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Forget the backpacks at the Marathon
By adamg on Tue, 03/11/2014 - 7:42am
Also, no baby strollers along the route. Bring stuff in clear plastic bags.
Meanwhile, some Watertown residents want better answers on the search for the Tsarnaevs after last year's bombings.
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Comments
Strollers
I'm down with the ban on strollers. And while we're at it, let's ban urban assault strollers on the T as well.
It's been tried, and failed:
http://www.universalhub.com/2011/stroller-wars-moms-say-you-dont-want-me...
The Watertown Article
Is kind of silly on both sides, but this:
Is such a cliche at this point that I had to laugh. They were protecting our constitutionally guaranteed right to gather and criticize? In what way?
I'm fine with how the police handled the search, but I don't live in Watertown. To the people that have questions that quote just reads as "you owe us for your right to ask questions so stop asking questions"
Watertown
As a resident, I have no complaint. And this comes from a very outspoken civil libertarian, believe me.
I wrote about it in a Globe piece...
A day in lockdown in Watertown
... and I haven't changed my opinion. I suspect the hundreds who lined the streets and cheered the police (who represented thousands of us) haven't changed their opinions, either.
There will always be a minority upset by ANYTHING. Would they rather the police have said, "Oh, what the hell. It's just a guy who was involved in a shootout with us, who threw a bomb on our streets, who probably shot and killed an officer on another force, who ran over his own brother, who maimed and crippled and killed people a short while back with utterly no compunction or compassion or pity. We'll just go on with business as usual."???
Idiots.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
I think some of the
I think some of the complaints are valid. I'm not saying I dont applaud the police putting themselves in harms way, I think they did an overall very good job. But reviewing some of the strong military-style searching of the houses should be reviewed and questioned.
As a libertarian
I wanna know what gives the police the right to search me if I'm on the sidewalk along the marathon route in my hometown when I am breaking no laws and in a public area? What about my babystroller or cooler in my yard which is on the marathon route? (which is now true)
Good for increased police presence. Good for separating spectators and runners.Good for limiting entrance and egress from the start and finish areas. Bad for more security theater. It's a 26.2 mile course through an urban area, if a terrorist wants to hit it, checking people's water bottles and blankets isn't going to do a damn thing. We need less TSA style security theater not more.
A couple of relatives of mine
A couple of relatives of mine live about 3 doors away from where they found Tsarnev. When I arrived home from work that night and my daughter yelled that my aunt's house was on tv, I realized the search was in her neighborhood. While I applaud law enforcement for finding this guy, in my opinion they were a little trigger happy.
The amount of bullets spent on that one guy hiding in a boat, and yes they did not realize he was unarmed at the time, was amazing.
My relatives were blockaded in their home while this happened with officers having them sit backed to an inside wall. The officers pulled the phone plug from the wall since their phone would not stop ringing (I tried to contact them several times,as well as other family members).
I was at their home recently, there's still bullet holes in thier house. In hindsight, I think I feared for my relatives safety from over anxious police more than Tsarnev himself - at least in this situation.
They did find Tsarnev's blood by the side of their home, he obviously was in thier yard looking for a place to hide at one point.
They were not allowed to leave their home for about a week. A relative brought them food but wasn't allowed to drive up the street, they had to walk.
I know they were getting their evidence and didn't need gawkers, but I do think there may have been a better way to deal with people that live on that street who need to go about their lives.
People lined the streets and
People lined the streets and cheered police because it was over, the tension that whole week, then stress of that whole day was over, not because it was good police work (because it wasn't, they couldn't even find him).
The search was way over the top, they were pulling innocent people out of their homes at gun point, pointing assault rifles into home windows from the back of armored vehicles, cops shooting cops, and all for what? All that effort accomplished absolutely nothing. It was a homeowner smoking a butt who found the kid, not the hundreds of cops.
There is no way you can make the marathon safe against someone committed to doing anything similar to what happened last year, even the exact same attack.
Thousands of People on the Internet
Say you must be a sheep who doesn't know any better and that they must be outraged over the shut down of the entire Boston area!
(link to "cops with guns pointed at grandmas and teens in their pajamas!" e.g. the controlled evacuation of a halfway house)
Ugh.
Think of it as an April blizzard
Seriously. "Please stay off the streets so we can take appropriate action without having to also worry about your safety" applies to both heavy plow activity and heavy police activity.
Some of the new rules seem
Some of the new rules seem sort of far fetched and hard to enforce. but If thats what they need to do, i'd rather see that then have the marathon cancelled.
Also, glad to see the police in watertown wanting transparency. I hope they can follow through on that.
What on earth makes you
What on earth makes you assume that that's what they "need to do"? It's security theater, just like taking your shoes off at the airport. We're lucky they're not going to make people take their shoes off to watch the Marathon.
