Is anyone else watching the situation going down in Boston live?

Yes, it is amazing to watch these events in real time. We are flipping between Sky News and CNN, but neither are USA feeds. One minute they say they are Marathon suspects then they say no. Did you see the pics of the guy they stripped and put in the police car? Then there are shots of a guy lying in a gutter. It is difficult to sort it all! Are you hearing anything different?

From the Boston station: One suspect still holed up in a home. It looks like a mass of police, FBI and Homeland Security in a 5 block area.

On the Boston channel they’re reporting a suspect is dead. They’re reporting there are suspects on the loose with bombs, and “long” guns. Mass State Police are now telling all Watertown residents to NOT open their doors for anyone.

Yes, I can’t tear myself away. I had to get out of bed to watch it. I’m furious that one of them died, what a coward.

There were numerous shots of a motionless guy lying in the gutter so that agrees with one suspect dead. There was a video clip and there were gunshots and explosives going off like fireworks on NYE. And yes, warnings to stay inside. It must be terrifying for residents. Did you see the newest photos of the 2 suspects the FBI is releasing in the middle of the night which is strange? I figure the campus cop recognized one of the suspects from the photos released and that set the whole thing off.

@DigitalBlue I agree. I wanted to get to sleep early tonight. Then there was a breaking news. I ran to Reddit. The amount of info pouring out from Twitter & Facebook is astonishing in speed. I’ve never seen anything like this.

@rooeytoo I haven’t seen anything like what you’re describing here on the News or on the Net, yet.

Two names have been released on Twitter. I just re-tweeted, but don’t think I should post here since they can’t be confirmed.

@rooeytoo I just saw that the FBI released the photos. They released moments after the photos were shown on this Boston live stream I linked above. I figure the same as you. The campus cop either knew one of these fellas or spotted one.

The Asia-Pacific news feeds are always different from USA of the same news stations. Now the poor cop is dead. What a horrible ordeal. Did you hear about the car jacking, that seems to be part of it all too.

A (former?) jelly who lives in the area actually sent me a message when it all started going nuts, I have given up on sleep for the night. I’ve been following all of this entirely too closely, probably obsessively.
Reddit has been priceless in fishing out the truth/squashing speculation, I feel. I haven’t even bothered watching any mainstream news.

Boston Police stressing there is still one suspect “on the loose”.

What is Reddit?

@rooeytoo I suspect (this is my opinion) that these guys wanted as much police attention as possible, which would explain the robbery and car jacking and police chase. It’s a suicide mission. They want to go out with a “bang,” no puns intended.
No one takes grenades to rob a convenient store.

@rooeytoo Boston reporting these 2 guys held up a 7–11, carjacked this black Mercedes, then shot the MIT police officer, then in the chaos of the Watertown scene, the Boston transit officer was shot.

I didn’t know about a Boston transit officer, that hasn’t been mentioned here.

The transit officer is injured, but alive.

@DigitalBlue No kidding with the grenades. As soon as I heard that there were explosions, I felt that these people would love to take out as many authorities and innocents as possible.

@rooeytoo Reddit

Sickening. It’s absolutely sickening, no respect for life whatsoever.

In looking at the Twitter accounts of these two guys: One is supposedly Missing Brown Student.

Thanks for posting this. I was watching a local station and nothing had been said.

I can’t decide if it is the student. I don’t know what to think. I know they released the names, but so far the names haven’t been confirmed? If so, he would be the one still on the loose, the other guy is the one who died.

They keep saying “suspects,” are there more than two guys, or are they misspeaking?

I think it looks like the guy in the white baseball cap.

@DigitalBlue – I heard at one point, they have 2 suspects apprehended and are still looking for a third, but there are so many conflicting reports, it is hard to keep track.

@rooeytoo it is, I agree.

Now they just said “undetonated” devices in Watertown.

I love the FNN: Fluther News Network

@rooeytoo They are saying on Reddit that the kid had the nerve to still be wearing the white cap at some point tonight. Yes, the Brown student is supposedly the white cap suspect.

@DigitalBlue They keep saying just two males in the carjacking, but when at Watertown, it seems confusing. Not sure if they feel there’s another due to the amount of grenades/bullets being put out. Very confusing.

Here, this is a good summary for anyone not up on what’s going on:

“From the Middlesex County DA’s Office:
Police are investigating a fatal shooting of MIT campus police officer by two men who then committed an armed carjacking in Cambridge, Middlesex Acting District Attorney Michael Pelgro, Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas, and MIT Police Chief John DiFava announced this evening.

At approximately 10:20 p.m. April 18, police received reports of shots fired on the MIT campus. At 10:30 p.m., an MIT campus police officer was found shot in his vehicle in the area of Vassar and Main streets. According to authorities, the officer was found evidencing multiple gunshot wounds.

He was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital and pronounced deceased.
Authorities launched an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the shooting. The investigation determined that two males were involved in this shooting.

A short time later, police received reports of an armed carjacking by two males in the area of Third Street in Cambridge. The victim was carjacked at gunpoint by two males and was kept in the car with the suspects for approximately a half hour. The victim was released at a gas station on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. He was not injured.

Police immediately began a search for the vehicle and were in pursuit of the vehicle into Watertown.

At that time, explosive devices were reportedly thrown from car by the suspects. The suspects and police also exchanged gunfire in the area of Dexter and Laurel streets. During this pursuit, an MBTA Police officer was seriously injured and transported to the hospital.
During the pursuit, one suspect was critically injured and transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased. An extensive manhunt is ongoing in the Watertown area for the second suspect, who is believed to be armed and dangerous.”

@SpatzieLover very. It’s infuriating, because it seems like these assholes bombed the marathon, went back to wherever, and got to work creating as much death and destruction as they could possibly carry for exactly this.

Police are now saying kid in white hat is the one holed up in a commercial bldg in Watertown.

They’re making it sound like this guy in the bldg is the only other suspect. Confusing. I’m hopeful it’s true.

Now they just said one suspect dead, they are still looking for another, but who was the naked guy who supposedly is still being kept in a car in Watertown???

Cops are going to go door to door and check with residents. They are telling residents to make sure to check id of cops who come to door.

@rooeytoo CNN reporters just stated they aren’t completely sure how many people are being pursued.

So far, it seems that the naked guy is unrelated. The first suspect (guy in the dark hat, from the marathon bombings) is deceased.

Col of Mass State Police on TV live right now.

Press conference, only mentioned the two people. One dead, searching for the second.

Yep I am hearing that now too.

@Hawaii_Jake – do you get USA news feed or Asia Pacific?

@rooeytoo USA

They just showed a new photo of the still missing suspect (white hat) but now he is wearing a gray hoodie.

@rooeytoo I believe that’s from the 7–11.

I hope they catch him alive.

Yes, that’s from the 7–11.

I really feel like he will take his own life sooner or later. I don’t believe for one second that he intends to be taken alive. It’s infuriating. People deserve answers. He should pay for what he has done.

That official who was just on telly said he is a terrorist who came here to kill people, that’s an interesting phrase, came here to kill.

@DigitalBlue I want answers, too. I’m worried this guy will try to take out people while doing himself in.

Boston is saying plain & simply on the news that the black cap guy is dead.

