Boston Marathon Anniversary

This past Saturday April 15th was the 10-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing. A domestic terrorist attack that took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013.

Brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs, which detonated near the finish line of the race 14 seconds and 210 yards (190 m) apart. Three people were killed and hundreds injured, including 17 who lost limbs.

Three days later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released images of two suspects. They were later identified as the Tsarnaev brothers, who were Chechen Kyrgyzstani-Americans. Following their identification, they killed an MIT policeman, then kidnapped a man in his car. They had a shootout with the police in nearby Watertown, during which two officers were severely injured (one of whom, Dennis Simmonds, died a year later). Tamerlan was shot several times, and his brother Dzhokhar ran him over while escaping in the stolen car. Tamerlan died soon after.

An unprecedented manhunt for Dzhokhar ensued, with thousands of law enforcement officers searching a 20-block area of Watertown. Residents of Watertown and surrounding communities were asked to stay indoors, and the transportation system and most businesses and public places closed. After a Watertown resident discovered Dzhokhar hiding in a boat in his backyard, the fugitive was shot and wounded by police before being taken into custody.

During questioning, Dzhokhar said that he and his brother were motivated by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that they were self-radicalized and unconnected to any outside terrorist groups, and that he was following his brother’s lead. He said they learned to build explosive devices from the online magazine of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He also said they had intended to travel to New York City to bomb Times Square. He was convicted of 30 charges, including use of a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property resulting in death.

This is a reminder that we must all remain vigilant in our society to protect our way of life, and that not all wars are fought overseas.

Domestic terrorism is real. See Something, Say Something.