Explosions Near the Finish of Boston Marathon

[tofee35]

Some of the latest:

Suspect #2 is in serious but stable condition in the hospital. Officials legally have 48 hours from capture to question him without reading him his rights (due to terrorism circumstances). I'm guessing this means without a lawyer, but not sure.

The officials all did a fantastic job. I'm proud of my father-in-law, a Boston Bomb Squad officer, and all of the other officials who put in really long and dangerous hours.

I'm going to the Bruins game today, and I'm sure it will be emotional and celebratory. Although these guys are no longer a danger, those who died and are dismembered will be honored and remembered. Boston and surrounding suburbs are a close-knit group, and we'll all get through it.

I'm looking forward to moving on from this and hoping that if anything, this part of the country will always remember and be closer because of it.

-Tof

[King Postwhore]

Scream hard for the fallen and the B's!!!!  Oh and throw a shoulder into Iginla for me.

[KevShmev]

Now that he is captured, I hope this guy rots in the hole for 23 hours a day for the next 50 years. Death is too good for scum like this; he needs to suffer in prison for a looong time.

[millahh]

Suspect #2 is in serious but stable condition in the hospital. Officials legally have 48 hours from capture to question him without reading him his rights (due to terrorism circumstances). I'm guessing this means without a lawyer, but not sure.

The officials all did a fantastic job. I'm proud of my father-in-law, a Boston Bomb Squad officer, and all of the other officials who put in really long and dangerous hours.

I'd buy your father-in-law a beer if I could.

As far as not Mirandizing him straightaway, I understand it, even if it doesn't make me terribly comfortable...the possibility of other bombs and active accomplices would meet the requirements for the exemption.  But treating him as an "enemy combatant" (as advocated by Lindsay Graham) and putting him to a military tribunal is insane...he is a US citizen, was raised here, committed crimes on US soil which are covered by the US criminal code.  Labeling him as an enemy combatant simply because he belongs to a non-majority religion is pretty much the definition of letting the bad guys win.

And to Kev's point, yeah, I think this guy will be headed for SuperMax, and staying there for a long, long time.

[El Barto]

The thing that bothers me the most about Graham's lunacy is that he didn't seem to care about it until he learned the ethnicity of the suspects. He had all week to suggest this, and didn't start shooting his mouth off until they were identified as Muslims. It would certainly appear that he thinks Habeus Corpus should be granted on the basis of ethnicity, which is just about the most unAmerican thing I can imagine.

As for mirandizing him, this actually doesn't bother me either. Even without the anti-terrorism provisions, there is still a good deal of leeway with regards to Miranda warnings. The way it should work is that they can ask him anything they want, but nothing he volunteers before being informed of his rights should be used against him at his trial (if he even gets one).

[rumborak]

One thing that struck me in all this, the two brothers can't have been particularly smart. First of all, they obviously didn't intend to die during the bombing, but nonetheless a) didn't care to disguise themselves when planting the bomb and b) had apparently no plan for what would happen after. Zohan (whatever his spelling is) even showed up at school the next day. WTF?
Not only that, Tamerlan had his car in a shop for repair, and was desperately trying to retrieve it when they realized the Feds were onto them. I'm sorry, but having your getaway car in the garage while you're committing a crime? Not particularly smart. Good for us for sure, since without those glaring mistakes it would have been a lot harder to catch them.

That's really what I would like to learn about, how the aftermath went down.

In another ironic factoid, looks like Zohan actually did his brother in. When Tamerlan was shot by the police, his brother drove over him with the SUV in an attempt to escape.

[antigoon]

Zohan

But I agree that they seemed quite blase about the entire thing to a creepy extent. I guess they just thought, with so many people there, they could never be identified.

[rumborak]

Which is stunning, given the ubiquity of recording devices around. In this day and age, you have to assume there are a ton of pictures with you in it whenever you go to a public event. Another thing that tipped off the FBI was apparently that, while all other people at the bombing were panicking and screaming, the two just stood there emotionless. Again, great for us because they stood out like a sore thumb, but it's almost amazing that they even managed to assemble the bombs with that kind of wit.

