More than half a day after the explosions in Boston, police still have questions. Speculations are in the air.
This attack killed at least three people, including an 8-year-old boy, and wounded more than 100 others, including several amputations.
But it is just impossible not to jump into a conclusion, or at least jump to theories. "We all wonder first who did this," says Michael Tomasky at The Daily Beast. And, Tomasky says, a little careful speculation isn't such a bad thing. Here are four groups that are the focus of early (and— let us be clear — sometimes baseless) finger-pointing in the Boston attack:
2. Right-wing militia types
This theory, too, was inevitable. And most proponents point to the date —Patriots' Day — as a clue. Residents of Massachusetts and Maine celebrate Patriots' Day by taking the day off of work and re-enacting the first battles of the American Revolution, says Sommer Mathis at The Atlantic Cities. "But in recent years, Second Amendment activists and anti-government modern-day militia members have tried to co-opt the holiday, which also roughly marks the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing."
1. Islamist jihadists
This theory was inevitable: right after the explosion in Boston it has been recognized as the first one on the American soil since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and it gained some initial credence from a New York Post report that a 20-year-old Saudi national had been picked up as a "person of interest." However, a little bit later police announced that they are "searching for a darker skinned or black male with a black backpack and black sweatshirt, possibly foreign national from the accent of the individual." There is a video of man standing on the roof of a nearby building when the explosion happened.
This theory was inevitable: right after the explosion in Boston it has been recognized as the first one on the American soil since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and it gained some initial credence from a New York Post report that a 20-year-old Saudi national had been picked up as a "person of interest." However, a little bit later police announced that they are "searching for a darker skinned or black male with a black backpack and black sweatshirt, possibly foreign national from the accent of the individual." There is a video of man standing on the roof of a nearby building when the explosion happened.
Another theory is linked towards Al Qaeda. Christopher Dickey at The Daily Beast claims that “the construction of the bombs — gunpowder with ball-bearings and other shrapnel to maximize the damage— is similar to a bomb recipe shared by Al Qaeda "on its internet manuals for terrorist attacks."
This theory, too, was inevitable. And most proponents point to the date —Patriots' Day — as a clue. Residents of Massachusetts and Maine celebrate Patriots' Day by taking the day off of work and re-enacting the first battles of the American Revolution, says Sommer Mathis at The Atlantic Cities. "But in recent years, Second Amendment activists and anti-government modern-day militia members have tried to co-opt the holiday, which also roughly marks the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing."
Was remembered the case when in 1995 there was a bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, which were carried out by Americans who espoused extreme right-wing causes," says The Daily Beast's Dickey.
There's also the fact that the Boston Marathon fell on tax day this year, and the last mile of the race "was dedicated to Newtown victims," says Tomasky.
"But man you would have to be a really 100 percent out-there sicko to think that this was how you wanted to make a political statement about gun rights. I think there are dangerous extremists among that group, but I don't think even they would do or approve of doing something like this."
3. The government
As in the case of 9/11 attacks, "false flag" attack proponents wasted no time and blamed the government for staging the Boston explosions to achieve their own ends.
3. The government
As in the case of 9/11 attacks, "false flag" attack proponents wasted no time and blamed the government for staging the Boston explosions to achieve their own ends.
However, this theory doesn’t have sufficient ground. Even for a reason there were too many cameras and witnesses to "concoct a really compelling conspiracy theory," and the real-time fact-checking on Twitter has decimated the bad information that conspiracies need to thrive. For example, those "loud speakers" urging calm never happened.
4. A criminally insane lone wolf
There's also the possibility that this attack was perpetrated by some "local nutcase. There have been many accidents recently connected with usage of gun. Open and free society where people can cause massive destruction with a few well-placed bombs. There's a decent chance the Boston marathon attackers were "motivated by simple revenge of some kind, or by nothing but the disease in someone's brain."
There's also the possibility that this attack was perpetrated by some "local nutcase. There have been many accidents recently connected with usage of gun. Open and free society where people can cause massive destruction with a few well-placed bombs. There's a decent chance the Boston marathon attackers were "motivated by simple revenge of some kind, or by nothing but the disease in someone's brain."
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