Boston Marathon Bombing Thread

[Gusington]

The wife eh...is she in custody right now?

[LongBlade]

The wife eh...is she in custody right now?

I don't think so.

However, there is a lot of speculation about how should couldn't have been aware of her husband's activities.

Saw on the news last night that the older brother's ex-girlfriend has come forward and claimed he ranted to her about his hatred of Americans. The reasoning goes that if he was telling that to his girlfriend, the girl he married probably heard it, too.

She's in a world of hurt - the hammer hasn't dropped on her just yet, but it's coming.

[Centurion40]

I thought that the older dead bomber and the wife were separated, and have been living apart from some time.  That he had been physically abusive towards her and she lived with their daughter, away from him.

[LongBlade]

I thought that the older dead bomber and the wife were separated, and have been living apart from some time.  That he had been physically abusive towards her and she lived with their daughter, away from him.

I'm not sure about them being separated. It's my understanding that the evening of the bombing he was babysitting their child as she went off to work.

[MuzzyDev]

Seriously, this is too good of an article on the subject to pass up:

http://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2013/04/25/swat-nation/

Positioning these guys a "Islamic Terrorists" the way the story does is, IMO, giving them too much credit.  At least, they don't fit the profile.  The younger brother was a kind of a weak minded nebbish pothead whose motivations aren't yet clear, but it doesn't seem like he spent a lot of time being very religious in any way.  The older brother seems to be the bad seed here, but so far (and I emphasize "so far") there is no evidence that, while radicalized, this dude was part of some kind of cell.  He was a punk who was a failure in pretty much everything he'd done, and blamed "Americans" for it.  The Mother is clearly in need of a tinfoil hat.  I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The suggestion that people "wanted it to be some right wing group of tea-partiers" is pure polemic.  What people?  Mass is a pretty liberal place, but I saw not a single word on the news or in the media here to suggest anyone was "hoping" the perpetrators would be anything in particular, or some kind of right wing group.  So far no organization has come forward saying they were behind these two. 

I found the article to be pretty tasteless, to be honest.  Someone using the tragedy to promote his own agenda.

Chris--

[LongBlade]

Seriously, this is too good of an article on the subject to pass up:

http://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2013/04/25/swat-nation/

Positioning these guys a "Islamic Terrorists" the way the story does is, IMO, giving them too much credit.  At least, they don't fit the profile.  The younger brother was a kind of a weak minded nebbish pothead whose motivations aren't yet clear, but it doesn't seem like he spent a lot of time being very religious in any way.  The older brother seems to be the bad seed here, but so far (and I emphasize "so far") there is no evidence that, while radicalized, this dude was part of some kind of cell.  He was a punk who was a failure in pretty much everything he'd done, and blamed "Americans" for it.  The Mother is clearly in need of a tinfoil hat.  I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The suggestion that people "wanted it to be some right wing group of tea-partiers" is pure polemic.  What people?  Mass is a pretty liberal place, but I saw not a single word on the news or in the media here to suggest anyone was "hoping" the perpetrators would be anything in particular, or some kind of right wing group.  So far no organization has come forward saying they were behind these two. 

I found the article to be pretty tasteless, to be honest.  Someone using the tragedy to promote his own agenda.

Chris--

The piece was written by David Sirota on Salon.

http://www.salon.com/2013/04/16/lets_hope_the_boston_marathon_bomber_is_a_white_american/

The headline says it all.

[Steelgrave]

Seriously, this is too good of an article on the subject to pass up:

http://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2013/04/25/swat-nation/

Positioning these guys a "Islamic Terrorists" the way the story does is, IMO, giving them too much credit.  At least, they don't fit the profile.  The younger brother was a kind of a weak minded nebbish pothead whose motivations aren't yet clear, but it doesn't seem like he spent a lot of time being very religious in any way.  The older brother seems to be the bad seed here, but so far (and I emphasize "so far") there is no evidence that, while radicalized, this dude was part of some kind of cell.  He was a punk who was a failure in pretty much everything he'd done, and blamed "Americans" for it.  The Mother is clearly in need of a tinfoil hat.  I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The suggestion that people "wanted it to be some right wing group of tea-partiers" is pure polemic.  What people?  Mass is a pretty liberal place, but I saw not a single word on the news or in the media here to suggest anyone was "hoping" the perpetrators would be anything in particular, or some kind of right wing group.  So far no organization has come forward saying they were behind these two. 