[jammindude]

Zohan

But I agree that they seemed quite blase about the entire thing to a creepy extent. I guess they just thought, with so many people there, they could never be identified.

This is what my wife and I were thinking last night.   Even with all the recording devices they were most likely thinking "So many people, so many baseball caps, so many backpacks....we'll be a needle in a haystack."   

We're also thinking that this kid (literally a kid) is only 19.   Even when he ran over his brother, I'm positive it was out of sheer *abject terror*....I'm thinking this kid is just 10 shades of terrified. 

One more thing I want to say just in hopes of dialing back the bloodlust of the general public.   Can any of you say *for an absolute certainty* that that kid *KNEW* what was in those backpacks?     We all know that the older brother was the leader in all this...he was the anti-social one.   That much has been established.   How do we know that he didn't give his kid brother a backpack and said they were something smaller than what they really were?   What if he told his kid brother it was going to be a smoke bomb or a stink bomb...that it would be really funny and no one would get hurt?    Can ANY of you say with 100% certainty that HE KNEW what was happening?

[rumborak]

That is such a bizarre scenario, I don't think it's even remotely realistic.

Tamerlan: "Hey Zohan, take this heavy backpack, I got one too, we're going down to the marathon. We're gonna put the backpacks into the trash can and then leave. Sounds good?"
Zohan: "Sure, sounds reasonable!"


Nah, Zohan knew exactly what was going on. Was he roped in by his brother? Probably. But he was also fully aware what they were doing.

[Crow]

One more thing I want to say just in hopes of dialing back the bloodlust of the general public.   Can any of you say *for an absolute certainty* that that kid *KNEW* what was in those backpacks?     We all know that the older brother was the leader in all this...he was the anti-social one.   That much has been established.   How do we know that he didn't give his kid brother a backpack and said they were something smaller than what they really were?   What if he told his kid brother it was going to be a smoke bomb or a stink bomb...that it would be really funny and no one would get hurt?    Can ANY of you say with 100% certainty that HE KNEW what was happening?

Well, if this is true:

while all other people at the bombing were panicking and screaming, the two just stood there emotionless

Then yes, he knew, because if he didn't, he would be freaking out as well.

[jammindude]

I disagree.   Not EVERYONE ran....some people were just in shock.    Even the guy holding the camera in the now infamous online video didn't react for a long time.

Also, I'm not saying he wasn't expecting an explosion of some sort.   If he was expecting a large (but in his mind non-lethal) explosion...then of course he wouldn't have reacted.    And *if* he did realize it was bigger than he was led to believe....the first reaction of a teenager would be...."Holy crap....don't react...don't react....don't react....everything's normal...I'm just another guy..."

In the scenario I'm describing (which is purely hypothetical)...my opinion is that the first reaction of a teenager in trouble would have been exactly what he did.

[rumborak]

Dude, the two lived together in the same apartment. Do you really think Tamerlan builds numerous pressure cooker bombs and suicide vests without his roommate and brother knowing about it?
Not only that, a pressure cooker full of black powder will be heavy as shit. You think Zohan walks to the marathon (which neither of them probably cared about, given how they are boxers and wrestlers) with a heavy-ass backpack  not knowing what's inside it?
I have no idea why you even argue this, jammin.

[jammindude]

I don't know....that's my point.   I have no freaking idea....

The only thing I know is that I don't know....and neither does anyone.

[millahh]

I think a lot of people need to watch the Dark Knight again and realize exactly what it is the Joker is trying to get Batman to do.

[jammindude]

Wow rum, some of the things you're attributing to me....

I know everyone's charged up right now...I'm just trying to think of reasonable scenarios.....*FROM THE MIND OF A STUPID 19 YEAR OLD*...which leaves the door much more wide open.    I was a stupid 19 year old and I have a stupid 20 year old.   

I think a lot of people forget how scared, and stupid, and gullible and ignorant some 19 year olds can be.   