@rooeytoo That’s very telling. “Intentions to kill” was just said on the news. I’m wondering if this scheme was planned in another country then, prior to coming to college here.

@SpatzieLover – yes initially I was think domestic but now I am rapidly changing my mind. They have the look that it is not pc to mention.

After seeing the FBI photos I changed my opinion to this being domestic. Now with the new filtering out, it seems I’m back to foreign “terrorist”...just organized in a different way.

Well, they are dark featured guys, but I don’t think their ethnicity has been confirmed. It’s not extremely clear, so I’m not sure what to make of that, yet. I don’t know which is better or worse, probably neither, but I assumed domestic from very early on. I can’t get over how young these guys are. These are practically kids out there killing innocent people. I just have to shake my head, I can’t even… ugh.

The police colonel who did the press conference described the second suspect still at large as light-skinned Caucasian.

Wow and he was the one that I thought looked very Indian, the dark hair and skin. That is strange. The one that was killed seemed to me to be the lighter skinned.

@Hawaii_Jake If it is who I linked above, he’s of Indian decent. They called him light-skinned with curly black hair & a grey hoodie earlier tonight on the scanner.

He looks lighter now than he did from photos months ago….Skin lightener????

He hasn’t been confirmed as the missing student, if that’s the comparison you’re making.
However, he does look more pale and also thinner, if it is the same guy. Stress?

@DigitalBlue Here’s the supposed twitter account of the black capped suspect

@SpatzieLover I read that “Mike” is unlikely to be the first name, that “Mike” was used to confirm the first letter as “M” over the radio.

@DigitalBlue I didn’t make the connection. Once the names were released on Reddit from the Boston Police scanners, Twitter blew up.

@SpatzieLover – you are a sleuth! How did you get that??

I saw the names released, I think the “Mike” part was a mistake. They won’t confirm the names, the names released on the radio are unconfirmed. The other is the name of the missing student.

I’m completely horrified for the people who live here. Please, please, no more innocent lives.

@DigitalBlue that is what I keep thinking, how terrifying it must be!

@DigitalBlue This info was released on this journalist account hours ago. He’s been typing up & confirming whatever happens on Reddit/Boston News.

I’m reading that there are reports (unconfirmed) that the first guy detonated an explosive device on his person? Suicide bombing?

I just saw more pics of #2, I think he looks lighter skinned because they probably had to lighten the photos. It looks as if it might have been in the shadows.

Suspicious package 500 Memorial Drive. My goodness. Sick. On the campus of MIT.

@rooeytoo I bet you’re correct. They probably had to clear the photos up. That makes sense.

I’m guessing (hoping) it will turn out to be okay, since MIT was swept and cleared hours ago. I’m sure anything is considered to be suspect until this is over, probably for a while. Everyone is going to be on edge. (This is assuming that it is ONLY these two guys.)

I really hope that’s true. There’s no where to evacuate to in this situation

They are saying that the fact that he has made no effort to disguise himself is relevant. The hat backwards, not shielding his face, shows he doesn’t care if he is recognised. That is not good, would indicate that he doesn’t intend to be taken alive.

@rooeytoo I completely agree. I really don’t think he intends to survive this. I don’t think that is his goal.

Package in dorm in MIT.

NBC is reporting that the suspects have foreign military backgrounds, MSNBC reporting that the 2nd suspect is not the missing student. Suggests that they may have the suspect names. (Unconfirmed.)

Another news conference in 20 minutes but it didn’t say by whom????

Gif of suspect with white hat/Brown Student (Sunil)

“International element to this story” is just now coming in to the Boston station. “Came to US a year ago”. And like you said earlier @DigitalBlue Military backgrounds.

I think about an hour ago a CNN reporter got a not that stated the military background but said (live on air) “Well, I’m not going to read this yet, but it makes sense why they’d have grenades”.

Damn I have to walk the dogs, I hate to leave the telly!

It will be a quick walk around the block tonight.

Busloads of Watertown residents are being transported out of the area.

This sounds not good to me.

Still speculation, at this point, but it is a little crazy that a couple of college kids could pull this off (it’s been what, 7 hours?)
I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough, but I dunno.

I just woke up to the news and am still catching up on it. I have two comments:

One, I wish both men had been caught and debriefed, then tried and convicted. Yet, if it’s true the dead man is one of the terrorists, good riddance!

Two, kudos to law enforcement for so quickly identifying these evil men. If only they had been as successful at stopping them before they perpetrated their horrible deed and ruined so many innocent lives.

Pertinent tidbit on “missing” student.

IT’s getting light now, that should make it easier to find him. That’s interesting @SpatzieLover mentally ill and depressed, wonder what about the other guy???

Mass. State Police just had a press conference.

All of the MBTA (Mass Transit) has been closed until further notice. All businesses in Watertown are ordered not to open and residents are told to stay in their homes. No traffic allowed in or out of Watertown.

MIT and Harvard have closed for the day.

Watertown is part of Boston? Or a town?

Watertown is a city adjacent to Cambridge which is just over the Charles River from Boston.

Two key points not yet covered…
1: I love the name Watertown
2: That uniformed Boston cop at the press conference sounds like Officer Dibble from Top Cat,I love his hat also.

I bet nothing that drastic has been done since 9/11

Watertown residents in the area where the suspect was last seen are being pulled from their homes and “moved to safety”. Police are searching these homes. Currently working on a 20-block radius.

Guess, I’m glued to the news all day. No work. My college just closed.

Looks like about a dozen colleges closed.

Well. My mind is blown.

Yes, my husband and I are watching and hoping they take the second brother alive, so he can be questioned. Bastards.

They’ve now expanded the lock down to all of Boston (per the governor). No public transit, no taxis. Streets blocked. Businesses are being told not to open today.

According to what is currently being reported, the younger brother has a Facebook page, filled with hateful posts, and claims to be a Muslim. Shit, meet fan.

Conflicting reports about the origin of the two suspects.

They are apparently brothers and their family is from Russia.

Some reports claim they’ve been in the US about a year. Others say they went to high school in Cambridge – indicating they’ve been here much longer.

Crazy, dude!
I’ve been waiting for this, those dudes are out of control and need to be brought to justice..and I hope the second dude is captured alive.

They have a house surrounded in Watertown, and an assault vehicle has been driven up. A woman was just pulled out of the house, the house is still covered, and the police told all cameramen to back up.

I really hope they catch this dirty coward alive.

News just showed the outstanding suspect’s high school photo from Cambridge Ringe and Latin High School.

An uncle of the two brothers claims they arrived in America around 2001.

Everyone here is, talking with our news guy now about all the reporting mistakes and how media doesn’t like to admit incorrect reporting.

Thinking about @cookieman. How are you holding up?

@Mama_Cakes: We’re okay. A little freaked out. I’m hoping they capture this guy soon.

Anyone find it ironic that the best coverage you can find is on fluther?

@Adirondackwannabe I know, dude.
I’d rather check here because like everyone is reading different stories and reporting back. It’s pretty awesome.

I understand the uncle is in custody as being far more involved than originally thought.

How is a 19 year old kid evading so so much law enforcement? It’s not like some little community PD is looking for him, this is a massive manhunt involving local, state and federal agencies. I don’t understand.

The news seems to be avoiding saying whether they are Muslim. Chechnya has a large Muslim population. Has anyone heard if these men identified as Muslims? Meaning friends might know they were Muslims?

