Did the FBI catch both suspects? I think in both cases it was the Boston Police who did the shooting/catching.
Perhaps you meant it was the FBI that solved the case. But did they? The investigation team seemed to be made up of more than the FBI, so giving the FBI sole credit doesn't seem right, and even if you meant it was the authorities and not the FBI as the sole entity responsible for the capture/shooting of the suspects it doesn't seem quite right to give the authorities sole credit for the success of this operation. The guy with his legs blown off provided them with a pretty big clue when he regained consciousness and I'd give some credit to the guy who found suspect #2 in his boat and called authorities.
Perhaps your point was that the authorities together with support from various citizens caught both suspects, but without any help from the various internet investigations that materialized. You might be right about that, but even there I'm not sure you were right. What was the process that led to the release of better resolution pictures of the suspects and did the better resolution pictures play any role in their capture?
Okay, first please excuse a non-American's understanding of the agencies involved. I had assumed the FBI was 'in charge' and would take the suspects into custody. Like wot happens in Die Hard.
Second let me phrase it like this instead: the FBI-led investigation apparently identified the suspects using good old fashioned methods, including analysis of photos and videos, vigilance of the public and the eyes, ears and bravery of local police. (And sadly sacrifice)
It's emerging that the crowd sourced analysis was a disaster. It looks like nobody involved in that fiasco noticed the two actual suspects. Not until the FBI released their images did the amateurs begin to stop fingering innocents and focus on the correct people. The only worthwhile achievement was the identification of a higher resolution photo, which it seems was not related to reddit or other online collaborations. It's not known if this higher resolution photo even helped, but what is very likely is that other people privately contacted the FBI with their own tips and high res photos without getting awarded all the Internet kudos.
In my opinion, the most inept analyses spread furthest and fastest across the Internet. I could not believe my eyes when I saw posters here, of all places, taking the 'same fence' photos at face value and distributing them. That particular analysis was as bad as the worst Truther garbage. The episode proved nothing other than what every JREF supporter already knows - BS spreads faster than facts.
For the most part this forum handles things well. I actually chose to follow the entire thing via this forum rather than any other source. It's quick and a lot of people give excellent skeptical counterpoints to overexcited pundits and bloggers. I just think its a shame that what was clearly an utter mess is being defended under the banner of 'rights'. Having the right to do something, doesn't mean it's right to do it.
I hope next time this happens the amateur sleuthing is doused in healthy scepticism in light of what happened this time around. Who knows maybe there'll one day be a sub-forum here dedicated to tackling rampant unchecked online witch-hunts the way we once tackled no-planers. It's clearly a phenomenon that isn't going to go away, but like dowsing and mediumship, unless it's doing some proven good it needs challenging for all the harm its capable of wherever it crops up.