...a pressure cooker full of black powder will be heavy as shit. You think Zohan walks to the marathon (which neither of them probably cared about, given how they are boxers and wrestlers) with a heavy-ass backpack  not knowing what's inside it?

This is so spot on that you've practically underlined the point I was trying to make.     Absolutely YES.   It is possible.     Like I said, if a stupid 19 year old was told by his older brother that it was a flash bomb or a stink bomb or some other "trouble making but not lethal" sort of "bomb" I'm absolutely POSITIVE that he could have handed him a pressure cooker full of something that was "heavy as shit" or a "heavy ass backpack" without knowing exactly what it would do.    He would just trust his brother if said brother had told him that it was not what it really was.

[rumborak]

And then show up at school the next day as if nothing happened. Sure.

[millahh]

The dude was taking chemistry course at college (albeit not doing well in them)...I don't think he could have been THAT stupid as to have not understood what was being built.

[El Barto]

[rumborak]

Yeah, the way the West, TX thing was totally eclipsed by the Boston marathon is pretty sad.

Incidentally also the reason why I believe that certain monetary grants and aids can't be left to personal donations. People are way too fickle for that.

[antigoon]

Jeez. Fear is powerful.

[El Barto]

During the initial press conference, the mayor of West should have pulled a Peewee Herman and said "I think they were Iranians!"

[millahh]

God bless David Ortiz.

[KevShmev]

jammindude, let's be serious.

As for their brotherly love, I hope they were really close.  I hope the death of his brother is hurting Suspect 2 (I refuse to type or say his name) like hell.  He deserves more pain that any of us can imagine. Does that sound harsh?  Probably, but screw that guy.

[rumborak]

Suspect 2 (I refuse to type or say his name)

Just use Zohan. Much easier

I'm also not following your attempt to exonerate Zohan, jammin. All evidence points towards him having been completely complicit. He lived with his brother, he delivered and planted the bombs, he resumed his life as if nothing had happened afterward, he robbed the store at gunpoint and had a gunfight with the cops at the end. There is nothing that points toward him having been oblivious about the whole thing.

[jammindude]

I am not attempting to exonerate ANYONE.    I presented a hypothetical scenario in an attempt to make a point that we DON'T KNOW.    No one does.   No one can.   I don't know, you don't know.   

I don't think *ANYONE* should be tried by emotion....

[rumborak]

On another note, I don't understand the rush to get this guy into a court room. They're talking Monday now. What's the rush? From what I understand he's still in critical condition.

[King Postwhore]

God bless David Ortiz.

His F-Bomb was glorious.

[eric42434224]

I don't know....that's my point.   I have no freaking idea....

The only thing I know is that I don't know....and neither does anyone.

Yes we do.  It is pretty clear.

[jammindude]

I don't know....that's my point.   I have no freaking idea....

The only thing I know is that I don't know....and neither does anyone.

Yes we do.  It is pretty clear.

The more information that is being released...I tend to agree.   I was going with what I (most people) knew at the time I posted.   Now I'm hearing that he was partying at his dorm all week as well.    IDK...it really doesn't look good for him.

I stand by my principles that no one should be tried in the court of emotion.   But the *facts* in this case are not flattering.

[orcus116]

Saw this at a bar near Brigham Circle

[rumborak]

Boston imams are apparently refusing to give Tamerlan the last rites. Sweet.

[Chino]

Ugh. Here we go again.

https://imgur.com/a/Nx8EU#wRTiCiG

[rumborak]

Ah. Truthers. I guess they hadn't had anything to latch on to in a while. As usual they ignore some inconvenient facts, like that the Tsarnaevs flung pressure cookers at the police, and that Tamerlan confessed the whole thing to the guy whose car they carjacked.

[Chino]

Ah. Truthers. I guess they hadn't had anything to latch on to in a while. As usual they ignore some inconvenient facts, like that the Tsarnaevs flung pressure cookers at the police, and that Tamerlan confessed the whole thing to the guy whose car they carjacked.

And didn't they find explosives in his house and dorm room?