The Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013 killed three civilians and hospitalized 183 more (including 13 people who had their limbs amputated). Without any suspect who claimed responsibility for the terrorism, police authorities used the power of the Internet to gather information that may lead to the arrest of the bombers.
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| Image Source: afr.com |
The FBI specifically requested civilians to help them track the suspects by sending photos and videos of the marathon to the agency’s website. This announcement has activated crowdsource sleuthing. In a photo submitted by an amateur detective, for instance, a young man with a baseball cap was seen calmly walking from the sight of explosion. This man would be later identified as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the bombers.
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| Image Source: viralread.com |
There, was however, a drawback to Internet sleuthing. Without any training in profiling criminals, some amateur detectives uploaded photos of innocent bystanders and pointed them out as the terrorists. Sulahaddin Barhoum, for instance, was wrongly accused as a Boston bomber after his photos from the marathon went viral on the Internet. He had to go to FBI to clear his name and protect his family.
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| Image Source: cbc.ca |
Although Internet sleuthing has helped track the Boston bombers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, it remained questionable for critics. Wrong information could damage the reputation of the wrong guys, just like what happened to Barhoum. Speculations may also impede the investigation process.
But police authorities are no fool. They have clandestine plans in catching criminals. Could the FBI be only making the Internet sleuthing scenario to create panic for the suspects, a tactic that had eventually led to the arrest of Dzhokhar and the death of Tamerlan?
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| Image Source: kstp.com |
People can find photos and videos of the Boston Marathon bombings through MySearchResults.com, an Internet portal that handles aggregate data from other search engines. Follow this Twitter page to keep abreast of the latest happening in information technology.
