UPDATE Salah Barhoun one of the men identified on the front page of the New York Post told ABC News that he went to the police to clear his name on Wednesday.
The 17 year old teenager said that he had been watching the marathon and was shocked after people online began to circulate his photo as a possible suspect in the bombings. ABC News producers reached out to Barhoun and his family for their response to the photos.
ORIGINAL STORY The New York Post is once again finding itself in potential trouble after it published front page photos of two men it says are being searched for in connection with the Boston bombings. The problem They may not even be suspects in the case.
The Post has already been intensely criticized for both saying that many more people had died in the attacks than turned out to be true and for pointing the finger at a Saudi man who turned out to have nothing to do with them.
BAG MEN Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon the Post's front page headline blared. A clear photo of two men could be seen underneath. The Post's story said that the pictures are being circulated by investigators in an attempt to identify the individuals highlighted therein.
The article continued Meanwhile officials have identified two potential suspects who were captured on surveillance videos taken shortly before the deadly blasts law enforcement sources told The Post yesterday ... It was not immediately clear if the men in the law enforcement photos are the same men in the surveillance videos.
Such uncertainties do not often lend themselves to front page images or of pictures that have red circles drawn around people's faces as the Post did.
The FBI is expected to release pictures of two possible suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings on Thursday.
CBS News correspondent John Miller said Thursday morning however that the men identified by the Post are not the two suspects law enforcement seek. He said that people on the Internet started looking around and posting photos and in turn investigators picked them up and started asking each other about them.
I'm suggesting it's not certain at all that that is the same individual the FBI is looking at he said. In another segment Miller was even more emphatic.
Those are not the pictures that are going to be released by authorities he said.
Gawker reported that Reddit users have identified one of the men pictured as a Moroccan American kid a local high school soccer player and track runner... who works at Subway and likes How High and The Hunger Games.
Reddit users also found his Facebook page which has since been made private. According to Deadspin in one post that has since been deleted he wrote Going to the court rightnow Shit is real. But u will see guys I'm did not do anything.
The Post immediately came under fire for at the very least being ethically irresponsible with its use of the pictures.
Appalling Time's television critic James Poniewozik tweeted.
NY Post sinks to a new low Salon added.
We can cause great harm to individuals and to the investigation when we suggest people are suspects and when we show images with red circles around the people making them appear to be targets Poynter wrote. In addition to the harm that comes to an individual there is harm to the investigation in that the public begins to believe authorities know who they are looking for and there is no need to help further.
Post editor Col Allan defended the decision to run its cover and the story telling The Huffington Post's Michael Calderone We stand by our story. The image was emailed to law enforcement agencies yesterday afternoon seeking information about these men as our story reported. We did not identify them as suspects.
The Post's Front Page
Related on HuffPost
Loading Slideshow Barack Obama Michelle ObamaPresident Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive for an interfaith healing service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston Thursday April 18 2013 for victims of Monday's Boston Marathon explosions. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Barack Obama Michelle ObamaPresident Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attend an interfaith healing service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston Thursday April 18 2013 for victims of Monday's Boston Marathon explosions. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Barack Obama Michelle ObamaPresident Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attend an interfaith healing service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston Thursday April 18 2013 for victims of Monday's Boston Marathon explsions. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Thomas Menino Barack Obama Michelle ObamaBoston Mayor Tom Menino passes President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama during an interfaith healing service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston Thursday April 18 2013 for victims of Monday's Boston Marathon explosions. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Barack ObamaPresident Barack Obama attends the Healing Our City An Interfaith Service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston Thursday April 18 2013. The service is dedicated to those who were gravely wounded or killed in Monday s bombing near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
More than 250 people attended Tuesday's vigil in the historic Arlington Street Church.
Gatherers mourned and consoled each other on Tuesday in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston.
Hundreds gathered at a vigil held at Garvey Park in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood for Martin Richard the 8 year old boy who died in the explosions during the Boston Marathon on April 15 2013.
People light candles as they prepare to exit the packed Arlington Street Church and head towards Boston Common on April 16 2013.
Congressman Ed Markey a Democrat exits the Arlington Street Church.
Onlookers listened to a sermon at a memorial service for Martin Richard the 8 year old boy who died in the explosions during the Boston Marathon on April 15 2013.
Attendees exit the vigil at Arlington Street Church and proceed for a candlelit ceremony around a pond in Boston Common.
Attendees filter in to Tuesday's multi faith ceremony in the Arlington Street Church.
Photos from the the vigil held at Garvey Park in Dorchester Mass. for Martin Richard the 8 year old boy who died in the explosions during the Boston Marathon on April 15 2013.
A mourner adds a flower to a bouquet at a memorial on Boylston street in Boston where two bombs exploded Monday April 15 2013 killing three people and injuring scores of others.
Photos from the the vigil held at Garvey Park in Dorchester Mass. for Martin Richard the 8 year old boy who died in the explosions during the Boston Marathon on April 15 2013.
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis flanked by Gov. Devel Patrick to his left Mayor Tom Menino seated in a wheelchair and other officials briefing reporters on Tuesday April 16 in the Westin hotel near the scene of the bombings.
Photos from the the vigil held at Garvey Park in Dorchester Mass. for Martin Richard the 8 year old boy who died in the explosions during the Boston Marathon on April 15 2013.
A closeup of the bouquets candles and other items deposited on Boylston Street to honor the victims of the April 15 attack.
Some of the hundreds of people who crowded Arlington Street Church cross the road to Boston Common on April 16.
Residents gathered for an interfaith vigil at Arlington Street Church a day after two explosions killed three people and injured scores of others in nearby in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood.
Memorial on Boylston Street.A makeshift memorial on Boylston Street which remains closed off as authorities investigate the scene of Monday's bombing.
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