They probably never even read what was on it, or if they did knew the background to it.
That, as an excuse, is up there alongside "a big boy did it and ran away" in terms of credibility.
Idiots - no other (polite) word comes to mind.
Rab, a photo is a dangerous think to base an assumption on, it's a snapshot in time and does not explain what happened before and after. The man on the left is not doing anything but standing there, hands by his side, the man on the right having seen it could be remonstrating about it and about to pull it down after realising what it is..
There is a well known photograph of a drowned man on a beach with the rescuers trying to save him and standing around looking at him with solemn faces, his crying girlfriend kneeling by him looks up to see a photographers camera and instinctly smiles at the camera producing a harrowing image that is a snapshot in time but infers a different outlook than the real fact. Hence without other pictures to put it into context I would be wary to drawing assumptions.
Here is that image of the Girlfriend on the beach
Weegee photographs - Shocking photographs from famed New York City crime photographer Weegee - NY Daily News