuters)

FBI Releases Images of Suspects in Boston Marathon Terrorist Attack

original article written by Net Advisor

BOSTON, Massachusetts. Home-made bomb attacks near the finish-line occurred on Patriots Day at the Boston Marathon on April 16, 2013. Two separate explosions occurred where at least three people where killed and 176 injured. Currently, two suspects are wanted in connection to the attacks. An alleged ‘former’ person of interest is being deported back to Saudi Arabia.

Since explosive devises were used to commit mass-harm the actions of the suspects are deemed as a “terrorist attack” by definition of under Title VIII of the 2001 Patriot Act. President Obama called the Boston bombing a “terrorist attack.”

Here are the images from the FBI’s website in PDF format.

FBI “High Resolution” Images.
The images are not exactly “high resolution”, but they are larger than original size.

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FBI "Suspects 1 & 2" wanted for questioning by FBI in connection with Boston Terrorist Attack (image source: FBI.gov)
FBI “Suspects 1 & 2” wanted for questioning by FBI in connection with Boston Terrorist Attack (image source: FBI.gov)

Obama Deporting A Former “Person of Interest”
The FBI would not comment or address the Saudi student in Boston on an (expired?) Visa.  Saudi national Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, 20 was questioned in the area at the time of the event in Boston. Ali Alharbi is now reportedly being deported on “national security grounds.” President Obama had an unscheduled meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Wednesday, 04-17-2013. The deportation was to avoid any “embarrassment” to the Saudi government.

“Police and federal officials exit an apartment complex at 364 Ocean Avenue with a possible connection to the earlier explosions that occurred during the Boston Marathon.” A Saudi national, Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi  was allegedly living in the apartment. Image Credit: Getty Images; Source; Daily Mail.UK
“Police and federal officials exit an apartment complex at 364 Ocean Avenue with a possible connection to the earlier explosions that occurred during the Boston Marathon.” A Saudi national, Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi was allegedly living in the apartment. Image Credit: Getty Images; Source; Daily Mail.UK

WND reported (PDF) that Ali Alharbi shared the same last name as those tied to both AL-Qaida and held by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. WND further stated that Ali Alharbi was put under armed guard at a hospital after the Boston attack. Ali Alharbi was burned during the attack in Boston. Police raided his apartment and seized some bags and what looks like a large spool of yellow wire in this PDF.

If Ali Alharbi was allegedly studying English might raise the question what would he need this large spool of wire for? There may be no connection, however we don’t know what was in the bags, and the FBI has not come forward with any further information to explain why his apartment was raided and what exactly did they find.

At the time a CBS correspondent and former assistant director at the FBI indicated among other things that Ali Alharbi gave responses to authorities that made them feel “uncomfortable” (CBS PDF).

Later, the Saudi Embassy in the U. S. said that Ali Alharbi was no longer under police detention and therefore no longer a suspect (PDF). It was later said that Ali Alharbi was now a “witness” and not a suspect. What is odd here is this: Why would the President allow a potential “witness” in a domestic U.S. terrorist attack be immediately deported?

In any investigation, one does not let a person leave the country if the FBI thinks they are a person of interest, former person of interest, let alone a witness to a terrorist attack.

U.S. Cut Funding to Domestic Bomb Prevention
In another controversial move, President Obama cut former President Bush’s funding to domestic bombing prevention by 45% to now $11 Million (PDF).

Who did it?
There has been much speculation and conspiracy including political about who did it. My guess was a small group (probably more than two), of young 22-28ish males who are anti-U.S. government/ Anti-American. Clearly their actions are terrorist in nature. They did not go after direct government or military targets. They went after easy public targets where lots of attention would be given to the impact of their actions.

Since we are speculating a little, and this is based on my analysis from doing research on terrorism in college, I would be surprised if the people involved were “mentally ill” by medical definition. I would argue that they colluded together with sound mind bent on doing massive harm.

I would also argue they are not “high-level” people or high-level terror-organization related. They seem small time terrorists by the home-made device that anyone could make with a little effort. It is also possible that they are fragments from a little larger group; however the group still does not seem sophisticated enough or else they would have likely been able to cause greater damage.

DHS

DHS Needs to Perform a Security Review on Visas
In 2011, we sited a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Report in our article about illegal immigration. The big concern in this report included DHS’s admitted that 17,032 people crossed the U.S. border illegally were from countries other than Mexico, Latin America, South America, or western islands. The number of people who DHS did not catch is of course not known,, and that is the problem with poor border security enforcement.

The U.S. needs to review ALL foreign nationals in the U.S. starting with those from counties that the DHS has called persons from counties of “Special Interest.” DHS needs to check Visa status, inquire of doing exactly what they intend to do here whether it be attending school, long vacation, or otherwise.

The U.S. can’t just issue Visa’s without following up when they are to expire. If the Visa has expired, they should automatically be put on a national list to be flagged by law enforcement. Most of the cases, people are just overstaying their Visas. However a Visa is not a permanent immigration card either, nor a backdoor method to quasi-citizenship.

The Administration seemed (or will still push for) a database of law-biding U.S. citizens who are also gun owners in the USA, but keeping track of foreign nationals is not as important? Now, in most if not near 99% of the cases are non-security risk people and legit students or travelers with legit purposes. However, the 2010 DHS report should alert to remind government to not only enforce border security, but they may also want to keep better records of temporary visitors, especially from counties that have internal ties to terrorism, whether direct government sponsored or not.

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UPDATES 04-19-2013 Below:
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NEW IMAGES OF SUSPECTS JUST RELEASED BY FBI OVERNIGHT

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Suspect #1: Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, Russian born, and became U.S. citizen in 2007, pictured above in black hat is the older brother of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who is pictured below wearing white hat. Tsarnaev was shot multiple times in gun fight with police overnight on or about 04-19-13. Tsarnaev was taken to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston where he did not survive his injuries. During a press conference at the hospital, medical officials noted that Tsarnaev also had a “blast injury.”

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Suspect #2: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19 born outside U.S., pictured above “white hat” suspect captured alive.

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Suspect Images Source: FBI.gov

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Short link to this article: https://www.netadvisor.org/?p=17774

image credits/ sources: FBI.gov, Reuters, Getty Images, DHS

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