REVERE, Mass. — Investigators have cleared two men whose images were e-mailed among law-enforcement officials as part of the probe into the Boston Marathon bombings and published in The Post yesterday.
The pictures, distributed Wednesday night by federal agents looking to identify the men, show the two near the finish line, one wearing a backpack and another with a duffel bag.
High-school runner Salah Eddine Barhoum, 17, said he went to local cops at around 1:30 yesterday morning when a friend told him his image was circulating online.
“I have a lot of proof it’s not me,” he said.
The athlete runs for his high-school team and is training for the Junior Olympics, he said.
“I went [to the marathon] to see the fastest man,” he said. “I left two hours early.”
“I just want everyone to know it wasn’t me. I’m just a high-school kid. It’s crazy. I love Boston. I love this country,” said Barhoum, who was born in Morocco and moved to the suburb of Revere three years ago.
Pictures of Barhoum and another man were distributed internally by an FBI field office and the Department of Homeland Security. Investigators have now determined that neither person had any useful information about the terror attack, sources said.
Barhoum’s father, El Houssein, 42, said, “Whoever did this is a real criminal.”