Two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The cable news channels are all covering it, but there isn’t much information yet. There are some injuries, but no confirmed fatalities yet. There is some aerial footage from a helicopter and it looks like it happened in front of some bandstands. There is debris everywhere, lots of national flags have been trampled and soft barriers were crushed in an apparent stampede. The actual explosions produced a lot of white smoke. Apparently, about half the runners had completed the race.
Just as I was typing this, they got the footage of the explosions. It appears that they went off under the bandstands. It’s going to be pretty bad for the people who were sitting right under the blast.
Update [2013-4-15 16:2:56 by BooMan]: One of the bombs exploded down the street in front of a building. Shortly thereafter, a big fire broke out at the JFK library.
Fox affiliate reporting three dead, many people have lost limbs.
I am very very angry right now. A number of people from Fishtown Beer Runners participated.
Fox is definitely showing more blood and gore than any of the other outlets, and also being very dramatic in their commentary.
MSNBC reporting 20-30 people on the ground missing limbs.
Boston police are reporting 22 injured and 2 dead
Boston police update 23 injured and 2 dead
based on video, those numbers look very optimistic.
you’re probably right
Also the Newtown families were seated in a VIP section near the finish line. The Newtown runners are all reported safe.
wow.
you were right injured up to 64 now and dead still officially stated at 2 but some news outlets are reporting 12
Boston Globe is now reporting 100 injured, no update on fatalities.
Yep, many hours later, and I’ve made it a point not to visit the drama queen station. Saw a bit from CNN and they too have a bit of a tendency to over dramatize. Spent the evening on MSNBC and really didn’t learn much new stuff, but for the occasional eyewitness report. Pete Williams, NBC reporter, deserves some sort of award for being non dramatic, clear and concise about what was known and what was not known. Like the existence of a third bomb, which, at this hour, seems not to have existed.
It appears that the police bomb squad had set off a third device.
Boston Fire department says news conference at 4:30
This is terrorism of some kind. I hope we do not fall into the trap of calling this a “tragedy”. This is a plan of some deranged person. It is not a tragedy.
Got it. Who do we bomb?
And what exactly is your point? You prefer to call this a tragedy? Or prefer to not call it terrorism?
And what exactly is your point?
Her point is supposed to be that we shouldn’t indulge in emotional, kneejerk reactions, but that point is undermined by her emotional, kneejerk reaction.
I don’t understand the semantic distinction here. Two people are dead. Their families surely regard this as a tragedy. Can it not be a tragedy and an act of terrorism perpetrated by a deranged person at the same time?
a tragedy is something that no one is responsible for. Here we have an act of terrorism, and that is not an emotional term. It is a specific term for a specific political act – using a random threat of violence for some purpose. As yet, we do not know the purpose.
I don’t think that’s how most people understand the term “tragedy”, but regardless I understand your point.
And being more specific, with a tragedy, we say “a tragedy happened” – it is a passive occurrence that simply occurred. Having a tree fall on you is a tragedy.
A “terrorist act” is a choice by a person to do something.
We don’t want to be like Reagan – Mistakes were made. Nope, in this case, a tragedy did not happen. It was a deliberate act. Unless the garbage can explosion was some kind of spontaneous combustion.
yes, thanks for your comment
Obviously this is a terrible crime.
That said, why is the murder of several people and the maiming of dozens more instantaneous national news? Because that many people are killed/harmed by gun violence in just a portion of a normal day. Not saying it’s wrong that it’s news, just pointing out that our national media have decided that there is a normal level of gun violence that simply doesn’t merit discussion.
It’s news because it’s one event.
Twenty car accidents that kill 21 people, in 20 different towns, will not make the news. One car accident that kills 10 will.
Also news because IEDs are not a common part of the finish line of the Marathon.
And because there are hundreds of reporters and cameras at the finish line.
thanks for your sane reply. Personally am in no mood for trollish comments. Some family members were 1 mile from the finish line, they are now driving around looking for the runners they were there to watch, but don’t think their runners were at the finish line at the time. Ordinarily the Boston Marathon is on Patriots Day, though April 15 strikes me as early for that though I’m guessing that has something to do with this act of terrorism
An fyi for out-of-towners: the JFK Library is nowhere near this location.
