At least 2 dead after explosions at the Boston Marathon

48 Replies

EDITOR’S NOTE: The latest developments in this breaking story will be at the bottom of the comment thread…

This broke a little while ago, but reports remain sketchy. From The Boston Herald:

Two huge explosions rocked the Boston Marathon finish line at Copley Square just before 3 p.m. today, apparently causing numerous casualties.

“I saw two explosions. The first one was beyond the finish line. I heard a loud bang and I saw smoke rising,” said Herald reporter Chris Cassidy, who was running in the marathon.“I kept running and I heard behind me a loud bang. It looked like it was in a trash can or something. That one was in front of Abe and Louie’s. There are people who have been hit with debris, people with bloody foreheads.”

“There are at least a dozen that seem to be injured in some way,” Cassidy said.

Will this be the first successful terror attack in this country since 9/11/01? Or a gas main exploding? We’re still in those foggy first moments of developing news. Or developing history.

48 thoughts on “At least 2 dead after explosions at the Boston Marathon”

  1. bud

    Given the proximity of the Boston Marathon event it would be very surprising if this was something as mundane as a gas explosion. It’s most likely a terrorist event of some kind. But it doesn’t necessarily mean it was related to Al-Qaeda or some other Middle-eastern group it could be some type of White Supremacy group or other domestic folks. Either way this is bad.

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  2. Silence

    Too big a coincidence to be a gas main exploding, I think. Hopefully it’s an isolated incident. My condolences to the families and friends of the victims.

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    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      There are weird, incongruous elements in that photo, which is credited to Charles Krupa and AP: A giant blue M&M stands over the patch of pavement that appears to be blood-stained. Right next to the stains, there’s a rolled-up American flag.

      A K-9 unit cop appears to be vehemently addressing the M&M, while pointing dramatically off to his right…

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      1. Doug Ross

        No, the motive doesn’t “add up”. What would be the motivation to kill marathon runners?
        Just because it’s April 15th? Sheesh… let’s be serious

        If it was an IRS office then I’d believe the motive.

        For now, please try to rein in your disgust for people who feel the tax system is broken..

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          1. Doug Ross

            I hope when it turns out to have nothing to do with Tea Party members that you will admit to jumping the gun on this.

            If they did it, why wouldn’t they claim credit for it?

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          3. Kathryn Fenner

            Didn’t say it was Tea Party members. I said it could be antigovernment activists who find the date and place significant. Many similar acts have occurred on Patriot’s Day.

            I also did not endorse the theory. I merely reported and explained it.

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        2. Brad Warthen Post author

          Doug, what I meant was that if someone were protesting taxes, it makes sense they’d choose that day.

          And Doug, when I’m trying to figure out what’s going on, I don’t speculate about things based on my “disgust” for anyone. My mind doesn’t work that way. For instance, if this had occurred on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, it would be natural to say that maybe, just maybe, radical anti-abortion activists did it. My own opposition to abortion wouldn’t prevent me from considering the possibility.

          It was also “Patriots Day” in Massachusetts. You can apply that a couple of ways. One would be that foreign terrorists wanted to strike on a day when we’re celebrating America. But that doesn’t quite work. Few Americans outside Massachusetts knew it was Patriot’s Day, and I doubt many foreigners would.

          On the other hand, some radical domestic group, fancying themselves to be the REAL patriots, may have been motivated to do it on that day.

          The problem with trying to reason this out is that terrorists, whether foreign or domestic, are not rational people. Deliberately murdering innocents is not a defensible act to rational people, no matter the cause.

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          1. Doug Ross

            But why bother speculating at all? Until there is any evidence of a link between the bombing and a particular person, all you are doing is promoting the idea that it COULD be someone who is anti-government.
            It also COULD be someone who is just a lunatic.

            The problem is working backward from one datapoint to try and determine a motivation for the bombing. The date was April 15 – gee that means it could have been a tax protestor. Except that the location of the bomb has nothing to do with taxes.

            All we know is that the person who did it picked a location where there was a large number of people congregated. That is the only specific intent we know so far.

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          2. Brad Warthen Post author

            There’s no doubt it’s a lunatic, whether it’s al Qaeda, or anti-tax militia, or Catholic communitarians.

            I don’t want to shock you, Doug, but we’re thinking along similar lines. When I said the date “adds up,” I was thinking “if only it were an IRS office or other federal government facility.” But I wasn’t that specific; I only typed, “but why those targets?” Maybe that was too vague…

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  19. Steve Gordy

    It’s too early to say, but I think it’s more likely to be domestic terrorists than foreigners. It seems to be a fairly obvious attempt to detonate bombs on a day and at a place where there are certain to be large crowds of people. That would indicate some domestic group or wacko individual.

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  20. Silence

    What if it’s the Koreans? Just speculating, but it would be an interesting turn of events. I for one am reserving judgement until the facts are known.

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  21. Norm Ivey

    I’m leaning toward domestic simply because the devices seem to be relatively small and the lack of a “martyr”. The carnage done by suicide bombers tends to be greater, and they sacrifice themselves to the cause.

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    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      Norm, I don’t think “small bomb” equates to “domestic.” Think about Oklahoma City. Nothing small about that.

      It could BE domestic. But that particular fact doesn’t argue in favor of it…

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      1. Silence

        Small bomb generally equates to not being a state-sponsored terrorist act. The likely improvised nature of the device as well as the explosives being mentioned on the news (black powder) imply a relatively unsophisticated operator. Still just me speculating, though.

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  22. Bryan D. Caskey

    Doesn’t really do any good to randomly speculate. In fact, it probably does more harm that good, and you don’t want to defame anyone. Remember Richard Jewell?

    Just think before you type.

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    2. Mark Stewart

      Black powder bombs though. It is not unreasonable to draw some conclusions from that – and from the large difference with other bombings in Europe and elsewhere, which caused much greater structural damage. This was aimed at hurting people.

      Regardless, it is terrorism.

      Personally, I was struck by the main bomb being placed behind the row of international flags. Putting the bomb behind the finish line would have resulted in greater casualties, but in front of the finish line guaranteed the most photo/video documentation. But why behind the flag row? Why that side of the street and not the other (although the north side does have very broad sidewalks in those blocks)?

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      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        Mark, I thought about that — that under the reviewing stand might have been a more desirable target. But then I thought about the practicalities. That was probably as close to the finish line that the terrorist could get to plant his bomb — assuming still that it wasn’t a suicide bombing.

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  24. bud

    Regardless of who the perpertrators were this is the type of event that is extraordinarily senseless and serves no purpose to advance anyone’s cause. There were many folks who witnessed the explosions then ran toward the carnage in an attempt to render aid. That in itself should tell you something about the spirit of the American people (and perhaps foreigners as well) that they were willing to risk their own lives to try and help. No terrorist act can advance any cause when folks run toward the scene of carnage. People simply will not be cowed into submission by events of this type. No, this only serves to show the grit and determination of our open and free society.

    But the terrorists can still score a victory if our public officials allow new and draconian legislation that will take away the freedoms of a target group. The terrorists can still win if we, as a people, are frightened away from celebrations such as the Boston Marathon. Tyranny can still prevail if folks acquiesce to the fears these cowardly fearmongers try to plant in the minds of the American people. Let us not allow them to win but rather let us mourn the loses in an appropriate and dignified manner but continue to pursue ALL American celebrations just as before. Yes we may need to take prudent steps to deter terrorist acts. But let us do so with a sense of pragmatism, not of fear.

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