I found the article to be pretty tasteless, to be honest.  Someone using the tragedy to promote his own agenda.

Chris--

I posted this article earlier in the thread http://www.salon.com/2013/04/16/lets_hope_the_boston_marathon_bomber_is_a_white_american/
so yes...some people were indeed hoping that the bombers were white, right wingers. Maybe not your local media, which is good, but Salon isn't exactly some small magazine with no readership. Tasteless? The Salon article is tasteless, and it's saying exactly what you say isn't being said.

If you read all of the "Swat Nation" article, much of it was devoted to the police response, which has been discussed on this site as well and concerns many of us. How do we protect ourselves from attacks like this without surrendering our rights and simply living our lives as shut-ins?  9/11 brought us the TSA, Homeland Security, police departments which outgun most National Guard units and drones sharing our airspace. Are we all comfortable with this? As far as someone using a tragedy to promote their own agenda, I would direct you to look no further than the Newtown shootings and President Obama's sudden interest in passing gun control legislation, which is supported by many of the same media outlets we are discussing here.

Sometimes when bad things happen, we need to not only look at how they happened, but at our response as a society. It's a valid question that deserves consideration.

[TheCommandTent]

If you weren't already irate over this whole incident this will just make it worse.

The accused Boston Marathon bombers' family pulled in more than $100,000 in welfare up until 2012, The Boston Herald reported.

The benefits included food stamps, Section 8 housing and stipends, the report said. One person with knowledge of the documents that will be handed over to the House Post Audit and Oversight Committee told the paper, "the breadth of the benefits the family was receiving was stunning."
   
Massachusetts' Executive Office of Health and Human Services said earlier that Tamerlan Tsarnaev's welfare benefits ended in 2012 when his family stopped meeting income eligibility limits. His wife's attorney claimed Katherine -- who had converted to Islam -- was working up to 80 hours a week as a home health aide while Tsarnaev stayed at home, the newspaper reported.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/30/boston-bombing-suspects-family-reportedly-received-100g-from-taxpayers/#ixzz2Rzd40cn1

>:(

[Gusington]

^I read that a few days ago and am trying to just block it out.

[JasonPratt]

^^ That just has to be America's fault somehow. ^^  :P

[MuzzyDev]

Seriously, this is too good of an article on the subject to pass up:

http://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2013/04/25/swat-nation/

Positioning these guys a "Islamic Terrorists" the way the story does is, IMO, giving them too much credit.  At least, they don't fit the profile.  The younger brother was a kind of a weak minded nebbish pothead whose motivations aren't yet clear, but it doesn't seem like he spent a lot of time being very religious in any way.  The older brother seems to be the bad seed here, but so far (and I emphasize "so far") there is no evidence that, while radicalized, this dude was part of some kind of cell.  He was a punk who was a failure in pretty much everything he'd done, and blamed "Americans" for it.  The Mother is clearly in need of a tinfoil hat.  I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The suggestion that people "wanted it to be some right wing group of tea-partiers" is pure polemic.  What people?  Mass is a pretty liberal place, but I saw not a single word on the news or in the media here to suggest anyone was "hoping" the perpetrators would be anything in particular, or some kind of right wing group.  So far no organization has come forward saying they were behind these two. 

I found the article to be pretty tasteless, to be honest.  Someone using the tragedy to promote his own agenda.

Chris--

I posted this article earlier in the thread http://www.salon.com/2013/04/16/lets_hope_the_boston_marathon_bomber_is_a_white_american/
so yes...some people were indeed hoping that the bombers were white, right wingers. Maybe not your local media, which is good, but Salon isn't exactly some small magazine with no readership. Tasteless? The Salon article is tasteless, and it's saying exactly what you say isn't being said.