Simultaneous attacks.
JFK fire turned out to be non related according to a JFK Library official;
http://www.dotnews.com/2013/jfk-library-official-fire-not-related-marathon-attack
Thx.
Police commissioner says the JFK incident is believed to be related.
Says a bomb went off half hour ago, after the fire started at 3:00.
Police are saying that 2 devices were exploded in trash cans near the finish line and a 3rd device was deactivated.
They also think they might have a potential suspect on their surveillance feed.
If they used mailboxes, it should be possible to get footage of the drops. Mail gets picked up at least once a day, so it’s not like they bombs could have been planted a long time in advance. The stuff should still be on tape. Whether they can be identified or not is another question.
For those looking to catch up, I just yanked this off of reddit – lots of links and updates.
Google Person finder:
http://google.org/personfinder/2013-boston-explosions/
Clear video of explosion via Boston Globe (caution graphic):
http://www.boston.com/video/viral_page/?/services/player/bcpid2080955193001&bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAA6pi
HY~,DqRT40XOAr8XmRt9Lw9Lza1eXkXEagX8&bctid=2303076923001
95 Countries represented in Marathon. A worldwide celebration. Reminds me of the backpack found the morning of the MLK parade in Spokane. And of course the World Trade Center.
And today was supposed to be all about North Korea.
Red Cross is reporting that they have enough blood for demand right now, hold off on donations for a little while.
It is way to early to come any conclusion but Newtown families may have been caught up in this or targeted.
May be a reminder of how the OK City bombing was in part motivated (said McVieh) but the first assault weapon ban.
If this is right wing terrorism, there will be hell to pay.
the low tech, amateur nature of the bombs – some of which didn’t explode – certainly doesn’t scream international plot.
Really? What was hi-tech on 9/11? Or 7/7? Better yet, identify the international terrorist bombings that have been professional and high-tech.
Hi-tech isn’t really an indicator of al Qaeda, but this was far too amateurish. Since when does al Qaeda leave unexploded bombs?
It also involved relatively small bombs, and didn’t involve a high-profile target. It would be very out of character for al Qaeda to do something like this.
Early reports that there were unexploded devices found in the area may not be true.
The President is supposed to speak in about 20 mins.
White House Live Feed
http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
I missed it, what did he say?
Basically we don’t know exactly what happened yet but when we do we’ll bring the full wait of the federal government to provide justice.
Hopes and prayers for Boston and basically talked about how great a city Boston is and how patriotic.
I’m sure they’ll post the video on the WH YouTube channel soon.
Ok, I figured something like that. Thanks.
Here’s the full text:
finally the video:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/04/15/president-obama-speaks-explosions-boston
the full wait of the federal government
Very apt typo.
both the good and bad of that particular typo
I’m holding off all speculation, but hope that the perpetrators are brought to justice, that the injured fully recover, and that the death toll does not rise.
Sorrow and sadness … these are daily events for citizens in Iraq and Syria. Who brought terror to these nations? The US a birthplace of violence, a nation that has been free from civil war and has no comprehension of war suffering. MSM news reports whips up the emotions and urge for revanche.
Seems a high powered explosive was used and one not readily available plus one device intact. Should not be difficult to point to a source and the killer. Of course it was an act of terror.
Thoughts and prayers for victims and the families involved.
“a nation that has been free from civil war and has no comprehension of war suffering”? Bullshit. This country fought a war that pitted neighbor against neighbor to win free of its colonial overlord (ask the Acadians how they liked being driven out of the new nation to Canada); fought birth-pang insurrections like Daniel Shays’ Rebellion; fought vicious struggles in frontier states over slavery in the 1850s (see: “Bloody Kansas”); and damn near tore the entire nation apart in our Civil War (1861-1865), a conflict with enough death, dismemberment, disease, atrocities, and massive suffering, civilian as well as military, to qualify under even your presumably strict standards for “war suffering”. More than a century later, the American Civil War still shapes this nation’s character in multiple ways — but I daresay you’re too engrossed in your ignorant caricature of this country to comprehend its reality.
