The perpetrator, or perpetrators of last Monday’s bombing in Boston have not yet been found despite the best efforts of federal and state law enforcement. 4chan, the image board, has however been working on locating suspect from images taken before and after the explosions, and they could be on to something.
The thread itself, like many on 4chan, is disjointed and posts range from unsubstantiated conspiracy to blurry images of destroyed backpacks. There may be several lines of inquiry that law enforcement could follow in pursuit of the criminals who caused the explosion in Boston.
The general trend in the so called “think tank” image dissection is the identification of individuals who appeared to be alone at the site of the bombing, and were carrying backpacks in some photos while without them in others. There is no firm evidence contained in any of the pictures, and some of the posts are downright fallacious.
One post among the images claims that the bombing was perpetrated by unknown forces to further the suppression of second amendment rights. The poster claims that the tragedy will be used to make the sale of reloading powder illegal or more controlled. The poster says that the same thing will happen with regular ammunition.
The study of images from the bombing site might further the pursuit of those responsible, and the use of a “hive mind” to discover information like this might be commended, but speculation should not be taken as fact by any viewer. The above post shows the position from which some of the posters are approaching the situation. A great deal of the work on 4chan is fictional.
The actual pursuit and verification of the identity of criminals responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing is the work of law enforcement. The help and support community at large is an essential part of that process. 4chan’s think tank is an interesting piece, but it in no way gives firm evidence of the identity of the Boston bombers.
Any viewer who wants to take a look at the work of the 4chan group can find the images embedded below. Some of the images are graphic, and some of the logic used to identify individuals is unsubstantial, but it makes for an interesting use of a group think perspective to solve problems.