On his “vk” social network page, he identifies himself as a Muslim. His brother’s YouTube stream also has a collection of videos labeled under “Islam.” A boxing site with photos and information about the older brother also mentions that he is Muslim.

@JLeslie Some media are suppressing the Muslim connection for now or downplaying it I should say.

This whole thing sucks!

@DigitalBlue So either he is trying to set up the Muslims to look responsible (frame them). Or, he really is Muslim and might be part of a group that planned this, not just two young men doing something crazy.

@DigitalBlue that’s what I’m thinking! It makes me wonder if someone’s helping him hide out.

@JLeslie I have no reason to believe that they are faking their religious affiliation, there is a lot of evidence to support it being authentic.
Whether they acted alone or as part of a larger group, I don’t think anyone knows, yet.

@WillWorkForChocolate Good point. Someone helping them, or he has taken a hostage and is hiding out maybe?

I dunno. I’m hearing that he possibly escaped in a Honda CRV. No idea if anyone else was with him.

This is scary.

@Mama_Cakes
What is that?

His site.

@Mama_Cakes I’m kind of scared to look.

@Mama_Cakes I get an error message each time I tried to open your link.

The uncle lives where Auggie and I grew up.

try again

@Mama_Cakes Thanks, I think. That one worked. Yikes.

Oh, dear God.

My fucking good gawd almighty riding a bike…he’s single, who knew!?! :-)

I need to take a walk for a bit, but could we please not blame this on Islam? He’s clearly nuts. But so isn’t the FL minister or priest that was burning the Quran. Extremism never gets us anywhere.

@Adirondackwannabe, I don’t think we need to walk on eggshells about it either. It seems clear that the two suspects are devout Muslims and the fact that they deliberately tried to kill lots of civilians puts them squarely in the al-Qaeda-style camp of terrorism. Saying they are “nuts” doesn’t really shed any light on the situation.

@WillWorkForChocolate: Police just found the Honda CR-V in Cambridge.

Maybe they are Chechen separatists trying to draw attention to their cause, rather than just Al-Qaeda members. Not every Muslim around the world who commits violent acts does so in the name of Al Qaeda. Just sayin’.

Just like not everyone who was painted as a Communist in the west during the Cold War was a member of the Communist Party or working for the “international Communist conspiracy.”

Complexity and nuance, yo.

Also, one of them is named Tamerlane. This was Genghis Khan’s real name. I just woke up.

Uh, warning, Christ Jesus, one of his friends posted just-on-the-verge-of-child-porn on his facebook page. Be forewarned.

On MSNBC they are saying they let the person they carjacked live because they started to get to know him and that they only want to blow up anonymous people, society, etc. Didn’t the person who was carjacked tell authorities the guys said they set the Boston Marathon bombs? Seems to me they let him live to pass on the message, not because the men showed some sort of mercy.

Who the fuck was bashing Islam anyway?¿?
I’m actually quite impressed this dumb bastard managed to blast his way outta dodge & evade all of ee-merry-ka’s police for this amount of time. He looks like he needs his mammy to tie his fucking shoe-laces.

@ucme: True. He has a baby face.

Oh my god, check out twitter
those goddamn czechs!

@Michael_Huntington Is that real? Scary the stupidity.

@cookieman He also makes Dylan Klebold look like a fucking genius :/

Weren’t there some Chechen dudes that bombed a Russian airport or something?
I vaguely recall something like that in the news some time ago but I’m not sure if I’m correct. I remember the word Chechen. I think.

I recall Chechen terrorist scum carried out this atrocious act, so they have form.

Did you just see the live Q&A of the uncle in front of his house by reporters? The guy seems geniune, he told his nephew to turn himself in. Said he has kept his family away from theirs for years.

@Adirondackwannabe I don’t blame it on Islam, but on Muslim extremists. That being said, things like this do cause me to feel more unease toward Islam, in general. I can’t help it.

@WillWorkForChocolate I know. That’s why I made the comment. I don’t want anyone to lump all followers of Islam in one basket. I went to college with a few followers and they were great people.

Another thing, the uncle talked about his brother’s family blaming others. That’s in line with what an expert I saw talked about after the Newtown incident. That mass murderers think everyone else is culpable for their problems. When asked by reporters the uncle said he was ashamed. He also said the boys were not born in Chechnya, didn’t live there; he said Chechnyan are peaceful people. He did say he is Muslim himself when asked, but said it like it is not a big deal, which makes me believe where he lives people never treat him differently for being Muslim, which would be in line with my experience growing up there.

He said he is ready to kneel to the families who suffered at the hands of his nephews and ask their forgiveness on behalf of the family.

Ha! Bullshit!

@Mama_Cakes The comments on his page (2nd link)...Scary.

Let me clarify my “bullshit!” outburst: The uncle may have said and may think that the Chechnyan are a peaceful people, but that’s bullshit!

Cambridge looks like a war zone. Are the news stations showing this right now? Searching all vehicles including a CRV the suspect may have driven to getaway.

I just called my mom. She is pissed so much tax payer money is being spent keeping a noisy helicopter over her head. She still lives in Montgomery Village.

@SpatzieLover Sorry, but I don’t think war zones look like that. I think comparing it to a war zone doesn’t do justice to what war zones really are like. I agree this is pretty scary for those living in the area, and having the whole city shut down is odd and disconcerting, but ongoing war is much worse than what this is.

Boston reporters just said “Remember this suspect is involved in this community. He’s lived her for some time.”

^That’s the scariest part of this. These young men were invested in this community. They know the people.

Neighbor on TV thought the older boys behavior was odd after “going back” (To Chechnya). Neighbor said both boys looked very typical Western prior to going. When older boy came back he dressed “in typical Taliban style” for a period of months after returning. Then noticed after a while he began dressing Western again. He felt the boys never “acted Religious in anyway”

Blackhawk helicopters for one suspect? I’d like to know how many explosives these kids stored up.

Just in from a friend who lives in a Boston Suburb:

“You all may have heard or seen this morning’s news, but if not, I’ve pasted in an extract from the Boston Globe below. The shelter-in-place directive—i.e., stay in your house with the doors locked and do not open up to other than a uniformed police officer—seems to be unprecedented in a major city. Note also the listed communities other than Boston itself—Waltham, Newton, etc.
Scary stuff—be careful, those of you in the affected area”

Mary E

From today’s Boston Globe:

WATERTOWN — A massive manhunt is underway this morning in Boston and several surrounding communities for one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon terror bombing attacks. A second suspect has died in a confrontation with police, while one police officer has been killed and another has been seriously wounded.

Governor Deval Patrick asked people who live in the entire city of Boston, as well as the nearby communities of Watertown, Waltham, Newton, Belmont, Cambridge, to “shelter in place”...stay inside and not open their doors to anyone, except police with proper identification.

The search has also led to the sudden shutdown of the MBTA’s entire network of commuter rail, bus, and subway services. Taxi service was shut down. And officials requested businesses across the area not to open this morning.”

Just prior to going to sleep last night, I heard the Robocalls the police of Watertown on the news.

At that time (around 4am) authorities were worried he’d enter a home while a family was sleeping.

@SpatzieLover I’d be worried about that too. I would have furniture against my doors.

