Thursday, April 18, 2013

The Boston bombing: An arrest...?

At this writing, there is talk of an imminent arrest in the Boston bombing case. Accounts are sketchy, but the implication is that cops were able to track a potential perpetrator via surveillance footage.

CNN originally claimed that the cops already had someone in custody; the news network later retracted that story. AP and The Boston Globe both made a similar incorrect claim about an arrest. Bizarrely, an unnamed Boston "law enforcement official" still maintained that a suspect has been arrested, even after the FBI denied the report. What a bizarre situation!

CNN reported that the surveillance footage showed a dark-skinned individual while CBS spoke of a white male.

The Daily Beast also reports that an Al Qaeda online publication published instructions for building a "pressure cooker" bomb.

No doubt we'll have more details and a clearer story after the sun has risen.

In the meantime, my heart goes out to everyone affected by the horrifying fertilizer plant explosion near Waco, Texas. At this writing, the cause remains unknown, although all the news accounts I've seen so far indicate that this event was a ghastly accident, not an act of human malice.

3 comments:

mikeb said...

clearly we need to ban pressure cookers and easy access to gun powder and other devices that sick Right Wing extremists can manufacture IEDs out of.

Anonymous said...

I think if there is a desired outcome from this, making black powder harder to obtain for reloaders who make their own ammunition may be part of it.

But I am astounded at the detail I'm hearing on the news concerning how to make these things. After a fairly explicit description in outline, several times I've heard tips to check out the internet for complete instructions.

WTF? Yes, most people could figure out where to go for info, but why help those dimmer potential killers who cannot?

XI

Joseph Cannon said...

XI: Those articles were no doubt published in the spirit of Hamlet's famous words: "This, NOT to do!"