AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Days after two bomb blasts killed three people and injured more than 140 others at the Boston Marathon, the identity of the perpetrator is still unknown. But that hasn’t stopped scores of commentators from sharing their own baseless theories on who is truly to blame.
Although the speculation has certainly been bipartisan, actors on the right have been especially eager to blame the horrific attack on their political opponents. Here are five groups that have been targeted for blame so far:
Muslims
Several right-wing commentators such as Glenn Beck and Pamela Geller rushed to baselessly blame Muslims for the attack, but no reaction was more egregious than that of Fox News commentator Erik Rush:
Screenshot viaThink Progress
Immigrants
Photo: Mark Taylor via Flickr.com
Others chose to use the Boston attack as an excuse to target all immigrants. Laura Ingraham speculated that we could have stopped the bombing “if we had borders that were shut down,” while Representative Steve King (R-IA) made up a few facts to advance his ongoing crusade against immigrants, whether they are here legally or not.
“Some of the speculation that has come out is that yes, it was a foreign national and, speculating here, that it was potentially a person on a student visa,” King said Tuesday. “If that’s the case, then we need to take a look at the big picture…we need to take a look at the visa-waiver program and wonder what we’re doing.”
Left-Wing Students
Irresponsible finger-pointing is not just an American phenomenon. On Wednesday morning, conservative Australian broadcaster Alan Jones went on national television to theorize that left-wing students probably carried out the attack, and warn that the same thing could soon happen in Australia.
“I think what we have to remember about Boston is it’s a student city,” Jones said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a conspiracy among students, left-wing radical students in Boston.”
President Obama
AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
Whenever something goes wrong in the United States, there will always be scores of right-wingers ready to blame it on President Barack Obama. In a Tuesday email to supporters, Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips claimed that Boston bombing happened because “we have a government that is not committed to protecting America.” Instead, according to Phillips, “Barack Obama just wants to bow” to the king of Saudi Arabia.
Not to be outdone, right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones waited mere minutes after the blast before declaring that the attack was an inside job.
Our hearts go out to those that are hurt or killed #Boston marathon – but this thing stinks to high heaven #falseflag
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) April 15, 2013
The Victims
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seemed to blame the victims of the attack during his detailed statement from the Senate floor Tuesday, by calling out Americans’ complacency with regards to homeland security.
“On 9/11 we were forever disabused of the notion that attacks like the one that rocked Boston yesterday only happen on the field of battle, or in distant countries. With the passage of time, however, and the vigilant efforts of our military, intelligence and law enforcement professionals, I think it’s safe to say that for many, the complacency that prevailed prior to September 11th has actually returned,” McConnell said. “And so we are newly reminded that serious threats to our way of life remain. And today again we recommit ourselves to the fight against terrorism at home and abroad.”