One of the mom bloggers I follow on Facebook with an autistic daughter, was extremely concerned. She’s been updating on & off when she can

I just woke up to this news. Getting caught up on all the coverage.

No.
Haven’t seen a second of it (heard that one brother is dead though).
They have brother two yet?

All of our local television stations here in Illinois have had live coverage since I woke up at 6:30 a.m. this morning. Many counties in our area are in a state of emergency due to record flooding at the moment and I was hoping our local news would be reporting on this. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but we have our own problems here in Illinois and many families are displaced and needing help right now. I wish our local news would just give us updates about Boston and report about what’s going on here at home.

ABC news just interviewed a mechanic from an auto-shop across the street from the suspects home.

Mechanic has known suspect for some time. Said suspect had dropped off a White Mercedes” earlier….Then on Tuesday suspect walked up, seemed very anxious, said he needed the car back NOW. Said the car was his girlfriends and friend needs car now. Mechanic said he didn’t want to turn car over since it had no taillights or back bumper. Suspect insisted (this is the YOUNGER white capped guy) he needed it now.

Mechanic saw FBI photos yesterday, thought the young photo (white cap) looked similar to this guy (especially nose) but wasn’t sure until he saw the 7–11 photo this AM.

Said he knew both brothers for years. Knows family. Said he’d never suspected them to be anything but typical college kids he deals with. He said he feels horrible, as he was standing right next to this kid on Tuesday, and had he known something he could have alerted the authorities immediately.

It sounds like there are stories like this popping up from all over the neighborhood.

Hardware store owner has already contacted FBI. The youngest brother came in to buy many things from his store.

Strange burning wire smells coming from Cambridge home and black powder smell was reported. This is where the controlled explosion will be done.

I just watched this video of the suspects’ Uncle. I hope no crazies go after him.

@Dutchess_III I thought the same when I saw him speak out. Apparently the two guys sister’s home is also surrounded by press and now the police have taped off her home. Nothing going on there as she knows nothing, but press wasn’t leaving her alone.

EDIT: This sister lives in Northern New Jersey.

I wonder how this will all end, several clear possibilities…

1: Suspect dies in a hail of bullets
2: He places gun in mouth & blows his head off himself
3: Gives himself up & is taken in for questioning
4: Comes out with a white flag singing the Bee Gee’s song Massachusetts
5: FBI see sense & call in Rambo…“talk to me Johnny”

Place your bets now…my money’s on #2, although I don’t entirely rule out #4

In the accompanying captions, he tells the photographer that he is hoping to win enough fights to be selected for the US Olympic team and be a naturalised American. Tamerlan also says that unless Chechnya becomes independent, he would rather compete for the United States than for Russia.

The smartly-dressed, well-built boxer is photographed with his young girlfriend. He says that he is “very religious”.

He also told the photographer that he did not drink or smoke any more – “God said no alcohol” – and expressed concern that there were “no values anymore”.

[Source]
(This is in regards to black capped suspect)

@jonsblond That’s terrible. I hope they at least have a running ticker at the bottom of the screen to keep you all informed about the flooding.

They don’t here @augustlan. I just check the online feeds for my local news stations to stay on top of the weather. We’ve also had flooding in our area

Here’s a weather link for anyone that wants it. Click on the map for your area.It’s got radar and warnings too.
http://www.weather.gov/

@SpatzieLover I am very interested in the ‘why’, what they were trying to say or to prove.

@ucme #1 OR #5, I think ‘Rambo’ or his equivalent has already been called though- lol, when Americans say “massive manhunt” they’re not playin around. Just ask Bin Laden.

I wonder if the kids expected this kind of response? Did they think they could get away with it?

@augustlan & @SpatzieLover Local news was allowed 5 minutes at noon for updates before it switched back to Brian Williams. @Adirondackwannabe Thanks, but it’s not radar that we need. We have many road closures and people needing shelter. I can at least get that info by following our news channels on Facebook.

@KNOWITALL I want to know the same. It seems to neighbors they appeared one way, then to friends and on the Net, another way. I hope they get this second kid alive so we can determine a why.

@jonsblond Road closures here, too. DOT is usually the best up-to-date source for that info

@April Yeah I think you’re probably right, maybe it’s James Bond though :-)
I can’t ask Bin Laden, coz he’s dead see :D

@SpatzieLover Right? When I asked the question about the hippies the other day, not one person, that I’m aware of, mentioned the peaceful protests to promote change. Violence is apparently the human ‘fall back’ plan when no one listens, like a childish tantrum.

@ucme Exactly. Bond is pretty slick, you probably just like him more than Ramob because he’s British though…lol

Aunt is on Boston TV. Suspects came to USA on refugee status with Dad after Aunt was already here. (Sister of Dad of suspects)

Said older boy Tamerlan, was NOT devout Muslim until about a year ago. Then he began praying 5 times a day. She said still not devout. Tamerlan married to devout Christian, had a baby.

Dad is now in Russia. Speaking to journalists on phone. Said his son (youngest) is being set up and is a “true angel”.

This was on his page. What is this all about!. Warning, brutally graphic torture.

Can’t find a photo online…However, if that was the wife & baby that were removed from the “suspects house”, they sure looked like DEVOUT Muslims to me

All over Twitter the supposed autopsy photo of older suspect is widely circulated. I won’t post here….too graphic.

Mother of Boston bombing suspects arrested last year for ‘stealing $1,600 worth of clothes from Lord & Taylor’

Amazing that the L &T cameras supposedly captured the bomb drop

Manhunt still on, still door-to-door. Anyone else hear anything new?

Whenever I see his name, I can’t help thinking that a phonetic reading of Dzhokhar must sound like “Joker”.

Editted by me obviously

oops. It’s been a rough week. :)

@Adirondackwannabe At least it was a sweet post…lol

@KNOWITALL All I’m hearing even on the Boston scanner is that the bomb sweeps are still taking place. They’re attempting to sweep (with dogs) all of the blocked off areas of Watertown, then certain main streets (where the getaway car may have driven past) for undetonated devices.

If this kid was unharmed, I’d wonder if a ‘friend’ is hiding him, or if he’s hanging out in a shed…Or??? With the amount of Redbull the kid stole at the 7–11, I’d suspect he & his brother planned to be awake until they were either taken out, or took themselves out.

@SpatzieLover Yeah, I don’t think he has any intention of going quietly, though. We’ll hear about it, if it happens.

Ugh, makes me wonder if he’s taken hostages somewhere, craziness. Have we heard from Cookie lately?

I agree @glacial. I’m very concerned how he’s planning to do it. All of these people in these neighborhoods are essentially held hostage.

I realize this is unimportant in the greater scheme of things, but…

Boston Comic Con was just cancelled for tomorrow because of the city-wide lockdown — and I had tickets!! :^(

@KNOWITALL: I had to get away from the news for a while. We went for a ride and ended up in Gloucester. Had some yummy salmon for lunch.

Came back to Medford to find police cruisers all over the place. Looks like they’re looking into the Somerville and Medford area.

@cookieman Gotcha, glad you’re good to go. Sorry about Comic Con, reminds me of Big Bang Theory…lol, capes and costumes. I’m a big nerdle, more books than friends.

Just go put my Spider-Man shirt away.

