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Recursion

(56,582 posts)
Tue Apr 16, 2013, 04:51 AM Apr 2013

Debunking the "guy walking on the roof" thing before it's bunked:

So, the Interwebz are all abuzz about who this guy walking on the roof is:





Obviously we don't know for certain, but Tweeter @jclong points to an earlier picture he had taken from the Prudential of police walking on the roofs around Copley:



As to "why is he walking rather than running right after a bomb went off?", three points:

1. It's not a great idea to run on a roof with a low railing
2. If, like many cops, he has military experience in the past decade he's no stranger to IEDs and unlikely to panic
3. Judging by the videos, it wasn't entirely clear even to the people on the ground what had just happened, it's probably even less clear to somebody on a roof.

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Debunking the "guy walking on the roof" thing before it's bunked: (Original Post) Recursion Apr 2013 OP
It's a Big Foot! longship Apr 2013 #1
Photo enhanced Ichingcarpenter Apr 2013 #2
The reason he or she is not running is because the bomb is still exploding. Gravitycollapse Apr 2013 #3
The *second* explosion is still happening Recursion Apr 2013 #4

Gravitycollapse

(8,155 posts)
3. The reason he or she is not running is because the bomb is still exploding.
Tue Apr 16, 2013, 05:03 AM
Apr 2013

It's been literally fractions of a second since the explosion began. The human body cannot react that quickly. As is evidenced in the stances of everyone else in the photo.

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
4. The *second* explosion is still happening
Tue Apr 16, 2013, 05:10 AM
Apr 2013

The first one can be seen in the background (this photo is from the west, between Kenmore and Copley; actually pretty much where my office used to be, which is really creepy).

But, yeah, those were low powered compared to "normal" IEDs (thank God) so he may not have even identified the first blast as such yet. The more important point is that there were security personnel on the roofs of buildings.

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