Two Boston Marathon attendees filed a defamation lawsuit against the New York Post on Wednesday, of falsely portraying them as suspects during the bombing investigation.
Salaheddin Barhoum, a 16-year-old Revere High School student, and Yassine Zaimi, a 24-year-old part-time college student from Malden, in their legal complaint accused the Post of libel, negligent infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
According to the Boston Globe, "the lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court said the photographs and articles published three days after the bombings made it appear that FBI agents were pursuing [Barhoum and Zaimi], avid runners watching the Marathon."
Authorities released photographs of the suspected bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev later that same day in question. The two males are seeking damages, including an unspecified monetary compensation, according to reports.
The headline on the New York Post front page showing the photograph read "Bag Men."
"The front page would lead a reasonable reader to believe that plaintiffs had bombs in their bags, that they were involved in causing the Boston Marathon bombing," according to the court complaint.
The Post declined to comment on Wednesday to the Boston Globe.
Reportedly, Barhoum and Zaimi are legal residents who came to the United States from Morocco after being granted visas. The two males were severely distraught by the events of the bombing and were terrified when some reporters questioned them and their families about the events.
Max Stern, one of Barhoum's lawyers, accused the print publication of racial profiling.
"What kind of stereotyping and profiling, what type of reasoning, led the Post to think this was OK to do?" Stern told the court. "And would they have ever done this if this was just some white kid from the suburbs who was standing there with the backpack?"
