Secret Boston intelligence report flagged 'increased vulnerability' of marathon finish line FIVE DAYS before fatal bombings

Finish line was 'area of increased vulnerability,' report read
Boston police chief testified that the federal government withheld information about the Tsarnaev brothers
'The failure to share information is absolutely indefensible,' said New York Rep. Peter King of the brothers' plans to bomb Times Square

PUBLISHED: 11:50 EST, 9 May 2013 | UPDATED: 13:29 EST, 9 May 2013

Boston's mourners were handed a stunning development Thursday with news that a secret intelligence assessment, issued just five days before the Boston Marathon bombings, specifically warned that the finish line area was an 'area of increased vulnerability' for terrorist bombers.

The report, now eerie in its accuracy, raised alarms over fears that terrorists could execute 'small scale bombings' aimed at killing both marathon runners and spectators near the race's end point.

Two officials read portions of the 18-page report to a reporter in the Los Angeles Times' Boston bureau, according to the paper.

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Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis told members of the House Homeland Security Committee that the FBI never shared information about Tamerlan Tsarnaev with his agency

Former U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman (L) said local law enforcement is the 'first line of defense' against terror plots, and criticized the feds for holding back information

The 'Joint Special Event Assessment' was issued on April 10, and concluded that there was 'no credible, specific information indicating an imminent threat' to anyone running or attending the race.

That assessment, according to the LA Times, included a caution that 'The FBI has not identified any specific lone offender or extremist group who pose a threat to the Boston marathon.'

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But the organization that prepared it, the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, is linked by its funding to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - not to the Department of Justice, which is the FBI's parent organization.

Questions remain about how much credible intelligence DHS had on the principal bombing suspect, the late Tamerlan Tsarnaev, before he and his brother detonated two shrapnel-laden pressure-cooker bombs, killing three and injuring hundreds.

Boston police were not warned by FBI about Tamerlin Tsarnaev

Boston Marathon runners were devastated after two bombs exploded near the finish line on April 15. A report cited by the Los Angeles Times indicates that Boston terror-trackers considered the marathon's finish line a high-risk target

Tamerlan Tsarnaev smiles after accepting the trophy for winning the 2010 New England Golden Gloves Championship

Flowers and teddy bears dominated an impromptu memorial site in Boston's Copley Square, near the site of the April 15 bombings. Tamerlan Tsarnaev (R) and his brother Dzokhar are the accused bombings. Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police just days after the bombings

Russia's government gave the United States specific intelligence about Tsarnaev and his terrorist sympathies in 2011. And a high-ranking Saudi official has told MailOnline that his government warned the U.S. about Tsarnaev in 2012 after denying him an entry visa in December 2011, although DHS and the Saudi embassy in Washington have issued denials about that report.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis told a congressional panel on Thursday morning that his department was never told about the Tsarnaev brothers.

'We would have liked to have known,' Davis testified in a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, but 'we were not aware of the two brothers. We were not aware of their activities.'

Boston police, he said, weren't aware they existed until three days after the bombings.

'We didn't look at the brothers until after the shootout' that claimed Tamerlan's life, he said.

Ten days after the Boston bombings, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced that the Tsarnaev brothers planned to bomb Times Square. Federal agencies did not share that information with New York City officials until long after the information could have made a difference

Anguish: First responders helped a screaming man into an ambulance - one of more than 200 who were injured in the bombings. Three others died, including an 8-year-old boy

'We would certainly have looked at the information' if federal law enforcement had provided it, Davis testified.

But the three officers he had assigned to Boston's Joint Terrorism Task Force said later that they were never in the loop.

'They tell me they received no word about that individual prior to the bombing,' Davis told the committee.

In the hearing, New York Republican Rep. Peter King slammed federal law enforcement for failing to share information with authorities in Boston and New York, where the FBI was aware the Tsarnaev brothers intended to detonate more bombs in Times Square.

'The failure to share information is absolutely indefensible,' said King.

Lieberman applauded the Boston police chief, but slammed the federal government for failing to share information with city and state authorities

Former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, a former chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, testified that DHS and the FBI should share a broader variety of information with state and local law enforcement agencies, calling them 'your first line of defense.'

