Were There Three Bombers in Boston?

The quoted post is preliminary to the main point of this new thread.

Originally posted by ipsedixit

The following are some screen grabs from the surveillance video footage released by the FBI, showing the Tsarnaev brothers on the day of the Boston Marathon bombing. They are all from the same scenes showing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev following his brother along the sidewalk, carrying his backpack slung over his right shoulder.

The first shot from the back is there to show the design of the strap on the backpack. The rest of the shots are various views from the left side showing how Dzhokhar's right shoulder appears to someone looking at him from his left side.

In every shot we know that he is carrying the backpack, because this is a video sequence in which the backpack is clearly visible most of the time, although, in one or two of the shots a casual viewer might not think he had the backpack with him because it is hidden behind his body as he walks.

However, it is possible if one looks carefully, in every shot, to see an indication that the backpack strap is there, even in the center shot at the bottom of the set.

Here is a section from the David Green photograph of Dzhokhar leaving the scene of the bombing along with many others who left the scene in the aftermath.

www.usatoday.com...

Note the highlights indicating signs of what is almost certainly the strap of the backpack over his shoulder.

The kid is not "alright", but I think he left the scene of the bombing with his backpack.

I have a scenario which might be what actually happened the day of the bombing.

I think that there were three bombers. I think that Tamerlan may have left his bomb, but I think that Dzhokhar had second thoughts and left the scene of the bombings with his backpack containing his bomb. This bomb was the one they used in the shootout in Watertown.

I think the third bomber was another individual who may possibly have been duped into carrying a bomb by Tamerlan. Could it be his wife or another party? I'm not sure if she was at the scene or could be found in any photos. I don't know what the official line is on her, but I think there was a third bomber.

This is assuming that they all weren't patsies involved in a drill that went live. The fact that Dzhokhar left with his backpack and that a bomb of the pressure cooker type was used in the shootout argues for the scenario above.

reply to post by ipsedixit


Were There Three Bombers in Boston?


Yes...


The terrorist act itself, the reaction of law enforcement, and last but not least - the Media's Take.


Boom to all 3...

reply to post by facelift

Any thoughts on the scenario outlined in the OP?

2

Originally posted by ipsedixit
reply to post by facelift

 

Any thoughts on the scenario outlined in the OP?

2

Yes Ma'am...


Anything is Possible.

well, the fact that he is shown wearing the knapsack at his side is a possible explaination of why there is a pic where it isn't on his back

reply to post by facelift

You're a real deep thinker. Thanks for your participation in the thread.

reply to post by Danbones

I don't think there is a picture of him without the backpack. Except the convenience store picture.

I don't think people on ATS are being realistic about the pressure cooker bomb that appeared in the Watertown shootout. Here on ATS most people think a bomber will plan an operation like the Marathon bombing, detonate the two bombs used in the operation and then drive around with a spare pressure cooker bomb in the back seat because that sort of bomb is just so handy to have around.

I doubt if professionals would see it that way. The spare bomb and the fact that Dzhokhar left the scene with his backpack argues for a third bomber, identity as yet unknown.

reply to post by ipsedixit


Now you have at least five bombs. That is what you're saying.

It's hard to tell if he had the back pack or not in the picture of him running away. I just wonder if there are anymore pictures out there besides that one. With all the pictures, it seems to me like there would be another one but I know most of everyones attention were drawn to the explosion. Plus with amount of people that were there, there could have been more than just 2 or 3 that helped in this. I really hope that this wasn't the case and these two were the only ones involved.

He appears to be moving somewhat quickly in that pic, it would be harder to one strap a backpack at that point. That black highlighted portion can eaaily be his clothing, I don't think he has a backpack on there.

Plus, there's the pic (the one that shows the 8yr old boy by the railing) where you can see white cap brother and his backpack is already on the ground... And it looks exactly like his silver/white colored bag. So either he's walking by and someone else placed an identical bag on the ground, or he left his bag there and walked away bagless. My vote is for the latter, it just makes the most logical sense.

reply to post by randyvs


I'm saying there were three bombs involved, that I know about. I'm not counting detonations that were done by the bomb squad after the fact on "possible" bombs or suspicious parcels.

Tamerlan's bomb. Dzhokhar's bomb that he took away without detonating. A third bomb which was detonated and which was deposited by a third, as yet unknown person.

reply to post by ipsedixit


Okay, as long as we ad these two to the grand total.

