‘Bag Men’

NY Post Sued for Defamation

By men portrayed as Boston Marathon bombing suspects.

Salaheddin Barhoum and Yassine Zaimi were not suspected of plotting and carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing, but in the mess of confusion and false reports that followed the April attack, the New York Post put a picture of the pair on its front page, misidentifying them as the subject of an FBI search. Now, Barhoum, a 16-year-old high school student, and Zaimi, 24, are filing a defamation lawsuit against the paper, arguing that by falsely identifying them as bombing suspects, the Post is guilty of libel, invasion of privacy, and infliction of emotional distress. The Post has not commented on the lawsuit, but back in April editor Col Allan stood by the paper’s choice to print the picture that he says was emailed by police seeking information, insisting, “We did not identify them as suspects.”