Looting appears to be seen in wake of Boston Marathon blasts
(YouTube)
For all of the heroism shown in the wake of Monday's Boston Marathon bombings, at least one scene was, at best, an example of unfortunate timing and, at worst, a despicable display of greed.
Video footage purportedly shot in the moments after the two blasts shows people taking official marathon jackets from a tent vacated by race staffers.
"Looters stealing marathon jackets," a YouTube user who posted the footage wrote, "while others are just feet away critically injured."
It's unclear if those seen picking up the jackets, meant for finishers of the race, were aware of what had transpired minutes earlier.
It is clear, however, that some people took more than one.
The video was posted to Reddit.com, where users debated the footage and threatened to shame those in it.
"Take a high quality screenshot of each and every one of their faces," one user wrote. "Make a Tumblr. Plaster each persons face online. Get Reddit to front page it and make it go viral."
The user added, "I honestly wouldn't normally advocate this sort of mob justice, but that one piece of s--- smiling while grabbing all the [jackets] he could carry while people were dying 20 feet away got to me."
"Entirely possible that some of them were doing this for a legitimate reason," another wrote. "Namely, a runner was at the finish line but didn't have access to their belongings due to the bombing and were left in the cold."
"I'm really hoping these people are taking jackets to the injured to cover wounds," another user wrote. "But I know better."
Three people died and 176 others were wounded, 17 critically, in the blasts, officials said Tuesday.
One YouTube user said the jackets were indeed being handed out "to comfort injured or those who could not go back to [the] hotel."
"Yes, some people took advantage ofit, what can you do," the user wrote, "but it's not looting [that] you see."
What's more troubling, others noted, was a growing number of eBay listings for Boston Marathon-related items by people who seemed to be capitalizing on a tragedy.
One listing, which has since been removed, advertised the sale of 10 Web domain names tied to the bombings. Other less sinister listings were auctioning copies of Tuesday's Boston Globe. The headline: "Marathon Terror."
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