QUESTION:
Did the FBI cover up the bomb suspect's van to hide conservative stickers?
ANSWER:
Nope. Agents were trying to keep the van safe from contamination and secure any evidence.
SOURCES:
National Forensic Science Technology Center- Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide For Law Enforcement (2013)
Office of Justice Programs- Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for Law Enforcement
Alex Whiting-Professor of Criminal Law- Harvard Law School
James Gagliano- Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent
PROCESS:
Developments in the package bomb attack has social media bursting with questions.
Lots of people began speculating that it was abnormal that FBI agents and law enforcement chose to cover the suspect's van with a blue tarp, after seeing the van plastered in pro-Trump and conservative stickers.
People were calling out the FBI for intentionally concealing information about the suspect's political affiliation.
Our researchers went straight to the experts,the National Forensic Science Technology Center in Florida and a criminal law expert at Harvard.
They confirm tarps are standard tools used to keep evidence from falling out of a vehicle. Wrapping it all in a tarp can help prevent contamination.
The National Forensic Science Technology Center at the Florida International University lists a tarp under "equipment needed," to "protect evidence from weather," and ensuring "evidence... be retained."
"That strikes me as completely standard to protect the integrity of the evidence," Alex Whiting, professor of criminal law at Harvard said. "They will likely examine the van for fingerprints, hair and fiber, and bomb residue."
Just to double check that those protocols are actually used in the field, we took it a step further and checked with retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent James Gagliano.
"That’s a standard process, I wouldn't read into any of it," Gagliano said. "If I was going to move the vehicle down the road I would probably put something over it to try and retain evidence."
He said covering the van is standard -- you don't want to compromise the evidence, like "soil on some tire grooves or latent hair," especially in Florida, where it's rainy.
So we can Verify, claims law enforcement were doing something out of the ordinary here or just trying to cover up conservative stickers -- are false.