Not sharing all the federal government's information with Boston police, he said, was 'a serious and aggravating omission.'

He called that lapse 'one of the most significant and painful takeaway lessons' from the federal government's response to the bombings.

House Homeland Security Committee hearing: 'The Boston Bombings: A First Look'

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Here is the scenario that unfortunately keeps repeating itself, like a broken record: Something really bad happens....investigate...say we didn't know....mourn...hold congressional hearings...wring hands...say we will make major changes and hold someone accountable ....repeat Ever wonder what it means when someone in government says they take full responsibility???

- Bob52 , Oro Valley, United States, 09/5/2013 23:57

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Does anyone find it rather odd that there are always DRILLS being run whenever these attacks transpire? My guess is because it will throw anyone off the trail of pursuing the truth by confusing the photographic evidence. People seen near Sandy Hook with guns? There was a drill taking place. Suspicious people in official uniform seen near the Boston Marathon finish line before the blasts? There was a drill taking place. Mike: I think those 'drills' were because they had this 'increased vulnerability' report ... and it still didn't stop it. Personally, if I ran a disaster response team in a local gov't, I would stage drills every real-world event. I can't ever replicate the volume of people and the thousands of scenarios the real thing offers. The one thing that may be a deterent to future attempts: big brother. He is everywhere. In the spy cams the local city put up and the smartphone cameras of the average man.

- SammySushi , Chandler, 09/5/2013 21:57

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It doesn't fit the press release from Administration that terrorism is over because 'the one' apologized to everyone then personally killed Bin Laden. HE was now off to carry out the next miracle. This of course is all printed by the US mainstream media as 'the delivered wisdom'. So the Russians and Saudis could send what they want it can't be true because the Administration did not want anyone to think it was true. No need to join up dots, no need for more security, stop the funding for security, we got Bin Laden so it is all over. Except it wasn't and isn't and people died due to politically led complacency and fawning gullible US media.

- Ian W , Reading, 09/5/2013 21:50

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Ofcourse they knew. Once again, all of us "crazy" c.o.n.s.p.i.r.a.c.y socalled nutjobs are the only ones with our critical minded heads not in the clouds........ Denial and the need for "heroes" has to stop............People need to start thinking for themselves........... Heroes are a MYTH. Death can never be undone. Be your own Hero. Because in the end, all each one of us really has is Ourselves to count on...... And THANK YOU Internet for making Secrets harder and harder to keep bc this is what is going to save us all in the end!

- WiseOldTimer , BeenThereDoneThat, United States, 09/5/2013 20:46

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Doesn't surprise me one bit.

- Polly , putting the kettle on., 09/5/2013 20:16

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- Mike , Hawaii, 09/5/2013 20:10

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And they wonder why people believe in false f lag c onspiracy. I mean really "Secret Boston intelligence report flagged 'increased vulnerability' of marathon finish line" who makes this nonsense up? If you are facing a genuine t errorist threat, I mean a specific real group with an actual motive, not any old B S, almost anything and anyone is a target. How is the marathon more of a target than any Shopping Mall or high street in the US. The I R A targeted high streets, town centres, the police and Politicians, but then they were a real t errorist group. Why the average US citizen has never questioned why their major politicians are never targeted is beyond me.

- Woody Adopter , London, United Kingdom, 09/5/2013 20:09

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The FBI and other intelligence agencies were not exactly forthcoming about the threat to theTwin Towers on Bush's watch either.Sometimes I think these agencies get way too distracted checking millions and millions of phone calls and e-mails of completely innocent Americans.They will be even more distracted when every neighborhood in America has spy drones hovering over them twenty four hours a day.One can only imagine what significant information they will miss when that happens.

- Yemil , CB, 09/5/2013 19:56

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12 years after 9/11, our law enforcement agencies still care more about protecting their turfs than sharing information.

- Darren , USA, 09/5/2013 19:32

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Once again we see that the government is really only there to count the bodies... and then raise taxes.

- NYCER , New York, 09/5/2013 19:18

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