Explosions at Boston Marathon

[Loyal]

Remote detonation is not really a thing usually used. Timer is more reliable for "home made stuff" that's why is more commonly used. And if it fails its more likely to simply not go off instead of exploding at the wrong time, which could happen with remote detonation.

Considering the bombs went off just as people were crossing the finish line in large groups, remote detonation is by far more likely.

Also, wasn't the 3rd bomb not detonated? It was recovered right? If that's the case, it makes it MUCH easier to track down who made it. You can do it out of fragments, but having the full intact explosive makes it a ton easier.

The police did a controlled detonation of the third bomb, and mentioned they might be "blowing up things" throughout the next few hours as of their press conference. I doubt they have intact explosives they can mess with. If they do, they haven't mentioned it.

[POS Industries]

Originally Posted by Magus

POS breakroom story must be at least sort of "funny" if they could really be blaming other groups besides the two most obvious possibilities.

South Americans and "11 million Mexicans" we're named along with such gems as "all those middle easterners are crazy" so it was pretty much just a racist free-for-all. Also noted was "they just let anyone in there" in regard to a public street in a major metropolitan city so the running theme was pretty much "blame anyone with a melanin content."

I'm sure it would have been a laugh riot if it weren't in light of a bunch of innocent people being maimed and killed.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by synkr0nized

This kind of reaction makes me hope it's a white, heterosexual, Christian male. But I suspect even then these kinds of people will find someone else to blame.

They will blame those with mental illness.

Like they always do.

Because it's only because of the group they belong to if they're not white or not christian or not straight or not cis or not whatever. If you're white, it must be because you were mentally ill, regardless if we have any info validating that and regardless of the fact that such assumptions increase the culture of ableist bigotry.

[Bells]

Originally Posted by Loyal

Considering the bombs went off just as people were crossing the finish line in large groups, remote detonation is by far more likely.

Its not impossible, that's for sure. But less common certainly.

Considering the amount of injuries at no more than waist high and the fact that (unless i got this wrong since its all new info) all explosions took place on the same side of the street down from one another, it could just as well be a bag or box placed down on the floor , maybe like an hour or something before detonation...

Still, the place, the date, the time... i gotta tell ya, maybe its just a bad gut feeling, a reactionary thing... but this feels like domestic political fueled terrorism to me.

[POS Industries]

Apparently numerous Murdoch-owned media outlets are reporting that a Saudi national is in custody as a "person of interest," which may be true but I'm skeptical due to not being able to find a source that isn't complete shit and even then it's sounding right now like he may just be the nearest arab they could grab at the scene.

[synkr0nized]

Originally Posted by Kim

They will blame those with mental illness.

Like they always do.

Because it's only because of the group they belong to if they're not white or not christian or not straight or not cis or not whatever. If you're white, it must be because you were mentally ill, regardless if we have any info validating that and regardless of the fact that such assumptions increase the culture of ableist bigotry.

Yeah, exactly. By golly, Billy Everyteen must have some kind of issues or something! <cue the manhunt into a suspect's life to uncover clues of illness regardless of anything>

@POS: I cannot help but feel that's them pushing an agenda / view.



When this happened, I was in a meeting. My colleague had a cousin (I think he said cousin) that had been planning on getting to the finish line around that time, but unsurprisingly he wasn't able to get through to him for most of the afternoon. I suggested that it was likely due to a lot of congestion as folks called one another to check up, spread the word, etc. and hopefully he'd get through to him later. Hell, even walking out of Beaver Stadium during a big game provides a slim chance for your phone to connect and actually get on the network, and that's hardly a fraction as big as this.

To go back to Bob's post about what his dad said -- it's certainly true that the ever-increasing prevalence of mobile devices and networks makes it far easier for news, or even just chatter, about any event to permeate the nation much more quickly and more explicitly. I believe folks in my department -- certainly those who study the use of technology as "sensors" and their potential impacts in crisis and emergency response -- could point to a few studies that affirm the [likely common sense] claims that this kind of news spreads faster and wider.

I think it is interesting that someone who's gone through race riots and the civil rights era or the Vietnam protests, etc. and the like feels that today doesn't compare. I've only minimally talked one-on-one with folks about what that was like, about the raw impact of the events and how the news carried them. There's the sense that, if it was covered nationally, it really was an issue or big event. But I am straying off-topic.


I, initially, was thinking timers, like he/she/they knew roughly when folks would be hitting the finish line in groups and worked it that way, but signs sure do point to a remote detonator (I suspect during my errands and lack of checking up on the story I have missed the obvious articles claiming the latter?). It is my opinion that it takes a little more anger or "evil" to be willing to sit and watch your detonation as opposed to leaving it.

[POS Industries]

Originally Posted by synkr0nized

@POS: I cannot help but feel that's them pushing an agenda / view.

I'm leaning heavily toward that. The most I can find is a couple local news affiliate sites saying "such and such told CNN" about it, but then I can't find anything on CNN about it. So it's possible CNN initially reported it but weren't able to confirm it, so they stopped. However, it's something that furthers the Murdoch agenda, so they're continuing to report it.

Although apparently I'm hearing that it was reported heavily on TV, since my dad heard about it from CBS, but the internet isn't giving me anything other than Republican propaganda outlets.

---------- Post added at 11:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:04 PM ----------

Hey wait, hang on, I found something from 4 hours ago from Boston.com, which seems like they'd have a good handle on the situation and I'm not finding anything more recent:

Boston police commissioner says no suspect is in custody in marathon explosions.

Seems pretty clear cut there.

[Aerozord]

Originally Posted by Kim

They will blame those with mental illness.

aspergers is the latest scapegoat.

[Bells]

on CNN there is this new info

Authorities in Boston found at least one other explosive device that they were dismantling, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said.
Rep. Bill Keating of Massachusetts, meanwhile, said two more were found.
One unexploded device was found at a hotel on Boylston Street near the bomb site and another unexploded device was found at an undisclosed location, Keating, a Democrat and member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said. He called the bombing a "sophisticated, coordinated, planned attack."

In addition to scrutinizing images of surveillance cameras in the area, the FBI likely was issuing subpoenas for records from cell towers in the area to isolate and trace calls from around Copley Square at the time of the blasts, according to a former federal law enforcement official who now works in the intelligence community.
The unexploded devices that were recovered could provide a treasure trove of information such as fingerprints and indications of the bomb maker's design, and from the bombs that did explode, investigators would be looking for fragments and anything indicating the "signature" of the bomb makers, the official told CNN.

But also this....

Investigators warned police to be on the lookout for a "darker-skinned or black male" with a possible foreign accent in connection with the attack, according to a law enforcement advisory obtained by CNN. The man was seen with a black backpack and sweatshirt and was trying to get into a restricted area about five minutes before the first explosion, the lookout notice states.
Also, a Saudi national with a leg wound was under guard at a Boston hospital in connection with the bombings, but investigators cannot say he is involved at this time and he is not in custody, a law enforcement official said Monday evening.

[Bob The Mercenary]

I'm glad they at least have a person of interest. Hard to fathom how you would go about investigating something like this, narrow it down to one person, then actually go out and find them.