# The Boston Marathon Bombing Debate Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 15, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799 "2013-04-15T23:21:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/221 "2013-04-19T05:13:03Z")
Correction: Radiation scanners came out _after_ the explosion, if I’m understanding correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/222 "2013-04-19T05:27:01Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > [This page](http://www.infowars.com/photos-private-military-operatives-hired-to-work-the-boston-marathon-with-black-backpacks-radiation-detectors-tactical-gear/) appears to present photographs of a team of paramilitary types associated with some group which apparently really exists called “The Craft,” equipped with radiation detectors, apparently scanning around the bomb site before the bombs went off. > > On the other hand, these guys appear to be quite surprised by the actual blast itself, so it is not at all clear that “they knew” or anything like that. > > But whattup with scanning for radiation? And whattup with a paramilitary group doing things at the site in the first place? This is a pretty standard security procedure at a major public event. They are looking for the signature of a nuclear weapon, dirty bomb, etc. Even though those bombs were obviously not nuclear explosives, they could have been loaded with radioactive material. It would not surprise me if there were numerous private contractors that specialize in this sort of thing. They were probably at the event because the Boston PD, or marathon organizers, etc. hired them. As a rule, military types love the ominous names, cool logos and shit, and when soldiers get discharged and start their own private security company, things like “The Craft” and a nasty little skull are what they end up using. It doesn’t mean anything. The linked article is a sad joke. OMG, they’re wearing boots and khaki pants and carrying geiger counters, oh noz… If they were actually up to anything sinister they sure as fuck wouldn’t be wearing three pieces of clothing with their logo each. These guys are essentially glorified rent-a-cops. The media isn’t reporting this “story” because it has no significance whatsoever. EDIT: Oh, I missed this the first time around. "OMG, they are carrying black backpacks! So did the bombers! CONSPIRAYC!?zzz! " What other color backpack would a bunch of paramilitary dudes carry? Hot pink? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/223 "2013-04-19T05:35:06Z")
Yeah the backpack didn’t bother me. I just couldn’t figure out why people would have radiation scanners at the ready. But poking around some more I see these guys are basically rent-a-cops, so that makes sense, assuming you’re right that it’d be SOP for security to pre-emptively have geiger counters on site. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/224 "2013-04-19T05:41:33Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Yeah the backpack didn’t bother me. I just couldn’t figure out why people would have radiation scanners at the ready. But poking around some more I see these guys are basically rent-a-cops, so that makes sense, assuming you’re right that it’d be SOP for security to pre-emptively have geiger counters on site. Radiation monitoring is a lot more common than most people think. There was recently a story about how a guy who underwent a medical test that involved a radioactive isotope set off alarms at a train station in Chicago and led to the train being stopped and boarded by government agents. > **[WATCH: Man’s nuclear stress test sparks Feds’ raid of Chicago train for...](https://www.nydailynews.com/2013/03/17/watch-mans-nuclear-stress-test-sparks-feds-raid-of-chicago-train-for-radiation/)** > > Chicago commuters got quite a shock last week when federal officials swarmed a train to investigate a possible nuclear threat – only to find that the radiation was coming from a passenger who… A few years ago I remember a story about some woman whose _cat_ had one of these tests getting pulled over on the highway on her way back home from the vet because she happened to cross paths with an undercover nuclear monitoring van. EDIT: Not the cat, but a similar story. A guy traveling on the highway set off a radiation detector in a state trooper’s car after a medical test and got pulled over. [Radioactive man? Milford resident pulled over by state police](http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Radioactive-man-Milford-resident-pulled-over-by-3549631.php) Not surprised at all that they would have radiation detectors at a major event like the Boston Marathon. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/225 "2013-04-19T13:07:40Z")
Seriously? No posts for the last seven hours? Before I go look for other threads I’ll just mention that about an hour or so ago the fugitive’s Facebook page was still up and somebody had posted that he was going to go kill himself now. I went back 15 minutes ago and the page is down. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/226 "2013-04-19T13:23:12Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Seriously? No posts for the last seven hours? > > Before I go look for other threads I’ll just mention that about an hour or so ago the fugitive’s Facebook page was still up and somebody had posted that he was going to go kill himself now. I went back 15 minutes ago and the page is down. Yeah, the story’s lost some of it’s legs now that we know it wasn’t white, right-wing christian gun lovers. so sorry. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/227 "2013-04-19T13:27:08Z")
No, we don’t know that yet. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/228 "2013-04-19T13:32:56Z")
Who had “Chechen rebels”? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/229 "2013-04-19T13:34:15Z")