20:13 GMT: An intelligence official working on the scene told the Associated Press that two additional explosive devices were found near the site, and are being dismantled by a bomb squad.

Originally posted by IamMe14
He appears to be moving somewhat quickly in that pic, it would be harder to one strap a backpack at that point.

But that is a frozen moment. He may have been about to shift the backpack to the other shoulder.

That black highlighted portion can eaaily be his clothing, I don't think he has a backpack on there.

Look carefully. I'm highlighting the two white stripes.

Plus, there's the pic (the one that shows the 8yr old boy by the railing) where you can see white cap brother and his backpack is already on the ground... And it looks exactly like his silver/white colored bag.

This I disagree with. The pack on the ground is too dark and in any case, could belong to anyone present in that spot.

So either he's walking by and someone else placed an identical bag on the ground, or he left his bag there and walked away bagless. My vote is for the latter, it just makes the most logical sense.

The David Green photo proves he had the backpack with him when he left the scene. I have no doubt about it.

reply to post by randyvs

The statements about additional devices were revised later in the day by the Washington Post. The issue of other devices is complicated by the high probability of a drill, with fake bombs, going on that day. (Shades of 9/11.)

reply to post by ipsedixit


So the intelligence officer working the scene wasn't just nameless, he was also incompetent.
SnF

Originally posted by randyvs
reply to post by ipsedixit

 

So the intelligence officer working the scene wasn't just nameless, he was also incompetent.
SnF

No. I'm not sure exactly what was going on there. The existence of other bombs was also confirmed by Rep. Keating and reported by CBS.

I think a drill was going on and when reality busted in, the story started to be massaged a little to erase the drill from the picture.

The Tsarnaevs were either patsies led into the bombing or acting on their own. I think that Dzhokhar had second thoughts about it and held onto his bomb. Tamerlan left his to blow up and a third party left another bomb to blow up. Dzhokhar's bomb then wound up being used in the Watertown shootout later.

The pressure cooker bomb in Watertown really caught my attention. It was like a whiplash WTF moment. It was the thing that "did not fit". Of course most people think that it does fit. These guys used pressure cooker bombs. But for somebody with more experience of funny business, that was the chink in the official storyline.

reply to post by ipsedixit


Even if he had the strap on there's no way it's visible from that angle, what you're seeing is his sweater. His strap would have to be awkwardly lying on top of his sweater's zipper area to be visible.

As for the pic i mentioned, i just looked at it again and the bag on the ground looks very much like his. It's definitely light colored (which is not that common in general), and you can see there's an area of his bag that almost looks unzipped (outside pocket/compartment) is also visible on the ground. To me it's much easier to say the bag on the ground looks a lot like his than it is to see that he's wearing a backpack after the blast.

Let's look at this from a different angle, are you suggesting he got scared and ran off with his bomb? Wouldn't he use that in his confession to try and get a lesser charge? It's not like giving up his brother is a bad thing, he's dead. If I chickened out and didn't blow my bag that's the FIRST thing I would tell the cops.

Originally posted by IamMe14
Let's look at this from a different angle, are you suggesting he got scared and ran off with his bomb? Wouldn't he use that in his confession to try and get a lesser charge? It's not like giving up his brother is a bad thing, he's dead. If I chickened out and didn't blow my bag that's the FIRST thing I would tell the cops.

I'm in no doubt that he had the backpack when he left the scene. We'll just have to agree to disagree on that.

I think he is trying to shield Tamerlan's wife (and child) possibly by taking the fall for the wife or for someone else. I definitely think he did not leave a bomb on the scene of the Marathon.

reply to post by IamMe14


But he is saying that the bomb may have been used during the chase so I don't think they would buy that story. I think there is some pictures out there that tell the whole story but we can't see them.

It's not to far fetched that they made more than one each to carry with them that day. But everything getting jumbled together with the drill? I'm not sure about that one. They wouldn't have actual explosives around civilians just for a drill.

As for the picture of him with the back pack is something I haven't seen yet. I keep combing through the pictures and like you said, the one on the ground does look a whole heck of lot like the one he was carrying.

The bag at the bottom of this picture is not the one that Dzhokhar was carrying. It's too dark.

The logo or manufacturer's name is printed against a dark backround. On Dzhokhar's the backround is light.