:: shuffles with head down ::

@cookieman BAHAHAHAHAHA!!! :) Nerds rule!

@cookieman First thing I thought when I heard the city was being locked down was Logan Airport might be closed and people with travel plans would be screwed.

@JLeslie The mom blogger I spoke about up there…Her husband was supposed to fly out for business today. They were more concerned with the travel to the airport so he decided against it.

@JLeslie: Logan Airport has been mostly open, but many flights are cancelled.

@KNOWITALL: Yes. Yes we do.

I have changed my mind, I don’t hope they catch him alive, I think the best resolution now is if one of his little pot bombs blows up and nails him to the wall with one through the heart. He has already cost the lives of people who have done nothing to him, cost gazillions of tax payers dollars which could have been used for much better ends and has the neighborhood and to an extent the entire city held hostage. Now if he is caught alive, we are much too civilized to kill him the way he killed the 8 year old so it will cost gazillions more to protect him in prison until they decide he has been rehabilitated and released to bomb again or he dies and at 19 we are looking probably at a lot of years and tax dollars.

Happening now on the scanner for those not following:

-Police need batteries for their radios. Some officers are asking others to text them.
-K-9 units keep coming & going as the dogs can only work for so long.
-Police shift change will happen soon. Trying to clear certain areas first.

They are going to kill this kid as their general procedure. If the Boston cops find him first he might have a chance but the feds just kill and burn as history has shown. Is Lon Horiuchi in town?

@spatzie, it’s probably healthy to step away from it for awhile.

@Mama_Cakes I homeschool & have an ebay store. I’ve stepped away for large periods of time ;)

@woodcutter From what I understand he definately wouldn’t have a chance, they’re bada$$.

Why do the Boston cop’s uniform hats look so dorky? They all look like they have been sat on.

@ KNOWITALL They are bad- ass but too much I think. They have 9k officers looking for this kid? If they don’t get him soon people are gonna start rooting for him. He needs to get with other people to surrender if he wants to survive this, if he wants to.

Spare a thought…more innocent “victims.”

@woodcutter If I could bet you 100 lurve that he will be dead within 24 hours, I would. Sometimes being taken alive is a no win situation.

@woodcutter: That’s our Massachusetts State Police I think you’re seeing. They are kinda dorky.

Our Governor was just on and lifted the ban on public transit and the “stay at home” order in Boston. Watertown however, remains on complete lockdown.

@ucme Yeah, Daily Show and Colbert went to town on the New York Post for that. And they didn’t even apologize for it. Just disgraceful.

@woodcutter That’s the word on other feeds. The concern is that people will root for him or become vigilantes due to the time passing.

@glacial Their moral code is slightly skewed to say the least.

@KNOWITALL If he surrenders and is allowed to live, his life will be in prison probably forever. I see no way for him to get any slack for what he’s accused of now.

I wonder if his experience is turning out the way he thought it would.

CNN is reporting that a correspondent has heard gun shots in Watertown and lots of police activity.
6:55 pm.

Oh, Oh shots fired. Not a good sign.

Supposedly suspect is in a boat.

Yup, new gunshots in Watertown. Police now converging on a particular home.

Same streets they were talking about all day, too.

Attempting to send in armored down the street.

Evacuating officers from rear of white house.

CBS-4 is reporting that police have the suspect surrounded in a grounded boat in Watertown. Shots fired in both directions.

PEople yelling they got him, ambulances flying, all sorts of activity.

I have to be away from puter and telly most of day. How can I keep abreast of this on iphone, any suggestions for news feeds etc???

Now they said tear gas fired into the house where they say he is. Don’t know if he is gassed, passed out, injured or dead???

So far not on the scanner….he’s not down yet. Tactical officers ONLY are to be in this area. “Have officers near a garage in the line of fire.” “Get them out of here”

@rooeytoo He’s laying in a boat either between garages or in a garage.

@rooeytoo Do you use Twitter? If so search “Boston Scanner” and you’ll see updates pretty quickly.

Edit: Listening to a live scanner now. They’re trying not to be on the air until “This Happens”.

CNN says in a house, but all sorts of conflicting reports.

Did you hear older bro was interviewed in 2011 by fbi at the request of a “foreign gov.”

Thanks yep I will check on twitter.

on the scanner…There is some sort of a “chip” or bits of a circuit” on a ladder in the garage.

@SpatzieLover – 4 different boston scanners, which one is best???

The one on Ustream

They are silent for the moment.

Ooop “Still moving in the back of the boat!” <—-Repeated 3 times.

@rooeytoo Yes, ABC news just said the same about the older bro. He was interviewed in the past by Feds.

“He has no cover to move & has a wire fence behind him.”

Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) called in. No movement in the boat.

Twitter gave the url for some police scanner, amazing, I feel like I am right there!

@rooeytoo It’s addictive. Someone said today on a thread “This must’ve been what the ol’ radio show days were like. Husband is on one device now checking out police codes while I listen and shout the codes ;)

“State Police catching on the flood lights on the boats. No eyes on the boat right now.”

“No one on the outer perimeter is to fire their weapon”

“We have eyes on. Negative Movement. Negative Movement”

My friend in Watertown and my sister who is 50 feet from Watertown are stuck in their houses and running out of supplies (diapers, for example). Can’t wait for this to be over.

“we have movement. He just sat up. Flailing about. Quite a bit of movement.”

“There’s a FULL 40 gallon tank on the boat”

“We need some light on that boat.” This info came from the helicopters above. “We need light on that boat”

“He’s to the rear of the boat. Fence Side”

@tom_g oh gosh, my heart goes out to everyone in the area. I can’t imagine.
@SpatzieLover the scanner feed died for me, thanks for the updates.

“He;s sitting up again. There is movement” Fence side of boat. Now saying “Center of boat fence side”.

Now calling him the “Target” Target is sitting up in the boat. Tank is across the stern. Sounds like they’re talking to snipers???

@SpatzieLover I just want to thank you for the updates. I’m flipping quesadillas right now and my husband has music on. I can’t hear the news.

Being confirmed that it is him (they don’t have him, but it is him.)

@jonsblond Anytime my dear. @DigitalBlue same happened to me earlier. I patiently found another scanner after I had a juice

Fire on the boat???

“Don’t return fire. It might be a flashback.” Some type of device about to be launched.

Now they are talking about a “bearcat” sounds like some sort of armored car.

“All units do not return fire.” Yes @rooeytoo the “cat” is going in.

“We have it. Back up the Bearcat”

Apparently, thermal imaging via helicopter was used to find him after a call from a neighbor came in saying “a man was in a boat”.

Something just banged…

This is so tense, I hope that all of these officers make it out unscathed.

Silence.

Silence.

“No movement from the subject flash being hit forward of the subject.”

omg. sorry guys, but the current song on Jon’s playlist is “I’m on a boat” by The Lonely Island. I had to share.

“Is there a fire on the boat at this time?” from police. “HRT says negative on fire at this point”

@jonsblond someone just started singing that to me.
Sounds like possible gunshots (perhaps, no idea), repeated banging/popping sounds.

“Negative on movement” “Negative Movement” “Flash bangs are a good distance from our subject”

Oh, flash bangs would explain the sounds. They threw flash bangs?

