Were The “Black and Tan” Men at the Boston Marathon National Guard Civil Support Teams?

Posted on April 21, 2013 by WashingtonsBlog

What about the “Craft” Mercenary?

Preface: This post is not meant either to support of debunk the theory that the Boston terror attack was a false flag operation.  There have been many false flag attacks throughout history, and we have no idea at this point whether or not the Boston bombings were real terror attacks, drills gone live, or false flags.   We also don’t want to discourage investigators and researchers from doing their own research and turning over stones to find what is hidden. This post is simply sharing our views on information about one aspect of the photographic evidence.
This post will undoubtedly be attacked from both sides: some claiming that we are engaging in bunch of nutty conspiracies, and others claiming that we’re selling out and covering up to defend the official lie.  We are doing neither … we’re simply trying to help move the discussion forward so as to focus on the most important facts.

There has been a lot of speculation on the internet that the men in “black and tan” may have had a hand in setting off the bombs.
For example, this photo – posted by 4ChanThinkTank – appears to show someone actually laying down a black backpack next to the Boston Marathon:

(It looks like the window to his right is already blown out by a bomb. But the fact that he is furtively handling the backpack looks extremely suspicious.)
His clothing looks very similar to the gentlemen on the left here (remember that the photo below was taken in broad sunlight, and thus the colors are lighter):


You can find more on this line of thinking  here, here and here.
Does that prove that the Boston bombings were a false flag attack?
Well, some conspiracy claims are true and others are false, and each has to be judged on its own merits.  So let’s dig in a little deeper into black and tan claim.
Foreign Policy reports:

Local National Guard units were on scene during the bombings at the Boston Marathon yesterday.
In particular, the Massachusetts and New York National Guards had deployed their Civil Support Teams to the marathon. (It’s worth pointing out that the fact that so many well trained first responders were already on hand may have played a role in keeping the death toll relatively low.)
CSTs, as they are known, are National Guard units that are specially trained and equipped to detect and respond to chemical, biological, or radiological incidents. Basically, they’re the first people a governor would call in the event of a WMD attack. These teams were on hand before the marathon even started, according to New York Guard spokesman Eric Durr, who says that such teams are deployed before most major events where public officials worry about the threat of a WMD attack.
“If a bomb goes off, they can check out the scene and determine whether or not there’s any other contaminants besides the explosive,” said Durr. “They come with a full suite of detection gear, communications equipment, and we generally deploy them in teams of two or three vehicles. Of course they’re onsite anytime there’s a major public event” such as the opening of the UN General Assembly, the Masters Tournament, or NASCAR race.
“Any significant gathering of people, there’s usually a CST in the background prepared to assist law enforcement,” said Durr. He could not say how, or how soon after the attack, the CSTs were able to figure out that no WMD were involved in the incident.

The Air National Guard website notes:

The Massachusetts team was on duty during the running of the Boston marathon, augmented by similar civil support teams from the New York and Rhode Island National Guards.

As Justin Keogh writes:

They would not dress up like that to plant a bomb. They are carrying chem/bio/radiological detection gear.

This picture from the Guardian shows members of the CST “evacuating the scene” after the bombing:

The pants and boots look like the guys above.  But the vests don’t.  Perhaps – after the bombing – they changed out of their “low-key” jackets and into more officially-labelled vests in order to take an active role in evacuation efforts?  We’re not sure.
But as many have pointed out, one of the guys dressed like a CST seems to be wearing a military contractor/mercenary patch for Craft mercenary or Blackwater or another mercenary company, and backpacks like the bombers’ backpack:

Tony Cartalucci claims that the 2 CST-type men were standing a mere 50 feet from where a bomb blew.
Others have claimed that the CST must have worked at Craft at some point, and wore the hat like someone might wear his college alma mater hat long after he graduated.
A reader comments:

I don’t think they would be wearing their logo in the middle of blowing up American civilians.

And as these photos show, after the bombs went off, the 2 seem to mix with the other CST-types and legitimate emergency personnel:

Does that prove that there were no rogue black and tans who were impersonating CSTs, or that the bombs didn’t go off as part of a drill that went live?
No … it does not put this matter to rest. There are still many unanswered questions.
After all, there was a drill at the start of the Boston marathon,  many false flag attacks coincide with drills (as a cover story to get logistics in place, and in case someone gets caught), and the New York Times, CBS News and others reported that the FBI informant involved in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center begged the FBI to substitute fake bomb power for real explosives, but his FBI handler let real explosives be used.
And we still don’t know whether or not the Boston terror attack was a false flag or not.
H/t: Daily Paul and Jkeogh.