If you read all of the "Swat Nation" article, much of it was devoted to the police response, which has been discussed on this site as well and concerns many of us. How do we protect ourselves from attacks like this without surrendering our rights and simply living our lives as shut-ins?  9/11 brought us the TSA, Homeland Security, police departments which outgun most National Guard units and drones sharing our airspace. Are we all comfortable with this? As far as someone using a tragedy to promote their own agenda, I would direct you to look no further than the Newtown shootings and President Obama's sudden interest in passing gun control legislation, which is supported by many of the same media outlets we are discussing here.

Sometimes when bad things happen, we need to not only look at how they happened, but at our response as a society. It's a valid question that deserves consideration.

You're right, I should have followed the links he posted and read the articles.  And yeah, that Salon article is pretty tasteless as well.  I was referring to the local media here when I said I hadn't heard that viewpoint. 

Regarding the police response, the people in charge were keenly aware of what the overwhelming police presence looked like to the folks in the neighborhood.  Their goal was to get out of there as soon as possible.  So, kind of the opposite of martial law.  Events were happening pretty fast that day.  LE will no doubt be reviewing their response, but I think the overall tone here in Boston was that they acted pretty appropriately.

We're veering into politics here which I'd rather not do, so I will refrain from commenting further.

[Bison]

I think the reports coming out pretty well establish that the older brother was suspected of being involved with potential islamic terrorist groups.  Whether those ties are interpersonal, internet, or whatnot remains to be determined.  However you don't end up on both the Russian and Saudi watch lists because you're hanging out at home being self indocrinated.  There is a link that raised the flag from the Russians and Saudis and was looked at, however briefly or seriously by the FBI, the question is whether or not the facts will be silenced for fear of political correctness reprecussions.  There have been several other instances of the fear of PC reprecussions too.  Namely the Fort Hood shooter. 

[Centurion40]

Makes me wonder how often a foreign nation reports a suspected terrorist?  I mean if both the Russians and Saudis pointed to the same guy (who isn't even a citizen), wouldn't that be enough to bounce him out of the country and/or watch him closely??!!

Then again, if there are 100 people being pin-pointed every month, then I can imagine that there are not enough resources to bounce/watch them all, and some sort of assessment/triage is done to determine who deserves the most attention.

[TheCommandTent]

Looks like 3 more suspects were taken into custody.

Three additional suspects were taken into custody in the Boston Marathon bombing case, the Boston Police Department tells FoxNews.com.

Police would not confirm when the suspects were taken into custody, and referred further questions to the FBI.

Prior to the latest development, authorities had named only brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as suspects in the April 15 bombing at the finish line of the world famous race.

Two of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's former UMass-Dartmouth classmates, Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, are from Kazakhstan and faced an immigration hearing this morning, sources said. Sources told Fox News they face obstruction charges in connection with the bombing. The identity of the third suspect is unclear. 

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are suspected of taking computers and other equipment from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's apartment and trying to dispose of it after the bombings, sources told Fox News.

Kadyrbayev's attorney Robert Stahl says his client will be transported to the federal courthouse later Wednesday to appear on new criminal charges. On Friday, Yerlan Kubashev with the Consulate General for Kazakhstan in New York confirmed in a statement to Fox News that the consulate is helping the young men with legal representation.

Kubashev said the two men are "shocked at the bombings," and "they express sorrow to the bombing victims and their families."

Police did not confirm the gender of the third suspect, but Fox News confirmed the person is a U.S. citizen. More information was expected to be provided by the US Attorney's office later Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/01/3-more-suspects-taken-into-custody-in-boston-bombing-police-say/#ixzz2S46NMTlo

[LongBlade]

Makes me wonder how often a foreign nation reports a suspected terrorist?  I mean if both the Russians and Saudis pointed to the same guy (who isn't even a citizen), wouldn't that be enough to bounce him out of the country and/or watch him closely??!!

Then again, if there are 100 people being pin-pointed every month, then I can imagine that there are not enough resources to bounce/watch them all, and some sort of assessment/triage is done to determine who deserves the most attention.

It doesn't help that the pool of resources gets further diluted by claiming veterans and tea partiers are potential threats when they clearly are not.

You have to pick your battles. Deliberately picking the wrong ones due to political correctness is going to result in missing real leads.