About as many as had “assimilated teenagers from the area”. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/230 "2013-04-19T13:43:26Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Seriously? No posts for the last seven hours? The thread about gunshots at MIT is the busy one. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/231 "2013-04-19T14:26:13Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > About as many as had “assimilated teenagers from the area”. Assimilated? Where do you get that from? According to [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/19/us/boston-area-violence/index.html?hpt=hp_t1): > [@](#): > > The source said that a posting on a social media site in his name included the comments: “I don’t have a single American friend. I don’t understand them.” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/232 "2013-04-19T14:35:50Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Assimilated? Where do you get that from? According to [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/19/us/boston-area-violence/index.html?hpt=hp_t1): It came from an interview he did for a photo essay for which he was the subject. [Link.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/04/19/tamerlan_tsarnaev_dead_bombing_suspect_i_don_t_have_a_single_american_friend.html) Also from that link: > [@](#): > > A [M]uslim, he says: “There are no values anymore,” and worries that “people can’t control themselves.” And: > [@](#): > > UPDATE: Justin Hart located Tamerlan’s Amazon wishlist. Among the hits: > > - How to Make Driver’s Licenses and Other ID on Your Home Computer > > - The I.D. Forger: Homemade Birth Certificates & ​Other Documents Explained > > - Secrets Of A Back Alley ID Man: Fake Id Construction Techniques Of The Underground > > - The Lone Wolf And the Bear: Three Centuries of Chechen Defiance of Russian Rule > > - Organized Crime: AN INSIDE GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL INDUSTRY > > And, of course… > > - How to Win Friends & Influ​ence People ---
**Author:** ![Blkshp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blkshp/32/7135_2.png) [@Blkshp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blkshp)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/233 "2013-04-19T14:38:15Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Apparently so, davidm, but I’ll liven things up. I predict that the bomber(s) will be: > 1.) not right-wing terrorists nor Islamic extremists > 2.) clinically sane > 3.) few in number, possibly 1-5 > 4.) possibly student(s) at Harvard or MIT > 5.) may choose a new city and/or state for their next attack > 6.) will probably use a new method of terorism the next time. So far: 1. Seems to be 2. Apparently, till recently 3. 2 4. Student age and capable, yes. If Harvard or MIT implies proximity, yes; if it’s to connote intellect and arrogance, doesn’t seem so. 5. If robbing a 7-11 in Cambridge counts, Yes 6. Probably won’t have the chance. Closer than any of the other guesses I’ve read. Young, bright and crazy. Too bad for everybody that was rooting for a political cartoon stereotype. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/234 "2013-04-19T14:41:59Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] It came from an interview he did for a photo essay for which he was the subject. [/QUOTE] He seems to be the opposite of assimilated. Dude was scary. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/235 "2013-04-19T14:45:04Z")
> [@Blkshp](#): > > 1. Student age and capable, yes. If Harvard or MIT implies proximity, yes; if it’s to connote intellect and arrogance, doesn’t seem so. Younger (still alive) suspect is apparently a high school student. The older briefly attended a local community college. I’m not sure why MIT or Harvard would be particularly suspect. It’s not like the Boston area isn’t known for its hundreds of colleges and universities, several of which are top tier, and hundreds of thousands of non-Harvard and non-MIT students in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/236 "2013-04-19T14:53:25Z")
The younger brother had been in the US since he was nine, and all of the interviews I’ve heard with people who knew him, including one who said the bomber was one of his best friends say that he was a nice regular guy. So he sounds at least somewhat assimilated. Perhaps he was influenced by the older brother. Hopefully we’ll find out more about what was going through his head as time goes on. ---
**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, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/237 "2013-04-19T14:55:19Z")
> [@XT](#): > > He seems to be the opposite of assimilated. Dude was scary. The _Boston Globe_ has an article up right now describing them as “assimilated,” in which Americans that knew them call them “normal” and “friendly.” ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/238 "2013-04-19T15:02:50Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > The _Boston Globe_ has an article up right now describing them as “assimilated,” in which Americans that knew them call them “normal” and “friendly.” That must be where Elvis got it from then. I have to say, this whole thing has certainly taken a turn for the weird. Originally from Chechnya by way of Kazakhstan who was trying to get on the US Olympic team for boxing and his kid brother do something like this. I hope they catch the younger kid alive…he’s only a high school kid after all. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/239 "2013-04-19T15:12:30Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Younger (still alive) suspect is apparently a high school student. The older briefly attended a local community college. > > I’m not sure why MIT or Harvard would be particularly suspect. It’s not like the Boston area isn’t known for its hundreds of colleges and universities, several of which are top tier, and hundreds of thousands of non-Harvard and non-MIT students in the area. Where are you hearing this? The quote from the father said the younger was was extremely bright and Pre - Med ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799/240 "2013-04-19T15:17:15Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Where are you hearing this? The quote from the father said the younger was was extremely bright and Pre - Med Oops. Looks like you’re right. He’s at least a year or two out of high school based on what I’m currently reading on CNN. That’s what I get for accepting what I hear on the morning news. I should know better, especially after all the misinformation posted after the bombings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boston-marathon-bombing-debate-thread/655799.md?page=13)