Comment was incomplete, due to fact I’m still not online because of provider troubles as I was typing on a loaned iPad at a friend’s home.
US has not seen a war inflicted on the nation since the Civil War and all wars are fought overseas and thus on foreign soil. Americans today witness wars from the tube through MSM like CNN and are consuming pure propaganda and poor reporting due to self-censorship.
Only families of US service men and women who fought the wars have such knowledge and the devastating effects on mind and soul. These atrocities are seldom seen on US soil. What a drama … memories of 9/11. There is so much self-inflicted daily gun violence and the stomping on the less fortunate who succumb to the economic pressure of today’s capitalism.
Yes, the US has become a caricature of itself when Americans claim exceptionalism, democracy and freedom.
It’s wise to remember all victims of the Bush wars and the back-lash the world will suffer for decades. Why give space and support to al-Nusra in Syria. In two years 80,000 deaths and untold suffering. It’s a dumb power play for regional hegemony for resources and transport of Kirkuk oil.
Oh, just admit it — you’re delighted to see the warmongering imperialist American oppressors get a tiny taste of the suffering they wantonly inflict upon a world pristinely innocence of any evil that doesn’t trace directly back to the malevolent meddling of the arrogant U.S. of A. So satisfying for you at a time like this to insinuate with smug superiority that we deserve it.
my translation of the comment: “the usa is a violent nation, so suck it up, guys”
Read BooMan’s fp story – So, now what? (Sat. April 20th).
“Now we know that they were Muslims. We have some reason to believe that their Muslim faith may have been central to their motivation, but we still don’t understand precisely how. We will learn more about their internet habits, their religious leaders, and their associations, and that will help us understand. The point of this should be not only to understand but to see if there are steps we can take to protect ourselves from similar attacks in the future.
One thing we know is that our military operations in Islamic countries produce civilian casualties. That invites reprisals. Under the circumstances, there are bound to be people who think these reprisals are justified in a tit-for-tat manner. We don’t have to agree with them to see that this is an inevitable consequence of our actions and policies.”
Right, ‘incomplete.” The I-pad somehow managed to cut out the middle of your comment, and certain words in sentences, while leaving everything grammatically correct.
Also, the US is trying to prevent resources from going to al-Nusra in Syria.
And the Syrian rebels who rose up against Assad are almost certainly not motivated by the desire to transport Kirkuk oil.
Stop your whining. US foreign policy sucks, is devastating to peoples and nations. US has a legacy of war crimes and the blow-back caused throughout the Middle-East in years to come.
The heroes of WWII are long gone.
The MSM is covering the news like a 9/11 event. American lives are none more sacred than people elsewhere. Let the feds solve the crime and keep it within proportion of daily suffering.
You seem to be the one whining, and repeating your beloved narrative doesn’t make it ok to mangle facts.
Try joining the reality-based community, instead of just checking your gut and assuming the truth is always what your ideology predicts it to be.
And try not to lose your temper. It hinders your already-shaky thought process.
Your facts about Syria? cough, cough. Almost choking. Your narrative follows US foreign policy with all its shortcomings and never, never offer a critical analysis. I don’t do MSM reality!
I haven’t offered a narrative..
I corrected you on facts you mangled.
That your get compels you not to acknowledge them is meaningless to me.
You need to stop thinking like George Bush, and get your information correct before lecturing others who know more than you.
No narrative? Thus senseless comments. You aren’t even close on the truth about US involvement inside Syria and Iraq War blowback across the Arab states and Gulf region.
Pls keep those comments w/o narrative coming.
Who brought terror to these nations? The US
Um, yeah, there was no terror in Iraq before 2003, or Syria before 2012.
You didn’t manage to make a single true statement. That’ quite a feat.
In addition to your silliness about the US bringing terror to the previously pristine nations of Baathist Iraq and Baathist Syria:
Terror bombings are far from a “daily event” in Iraq, even with all of its problems.
The US had a civil war.
600,000+ people died in it. About 200,000 died in World War Two.
There were no high-powered explosives used. There are no intact devices.