# Explosions at Boston Marathon **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 15, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781 "2013-04-15T19:16:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 51
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1001 "2013-04-19T22:14:40Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I hope they drop the terror label on the Marathon bombing. This was two a-holes on a murder spree nothing more. They probably watched some vids on the Internet and bought the pressure cookers. > > A real terror organization would have either had an escape plan or just kept setting more bombs. > > These guys are no different than the Joker psycho that shot up the movie theater. They had quite a few more bombs in their possession, I don’t think it’s out of the question that they might have been planning on using them In a subsequent attack. Nobody questions whether or not McVeigh was a terrorist, he got pulled over for not having a license tag IIRC. Just being a terrorist doesn’t imply being a criminal mastermind. I’ve been flipping through the coverage through the day, one word keeps popping up - unprecedented. Another word - terrorist. There’s a retired FBI agent on TV right now, said he was there for 30 years and has never seen anything even close to the mobilization in place over this attack. Dorner killed cops in California, cop killers are extremely high priority, and his manhunt wasn’t a fraction of what these guys have unleashed. He was a psycho with a gun. This is pretty much the textbook definition of terrorism. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1002 "2013-04-19T22:15:37Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I hope they drop the terror label on the Marathon bombing. This was two a-holes on a murder spree nothing more. They probably watched some vids on the Internet and bought the pressure cookers. > > A real terror organization would have either had an escape plan or just kept setting more bombs. It’s been reported that the police found seven more bombs in Watertown and in their home, that they threw at least one more bomb at police during the shootout, and that the older brother may have had another bomb on him when he died. We also know terrorists have used bombs made this way. Who knows what escape plans they had. They may have had one and screwed it up or they may have thought they’d get away with it, stupid as that sounds. We know the older brother went to Chechnya last year, and there’s a link between the struggle for independence and Islamic radicalism. [He also seems to have been an admirer of this guy.](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/19/the-sheikh-who-may-have-influenced-boston-s-tsarnaev-brothers.html) [There are reports that he’d recently become very religious.](http://www.news.com.au/world-news/boston-bomb-suspect-tamerlan-tsarnaev-recently-became-devout-muslim-says-aunt/story-fndir2ev-1226624859129) That’s not a new pattern in guys who become terrorists. It’s possible these guys were just disaffected and crazy and did this for no particular reason like the Aurora shooter, but there could be at least some type of link to terrorism. They may not be linked to a larger organization as such, or there could be links in terms of training or ideas. The type of terrorism people talk about these days often doesn’t involve a cell of people in the same place- it’s one person supplying ideas and experience to one or two people somewhere else who do something without a lot of advance notice or activity that could attract attention. That’s more or less what happened in Fort Hood. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1003 "2013-04-19T22:17:12Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > 😕 I’m not sure what that is. > > I’ve read interviews from former IRA and nearly everyone of them justify what they did as acts of war. Jihad is war. It’s different from a nutcase randomly shooting or blowing up people. Right. It’s called rationalization. The September 11 hijackers had notes referring to the people they murdered to take over the planes in language of sacrificial animals, using a religious justification to try to fool themselves into pretending that they were not slitting the throat of an innocent person. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1004 "2013-04-19T22:19:48Z")
[http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ma-rt-9-window-cam](http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ma-rt-9-window-cam) Lots of human interest stuff like radio batteries running out, guys needing off after 19 hours on duty and guys needing to 10-18, whatever that is. From time to time someone get scolded for holding their mic open. “That’s umpire equipment, not a device.”. A map of Watertown: > **[Yahoo Search - Web Search](https://search.yahoo.com/)** > > The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web. You can follow along with the two resources. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1005 "2013-04-19T22:20:32Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > A lot of immigrants with exotic (that is, non-Anglo) names, change their last names when they become citizens. Usually shorten them. I did. I’m aware of that. In my own German ancestry one branch dropped the German \*hauer part of the last name and anglicized it to \*hower. There is also a bit of family legend that there was some sort of falling out that accompanied that change. I wondered if that may be the situation with this family since the uncle says he has pretty much had nothing to do with them since 2005. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1006 "2013-04-19T22:29:14Z")
Wait, so if the theater shooter had run away after killing a buncha people… and there was a massive manhunt for him… then that would have been terrorism? But not as it was? I think **aceplace** is making a cogent argument: terrorism us defined by the intent and methodology of the actors. If other random psycho killers aren’t “terrorists”… and there’s nothing to distinguish these guys from those except _our response_, then they aren’t either. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1007 "2013-04-19T22:39:31Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Wait, so if the theater shooter had run away after killing a buncha people… and there was a massive manhunt for him… then that would have been terrorism? But not as it was? That’s not what I said. He was arrested right at the spot. So I brought up another shooter, Dorner. He was able to run. But as much as cops hate cop killers, they did not shut down LA. Dorner was a former cop and ex-military, he was arguably much more dangerous than a 19 year old. But this particular event was terrorism. That’s the reason for the massive manhunt, not a massive manhunt as definition of terrorism. That the 19 year old kid was a terrorist is why the mobilization dwarfs even that for a dangerous cop killer. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1008 "2013-04-19T22:43:40Z")
> [@Duke\_of\_Rat](#): > > But this particular event was terrorism. All right, how do you know that? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1009 "2013-04-19T22:57:34Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > All right, how do you know that? As a practical matter? The [involvement of the _Joint Terrorism Task Force_](http://www.fbi.gov/news/updates-on-investigation-into-multiple-explosions-in-boston/updates-on-investigation-into-multiple-explosions-in-boston). They don’t tend to get involved in mass murder. Look at the sidebar on the linked page. [About Joint Terrorism Task Forces](http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism_jttfs) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1010 "2013-04-19T22:59:15Z")
just now tv news has gunfire in the suspected area in Watertown. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1011 "2013-04-19T23:01:43Z")
Gun shots and police rushing in. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1012 "2013-04-19T23:04:21Z")
He’s in a boat, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1013 "2013-04-19T23:04:31Z")
tv news is reporting that there was a verbal warning over a PA to ‘stop, don’t move’ before the automatic gunfire. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1014 "2013-04-19T23:04:47Z")
Reporter saying police source says gunfire and suspect is down. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1015 "2013-04-19T23:05:10Z")
jmartpolitico ‏@jmartpolitico now RT @SeanKellyTV: Troopers screaming at residents to get inside. Long guns drawn. Mark Joyella ‏@standupkid 11s RT @WNYC: .@WCVB reporter. RT @SeanKellyTV Shots fired in area of possible suspect hiding in area of boat. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1016 "2013-04-19T23:06:29Z")
WGBH News ‏@wgbhnews 4m WCVB report: A body has been found in boat in a back yard on Franklin St. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1017 "2013-04-19T23:07:12Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > He’s in a boat, apparently. With T-pain? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1018 "2013-04-19T23:08:54Z")
A boat? He could’ve have tried to get away in a dirigible or something? ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1019 "2013-04-19T23:10:48Z")
Oh man…I can’t imagine he survived 20-30 shots at short range. I’m sad about this. I know he gave up his right to humanity when he bombed the marathon, but still…it’s just tragic all around. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781/1020 "2013-04-19T23:11:22Z")
a Special Report interrupting a Special Extended news says that people now should shelter in place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781.md?page=50) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosions-at-boston-marathon/655781.md?page=52)