“Thinking about negotiations” (real quite over the scanner). “Radio Silence” Radio Silence’

“Hey I past that along what you just advised”

What is a flash bang?

Flash Grenades

@chyna it’s a grenade that essentially stuns without killing. Loud noise, bright flash, basically disorienting.

“Shut down the lights. Shut down the lights. You’re blocking other officers from proceeding.”

This is going down exactly 1.5 miles from my sister’s house.

“No further movement in the boat at this time” “We’re discussing a change over to the Bureau at this time”

@tom_g: Oy vey.

“Negative Movement” “He’s on his back”

@tom_g so glad you’re able to be in touch with your family.

I hope his mom isn’t watching/listening to this.

“Do you have communication with the FBI?”

“Negotiator here. Do you want him? When do you want him?”

His father, when reached in Russia, said his boys didn’t do it and were “set up”.

I can’t even imagine what a parent would feel in this situation.

“HRT” “HRT”

“We copy.”

“No movement on the boat” “20 mins left” (Lots of really quiet talking from a few different people…Then lots of bursts of silence)

“We have movement arms moving”

“Can you light up the boat?”

That would be a negative for our safety sir.

You go ahead but we’ll have to get spacial distance though”

(Sounds like captain talking to someone on the copter)

Lots of people talking at once again.

“He’s on the left side of the boat near the driveway.” “When you’re looking at the boat from the driveway” Head is towards the left of the boat”

“Hold on those lights for now. I’ll let you know when we need them”

“Stay on his legs for now. Hold on his legs” (Quiet…talking to a sniper????)

Flash bangs may be some type of a flameless paper like a teargas??? Am trying to read a thread on Reddit quick to see if it has any further info.

“HRT would like one more pass if he can do it”

Just announced a street name LOUDLY and asked officers to stop the media per the Col. Media is trying to enter the scene.

MY Gawd.

“We need officers in plain clothes to assist on _______Street to hold the media back”

They have the house name and number on TV along with the picture of it.

WCVB is reporting that they’re hearing that there is a lot of blood at the scene.

ABC is showing Bing images of the street, the house and yard, and the tarp-covered boat in which the suspect is supposedly holed up. The owner of the house and boat went out into his own back yard after the lockdown was lifted and noticed blood on his boat.

Police just mentioned again they know the Internet is listening. Looking for secure airwaves…“Can we link a clear one? No.”

Supposedly someone called the police when they walked by and saw blood coming from the boat. This blood was already there is what I’m hearing from the hubs.

“Watch your mic you’ve got an open mic” “Watch the radio”

“You can see him!” Captain’s SHOUTING to watch the open mic

“Get a radio # and call him”

Just heard that on Tuesday, day after the bombing, this kid went back to class at UMass Dartmouth like nothing happened.

How do you do that?

@cookieman everything about him has come off as so casual, even the photos from Monday, he looks relaxed and calm. It’s very bizarre.

“It’s okay it’s an accident. Watch your mics”

“Stay on until 2100”

“Report to their posts until 2100, then H4”

I’m just here to get another Exhibitionist Award. ;-)

@DigitalBlue: Pathological even.

@cookieman well said.

Everything is muffled. Talking in code.

“Turn around time” “15 to 20 min max. Fuelers on hand” (Copters?)

Asking to get vehicles moved and keep something to a minimum.

Multi car accident just occurred somewhere. Discussed who will go.

“More than 100 officers on the scene.” A little extreme?

@chyna I think the concern is that they’ll need first responders & lots of them if a bomb goes off.

@SpatzieLover

Do they think that there’s a good possibility that there’s a bomb on the boat?

@Brian1946 they’ve been operating under the assumption that he could be wearing an explosive vest, there is also concern about a full fuel tank on the boat.

Story on ABC now from neighbor of boat owner:

Ban was lifted.
Neighbor went out for fresh air.
Saw something was out of place near the boat.
Boat is 24’ and has a zipper cover.
Neighbor put ladder up to the boat, unzipped, saw blood and body, called police.

“Keep an eye on the garage, alright”

“We want to ensure all tactical elements remain in place.”

“Outer perimeter hold fast”

“Black bag identified on a specific street.”

Black bag is in walking distance in Watertown.

“No other elements on the boat please. HRT only. HRT only”

How scared must that neighbor have been when he unzipped the cover?

“Hold back Hold back. This is still a hot scene”

“Suspect in custody”

“Hot scene”

How stupid was he to unzip instead of calling cops!!!

Another officer is talking from the bag area.

Ambulance down there (to the suspect scene now)

Bag may be near a school? Sorry I can’t check a map right now to confirm.

Suspect in custody, ambulance has arrived. WOOOO!!!

He’s in custody. They have him.

“Explosive device is in the bag” (on the street)

“EOD needs canine unit”

FNN Fluther News Network beat the major networks with the news.

CBS reporting he is in custody, in an ambulance, hospital bound. Applause from police.

No mention of black bag.

Having a dog come down the driveway now at suspect scene. Things will get confusing now as there are TWO hot scenes right now. YIKES!

Lots of chatter hard to decipher…then silence.

“Suspect is in custody. Rec’d in custody”

“There is another mission for them when they return to the area”...This is all talk to the person in charge of the copter.

“We still have tasking for that copter” “I’m sending you a page”

“Residents need to get back in their homes”

They couldn’t get the ambo down the street…street was blocked by people or??

@SpatzieLover You have done a great job of reporting. Where do we nominate you for a Pulitzer?

“Subject detained. Feds on questioning” (This is another locale with another detained person)

“Story didn’t pan out” (for this particular subject when questioned by cops…Feds sent in.

In the car in Vic Au listening to boston radio on internet radio and watching fluther on iphone. The mind boggles. But appsrently they got him alive

“Good Job” Said loudly over the radio.

Yep thanks @spatz you did a better job than most tv & radio stations

“Again we have our 2nd suspect in custody The time is 20:15” (Dispatcher)

@SpatzieLover : Official Reporter of the Jelly Network.

Can’t tell what their saying….

Now announcing a congratulations to all dispatchers “Dispatchers were AWESOME!”

Between all of their congrats, their telling the Bearcat to head somewhere else.

I’m guessing you did this so you could have the most exhibitionist awards @SpatzieLover? ;)

Yes. The awards mean so much ;) Lol.

“It’s a proud day to be a Bostonian!” Lots of loud congrats and praise to the Comish and to other specifics.

“Can we send a high ranking official up to (Specific Street)?”

You must be exhausted! I went to bed but I am worn out anyhow!

I know he’s allowed medical attention, but I hate that they have to take him to a hospital (Mt. Auborn). In a building full of innocent people.

I hope they searched him thoroughly.

Getting all of the Boston officers back to the buses to get back to their districts.

I’m just sticking near the live scanner to see if they say anything about the other “hot” scene. It seems that they’ve only had high ranking officials on the scanner to keep the airwaves clear.

Only congrats now. I’d suspect the military is on the black bag.

’.....Ooop…..Here is comes “EOD on high-school property”

Tomorrow I am gonna hit on an unattractive Boston female Cop. And I am gonna be easy.

You’re living up to your name with that comment

“Just a reminder try to keep it professional” :) “Residents (on street where suspect was) can now go back”

“Do you need light flood (at other scene)?’

