The curious story of Terrorista #1 and Two "Globe Reporters" Crashing Her Apartment

As usual, and sadly, when you want in-depth news coverage of American events, you should probably start with the British Press.

In this case, it's the Daily Mail. And, boy, do they have a weird story today about the 3 people who were taken into custody following the capture of Jihadi Terror Suspect #2.

The main part of the story is getting the attention, and prompted the Drudge link: one of the Bombers friends taken into custody had a "Terrorista #1" license plate.

But there is something else about the story that is buried at the end that bothers me. This is a case where a lot of time will be spent determining the nature and extent of these bombers international ties, whether the first suspects relatively recent trips to Russia meant anything significant, and whether they were part of a larger cell. Keeping that in mind, these paragraphs are buried in the Mail story:

The neighbour said that when the the police raided the apartment there were armed officers on the tennis court out the back on a tennis court lying down with their guns pointed towards the apartment.

The FBI later brought a U-Haul truck to the rear of the apartment but did not take anything away.

The neighbour said that when the boys were led out she heard ‘scuffles’ and that they were led away with their hands in zip ties.

The neighbour said ‘I’ve not spoken to them since the bombings. They have thick accents so I find it hard to understand them anyway.

Two Russian speaking men in their early 20s later arrived at the apartment and told reporters they were journalists from the Boston Globe.

They then entered the apartment through an unlocked patio door. When asked what they were doing they said: ‘We are friends of theirs. They are talking, they are talking’ and closed the door.

When Mail Online rang the City desk of the Boston Globe, a man said: ‘We’re very busy right now. Consider us informed’.

If accurate, this seems very strange to me. Does the Globe have two 20-something year old Russian speaking men on staff? Did they send two "journalists" out to "check out/gain entry" to the apartments of the 3 people in custody? Were these guys lying to gain entry? If the Globe doesn't have these folks on staff, who were they?

I really doubt that these self-proclaimed "friends" of the 3 people in custody went over and let themselves in to the apartment out of an abundance of concern for whether the plants were watered or pets fed. If I'm right to be skeptical, what were they doing there? When did they leave? How long did they stay? Did they remove anything?

Apparently, the Daily Mail's journalists found this behavior odd also, as they called the Globe to report it.

Maybe there is an innocent explanation for all this. After all, the FBI had already swept the place. But, given the story arc of this case, I don't think this story should be ignored. I hope that whatever the Mail witnessed is being checked out by the appropriate authorities.

Anyway, I don't blog much anymore, but this Mail story just seems strange to me. Could be nothing. Could be something. Thought I'd at least throw this story out there before it got lost in the rush of events, as it seems like something that ought not be overlooked as the investigation into the people associated with this horrible act of terror continues.

If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm @jackmcoldcuts. Thanks for reading this far.

posted by Jack M. at 02:38 PM

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