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TV viewers get look at home of couple behind massacre

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Members of the media crowded into the apartment bedroom of San Bernardino shooting suspects Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, in Redlands, Calif. today after the building landlord invited journalists into the townhouse. A book containing passages from the Quran is seen at right. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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Members of the media crowded into the apartment bedroom of San Bernardino shooting suspects Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, in Redlands, Calif. today after the building landlord invited journalists into the townhouse rented by the California attackers. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

REDLANDS, Calif. » Viewers from around the world received an up-close glimpse of the Southern California shooters’ home today after the landlord opened the doors and reporters broadcast live everything from the couple’s dirty dishes to their Quran.

The live tour of the Redlands home did not provide any revelations about the crime or the couple’s motives, but it was still an intimate look into their lives just a day after the townhouse was an active FBI crime scene where authorities said the shooters stockpiled pipe bombs, tools and large amounts of ammunition.

Camera crews were elbow-to-elbow inside while about 100 journalists were outside on the front lawn. Television crews moved documents to position for their shots in the home of Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik. Some of them picked through documents and photos and rummaged through bedrooms.

The kitchen had pots on the stove, dirty dishes in the sink and a half-eaten pita sandwich. The living room table had several documents, including one that authorities left behind listing what they had seized. Walls were covered with decorative rugs with Arabic script.

One bedroom had a crib next to boxes of diapers and a desk with a photo identification of Farook.

A mattress lay on the floor of another bedroom, covered with documents and Arabic books. The closet had clothes hanging and family photos on the top shelf, with a hole in the ceiling.

David Bowdich, the FBI’s assistant special agent in charge in Los Angeles, said authorities returned the home to the owner Thursday night after executing a search warrant.

“Once the residents have the apartment and we’re not involved any more, we don’t control it,” he said.

As journalists sifted through the family’s personal belongings live on air, social media responded with a barrage of angry tweets. MSNBC was trending within the hour, with more than 42,000 tweets sent out about the network that had aired family photos, a driver’s license and a social security CAPS card.

MSNBC said that while it was not the first crew to enter the home, it was the first to air live shots from inside.

“We regret that we briefly showed images of photographs and identification cards that should not have been aired without review,” said Diana Rocco, MSNBC spokeswoman.

CNN that it made an editorial decision not to air close-up photos of material that could be sensitive or identifiable, such as photos or ID cards. Fox said it exercised “cautious editorial judgment and refrained from showing close-ups of sensitive information.”

The Associated Press was among the news organizations that visited the home, but did not touch anything.

Landlord Doyle Miller opened the home after the FBI was finished with its investigation and that journalists quickly took over the home.

“I opened up the door, I looked in, and all of a sudden rush, whoosh,” said Miller.

Associated Press writers David Bauder and Alina Hartounian contributed to this report.

4 responses to “TV viewers get look at home of couple behind massacre”

  1. Bothrops says:

    So if the FBI missed anything when they went in the first time, they are pretty much out of luck, as are we, because the media trampled and picked over the crime scene. Then there is filming a minor without adult consent. Ghouls

  2. st1d says:

    ridiculous investigation.

    news crews snooping into every nook and cranny and probably snatching souvenirs, forensic and dna evidence integrity severely compromised, evidentiary custody breached.

    if any surviving evidence is later identified in that home, the defense will claim that it was planted during the public exhibition of the home.

    talk about a little league investigation team. it was like watching an episode of csi with all of the investigative blunders as they scientifically process a scene for forensic evidence.

  3. copperwire9 says:

    It is truly appalling that the reporters were allowed into that home.

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