“Maintain perimeter”

“Yeah bring the lights down”

Amazingly now REAL 911 calls are coming over the scanner. :) What a delight for Boston!

So glad that this is over.

@rooeytoo you perhaps have never seen me in a suit.

I’m sure you are a legend in your own mind!

I’m still feeling cautious about possible bombs or possible acomplices yet to be found.

I really hope it ends here. No surprises overnight.

@cookieman If I lived there I’d proceed with great caution just to be safe.

It’s hopeful since this fella is alive and since it seems he liked going public with his info (Twitter acct, etc) that there may be more brought into questioning tonight by the Feds.

@SpatzieLover I just tuned in to Fluther without checking the news first, figuring that if anything had happened, you’d have given us a play-by-play. It was riveting, thank you!!

I’m so happy for Boston PD, taking him in without a mess and without the Feds (if I have that right). They must be feeling really proud tonight.

Scanner isn’t updating on the bag situation at all right now. They are talking about maintaining perimeters and re-routing traffic at both locations.

All talk now is on going back to the house along with other locations to do reports. :/ Paperwork after all of this excitement.

@cookieman I agree with you. I’m actually more frightened now because these young men did not look like terrorists. They looked like they could be my son’s friends. This could easily be the beginning of something larger. We just don’t know.

I saw on CNN earlier that they had 3 other people in custody for questioning. But after that first announcement, I haven’t heard any more on the subject.

@jonsblond But that’s exactly what they want… to make everyone afraid, to make them live their lives in the shadow of that fear, to make them lose their freedoms to that fear. The Brits have it right – keep calm and carry on. That’s the only way to beat their game.

@chyna I think most of this info is through the Feds now. That means we may not be updated for a while. I’d bet there will be many people detained over night for questioning. Through this young brother’s twitter acc’t there were earlier in the day all sorts of links to people I would classify as “suspicious”.

Through the older brother’s YouTube acc’t there are links to definite terrorist cells.
IMO, that was apparent from the videos he collected.

I think they are carrying on just fine. Now let the FBI at the little bastard to find out what he thought he was doing

@glacial I understand that. I’m certainly not hiding or staying away from crowds. It’s just a scary thought. I live in an itty-bitty town anyway. I don’t feel threatened here.

@jonsblond: Exactly. They look like some of my students, not big scary terrorists.

I don’t have any reason for feeling this way, but my opinion is that they will probably turn out to be more like the Columbine shooters than Timothy McVeigh, as far as motive goes. Of course, I could be completely off base, I just just where I’m leaning with this.

I’m so glad they were able to take him alive. Now they can question the hell out of him!!!

Been up since 2AM following this non-stop (except for my nice fish lunch). I am toast. I can only imagine how exhausted the police are.

Goung to bed. G’night and safe harbor jellies.

@cookieman Night. So glad you and your family are safe.

I think spatziel must have collapsed!

Suspect taken to Mass. General and not Mt. Auburn. Many of the severely wounded civilians are also at Mass. General.

This thread has been fantastic! Excellent job, jellies (especially @SpatzieLover).

News story I saw said they took him to Beth Israel – Deaconess.

(I remember that as two: (a) Beth Israel and (b) New England Deaconess. I’ve been treated at both of them. I guess they’ve merged now…?)

^^^My son was born in what was then Beth Israel in 1960. It’s now Beth Israel Deaconess. The merger took place in 1996.

CBS reporter was standing outside of Mass. General when she make her spiel. I guess that doesn’t make it gospel.

Thanks mucho, @SpatzieLover, @DigitalBlue, and the rest of your crew. ;-)

Spasibo, @cookieman for letting us know that you’re OK.

Two further points not yet covered…

1: The terror ends on a boat in Water town…beautiful, just beautiful.
2: I wonder what they name the movie & who play the lead roles…these are the key issues right here.

Yes, I am. I woke up around 8 am Central European Summer Time and turned on the tv. The arrest was being made.

Again and again, there is this question of why. Why? Why? Why? What can we do? Will this ever end? It’s now past noon my time and this is what I came up with.

In my opinion, we need to take a deeper look at the root causes of terrorist acts such as the Boston Marathon bombing, and when we do this we are facing an inconvenient truth, which Irshad Manji calls ‘the trouble with Islam today’. In the modern Western world, almost all liberals, but also many conservatives, reject this inconvenient truth out of fear of political incorrectness. By doing so we confuse multiculturalism with blind multiculturalism. I’ve created a list of key messages presented in Irshad Manji’s two books to make it clear of what I think is going wrong. She is a Muslim journalist and wrote her two books with the help of Islamic scholars. Here are her messages:

- the trouble with Islam today is that literalism is going mainstream, worldwide
– mainstream Islam is in urgent need of reform
– in mainstream Islam peace has to replace conformity as priority number one
– Islamic identity purists fear individuality
– the Muslim world needs education, not indoctrination
– only free societies allow for the reinvention of the self and the evolution of faiths
– we need pluralism of nonviolent ideas everywhere
– introspection is necessary when things go wrong
– Islamism is the political part of Islam that advocates cruelty and discrimination
– most mainstream Muslims don’t dare to differ with their theocrats
– peace-loving mainstream Muslims have to snap out of denial and find the courage to speak out
– peace-loving mainstream Muslims must demand a sharia-free and fatwa-free world
– most mainstream Muslims were more offended by the Danish cartoons than by the riots and killings that occurred afterwards and this should be seen as a scandal
– the perceived consistency of holy texts is an illusion
– there is no such thing as perfect scripture
– the stubborn streak of anti-Semitism in Islam is a fact that has to be acknowledged
– the Quran needs an interpretation that works in the 21st century
– men don’t have a monopoly of interpreting the Quran
– the Quran has three times as many verses urging Muslims to think than verses promoting blind worship
– tribal customs should not be confused with faith
– Islam has not conquered Arab culture, Arab culture has conquered Islam
– cultures are man-made and there is nothing sacred about culture; only good cultural practices should survive
– adherence to 7th-century Islam is destroying the Muslims’ capacity for growth
– human rights violating cultures posing as sacred religions don’t deserve rights
– the goal of Islamism is replacing democracy with a totalitarian system
– people who want to defend democracy should fear both militant and non-militant Islamism
– many non-Muslims in the West don’t criticize Islamic ideas and Islamic cultures, because they are afraid of appearing intolerant towards Muslims
– the term Islamophobia was invented to silence valid criticism; fear of Islamism is real and justified and it is not a mental illness
– family loyalty and the idea of honor is one of the main obstacles in Muslim communities
– moderate Muslims can ardently assure non-Muslims that Islam goes hand in glove with freedom, but until moderates behave as if it does, non-Muslims have a right to challenge this view

Here’s a longer quote from Manji’s book “Allah, Liberty and Love” from page 191. The key to ending Islamic terrorism are mainstream Muslims – and the role of non-Muslims is to challenge mainstream Muslims if necessary. If mainstream Muslims don’t change their attitude and mindset, the list of terrorists acts such as New York, Washington, London, Madrid, Beslan and now Boston will continue to grow. There will be more crimes like these, committed by people either linked to global terrorist networks or changed by self radicalization with the use of the Internet watching YouTube videos created by preachers of hatred. Here is the quote:

“Moderate Muslims blanch at the thought of exploring their religion’s role in terrorist strife. They deplore violence committed in Islam’s name, but reflexively recite that Islam has nothing to do with it. In their denial, moderate Muslims cede responsibility for interpretation, effectively terrorists-in-waiting: ‘You guys get to walk away with the show. We’re not going to come back at you with bold and competing reinterpretations. Because if we did, we’d be accepting that religion has something to do with the violence. Since Islam is perfect, we can’t go there.’

