The New York Post lost a bid, trying to toss out a defamation lawsuit by two men who said their photo was used with the headline “BAG MEN” on the newspapers front page last year during the search for the Boston Marathon bombers. Yesterday, Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Judith Fabricant in Boston rejected the Post’s argument that the paper’s coverage represented a “fair report.” She said a fact finder could conclude the Post’s conduct was “extreme and outrageous” given heightened tensions surrounding the aftermath of the bombings.
The two men that were pictured on the Post’s April 18 front page, with the headline reading “Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon,” are Yassine Zaimi and Salaahddin Barhourm, who are legal U.S. residents living in suburban Boston. The same day the photo of Zaimi and Barhoum was published, a surveillance photo was released by the FBI identifying the Tsarnaev brothers as the primary suspects.
The Post, News Corp. (NWSA), wrote about a circulated e-mail among law enforcement looking to identify the two young men photographed talking and carrying backpacks by the finish line. The Posts never mentioned the men by name but a disclaimer accompanied the photo stating, “no direct evidence linking them to the crime, but authorities want to identify them.” The New York Post’s lawyer, Joseph D. Lipchitz, didn’t respond immediately to an e-mail looking to comment on the ruling.
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