Islam is what Muslims make it. Just as Christians and Jews have reinterpreted the troubling passages of their scriptures for new centuries, Muslims have to do likewise. That’s not rewriting the Quran. It’s updating interpretations of existing words. Islamo-tribalists may decree their interpretations as the only true ones, but their arrogance breaches the Quran’s unambiguous reminder that God alone has the full truth, and it dupes too many of us into believing that just one approach can hold water. For both reasons, reinterpretation is a noble endeavor. All the more when certain verses are cited to service killing sprees.”

We need people like Irshad Manji to create a more peaceful future in a globalized world. We need to help her spread the message, like MCLA did, which is part of the Massachusetts State University system. Manji seeks to empower non-Muslims to support Islamic reform in ways that bring out the best in all, see

http://www.mcla.edu/news/internationalbestsellingauthorirshadmanjitospeakatmcla_880/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irshad_Manji

Arresting terrorists is only a first step. We also need to become more creative to make future terror acts less likely, both by improving security and by engaging in an intelligent debate even if it makes some of us uncomfortable.

Does any one but me find it odd to be getting all those real-time updates about such a violent situation from a naked baby?

Wow! Nice, you guys, especially @SpatzieLover.

I’ve looked at a lot of the coverage posted on the Internet and have not been able to find anything about the actual capture—how it was carried out. Did a team rush in and drag the guy out of the boat, or what?

Also I’ve seen nothing about the suspect’s injuries and how severe they are.

If these points are consistently omitted from reports, there must be a reason. If they’re there, I’m not finding them.

This all still feels close to home for me. I used to go home from work in Waltham every night through Watertown Square and pick up the trolley that went up Mount Auburn Street to Harvard Square. Some time before that, I lived on Newbury Street, one street over from where the bombings took place, and used the Copley Square subway entrance regularly. Cambridge and Boston are still “back home” to me, even after so many years, and I have been following these events closely, feeling personally affected.

@Jeruba This page shows a couple of still photos around the capture (in the video at the bottom.)

@mattbrowne thank you for an informative post. I found this especially enlightening:

“Moderate Muslims blanch at the thought of exploring their religion’s role in terrorist strife. They deplore violence committed in Islam’s name, but reflexively recite that Islam has nothing to do with it. . . . [”]Because if we did, we’d be accepting that religion has something to do with the violence. Since Islam is perfect, we can’t go there.”

Can you please explain this line?

– family loyalty and the idea of honor is one of the main obstacles in Muslim communities

Just to avoid ambiguity, please spell out obstacle to what.

Thanks, Auggie. I still don’t see how it played out, but that’s more than I’d found. It almost looks as if he came out under his own power and surrendered.

@Jeruba Maybe by obstacle they mean they are afraid to speak out against any traditions, customs, or even ideas, because family loyalty is such a strong force. I believe the peer pressure in Muslim communities to be extremely high. I think this is true in most communities that are very religious. In fundamental religious communities people are ostracized if they are not obedient to the rules, and even speaking out against the rules can bring shame to the family, and tremendous stress onto the family, stress regarding unsihment from God, or ridicule from other family members and the community.

It reminds me of the documentary movie Precious Life. A Palestinian family is given $50k (donated by an Israeli) to be able to get treatment in Israel to save her baby. Throughout the movie there is reference to how her family and community can’t understand how they can trust the Israelis to help them. At one point the person doing the documentary asks if she would be ok with her son killing himself, blowing himself up, for the cause. She says, “of course.” As a member of the audience, and as Jew, I was outraged. Later in the movie she explains that she felt pressure, that she had to say it to show her loyalty to her family and her people. That is not exactly what she said, but that was the gist of it. I completely believe her. Later in the movie she makes a statement about what a shame her children and the documentary maker’s children can’t play together and things were different. But, she also mentions in the movie how women have no power in her culture.

@Jeruba: I used to go home from work in Waltham every night through Watertown Square and pick up the trolley that went up Mount Auburn Street to Harvard Square. Some time before that, I lived on Newbury Street, one street over from where the bombings took place, and used the Copley Square subway entrance regularly. Cambridge and Boston are still “back home” to me, even after so many years, and I have been following these events closely, feeling personally affected.

Except for having worked in Cambridge rather than Waltham, I could have written almost the same paragraph.

You were correct about suspect being at Beth Israel Deaconess, also, rather than Mass. General. NBS reporter was apparently blowing smoke, as were so many others during the time from explosions to capture.

@Jeruba – First of all, I’m not saying that outdated interpretations of Islam is the only root cause of terrorism. There is also terrorism committed in the name of nationalism (IRA, PKK…), in the name of right-wing ideologies (Timothy McVeigh, NSU…) and in the name of left-wing ideologies (FARC…).

I’m saying that we have to deal with all root causes. Just because people also kill in the name of fascism or Marxism-Leninism, this doesn’t make the killings in the name of Islam any better.

I’m not saying that outdated interpretations of Islam is the only case of religious intolerance. There are also outdated interpretations of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and so forth.

I’m saying that we have to deal with all forms of religious intolerance. Just because there is discrimination against homosexuals by some Christians, this doesn’t make the discrimination against homosexuals by some Muslims any better.

Just like criticism of particular behavior and views of certain groups of Muslims and their interpretation of the Quran isn’t Islamophobia, criticism of particular behavior and views of certain groups of Christians and their interpretation of the Bible isn’t Christianophobia.

So what about family loyalty and the idea of honor that is one of the main obstacles in Muslim communities? In the case of the Boston bombing, it was the older brother who got brainwashed and turned into a militant Islamist. The influence over his younger brother was significant. Irshad Manji devoted an entire chapter of her second book to the role of family loyalty and honor in mainstream Muslim families. See for example

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/13/irshad-manji-faithful-dissent-against-radical-islam.html

@mattbrowne, thank you. I appreciate your speaking for yourself to say what you meant.

With respect to my question, I was asking for you to fill in the blank in this sentence:

– Family loyalty and the idea of honor [are two] of the main obstacles to _______ in Muslim communities.

Even Canada isn’t safe.

Just ^watching that live on the news now, @Mama_Cakes. Glad it was thwarted.

@SpatzieLover Me, too. It’s wise not to f*ck with Mounties.

@Jeruba – What Irshad Manji means is this:

“Family loyalty and the idea of honor [are two] of the main obstacles to ___changing mainstream Islam___ in Muslim communities.”

From page 111: “The tribal code of honor prevents women and men from pursuing their dreams for fear of bringing shame on their families.”

Even though the younger brother was Americanized, resisting his older brother demands might have been difficult for him. It certainly was almost impossible for him to contact the police and tell them: my brother will blow up the Boston marathon. There are surveys comparing cultures. In the West we also have strong family bonds, but saving innocent people can be a strong enough motive to send your brother to prison for planning a heinous crime.

Thank you. I didn’t want to risk misunderstanding your point. That was not a time for guesswork.