It's not what they "have" to do
It's what they want to do. To cover their ass, reduce liability, and appear responsible. That's all it is. It's erring more on the side of theater than of security.
If it is Theatre
Perhaps we can have a performance of "What Really Happened To Ibragim Todashev?" by the FBI Players. I would love a better review by Attorney General Coakley. Martha, if you can't properly investigate this link to the bombings, perhaps you shouldn't be Governor.
How does Martha Coakley have the authority to investigate....
... a possible murder committed by FBI agents in Florida? Just a bit out of her jurisdiction.
Good Question
There were two Massachusetts State Troopers present in the condo at the time of the shooting who were working on the investigation of this and the 9/11/11 murders in Waltham. Therefore, not a bit out of her jurisdiction. She is the top law enforcement officer of this State and two people she is in charge of, being paid by you and me, were involved, whether they were in the room, next to the room, hovering above the room, where the shootings happened.
The reaction of the Massachusetts AG, The County DA in Florida, and the FBI in this reeks of arse cover.
After all the Boston Strong, National Hide and Seek Champions, and the good will around here after the bombings, this lack of investigation to this case, and its relation to the bombings seems just a bit coveruppy.
Kudos to Boston Magazine for taking a break from telling everyone in the Back Bay and Wellesley how great they are all the time and to try to get a little sunshine on this matter.
I certainly am no fan of
I certainly am no fan of conspiracies but this whole episode stinks. There's something so obviously missing from that whole Florida incident and the Waltham murders.
I am starting to think there is a larger story to all of this.
Hopefully all will have a good time at this years Marathon. I could get flamed for saying this but, I am already cringing at the (in my opinion) over the top memoralizing of last year's tragedy. Yes, I know people are still healing, physically and mentally. More importantly, people are still grieving lost ones that came out last year on a beautiful day to enjoy the Marathon. Those are the people in my heart. I'm already dreading the politicians, media and the circus that I expect will be there to get their share of the limelight. I will refuse to watch it.
No weak plaintiff, no grandstand to be found
Now, had there been someone convenient nearby that couldn't defend themselves, like an undocumented landscaper, she probably would have worked double-time to frame them, summarily dismissed the most obviously potentially guilty party, and climb a tall mountain to crow about it.
Jurisdiction
is based on geography, not employment.
How about disclaimer signs everywhere?
"Anywhere people congregate could be a terrorist target. Proceed at your own risk".
Honestly
It would be just as effective.
No bandits?
Seems to be the biggest shame of the new procedures. Will we have cops chasing down unnumbered runners like Jock Semple trying to grab Kathrine Switzer in 1967?
How many people who live on the route have to work?
How many have to get to one of the many colleges and universities in the area to work or study?
You know, the ones that never shut for Patriot's Day?
How are people headed to classes or work not supposed to have bags on them?
I used to just bike the route in the morning - empty streets - from Mass Ave through Brookline. Coming home, I would cross Beacon St. somewhere in Brookline where they would post a crossing guard. Even 9/11 didn't change that.
Not everyone has Patriot's Day off
"How many have to get to one of the many colleges and universities in the area to work or study? You know, the ones that never shut for Patriot's Day?"
I agree. I'm tired of people acting like the entire city is supposed to shut down for the Marathon. And I was already tired of it before the events of last year. I don't think I've ever had Patriot's Day off. Is it even a real holiday? The Marathon is one of those events like the July 4 concert and First Night that just got way to big for what it was supposed to be, and now caters exclusively to tourists and people with no sense of history.
Municipal holiday
Many state and local agencies have the day off as it is an official state holiday in commemoration of the Battles of Lexington and Concord combined. In fact, it used to be that MA residents filing federal taxes could get an extra day if Patriots' Day was on the 15th because the collection center was in Andover. However, this year's tax forms tell you to send your filing to either Kansas City, MO or Hartford, CT depending on whether you don't or do include a physical payment, respectively. Not that Patriots' Day is the 15th this year either.
So, since schools close and lots of government agencies get the day off, other businesses sometimes choose to close as parents have to deal with their kids all day anyways.
My plan
I plan to wear a backpack stuffed with nothing but dirty gym socks. If I'm approached because of it, my intention is to walk away from the side of the race and ask if I've gone far enough from the path of the race to restore my 4th Amendment Rights. If they insist, well, I hope they bring their Purell.
My plan
...is to be 4,000 miles away, mostly because it's my [number who shall not be mentioned]th birthday and I wanted to be out of town anyway, but this works out well, because the idea of spending the day amongst riot police and 1,400 consecutive singings of "God Bless America" does not terribly appeal to me.
I plan to wear a backpack
Be sure to let us know how this works out for you.
Raising the Bar for Backpack Blecch
If you have any post-dates meats, left out for a day or two beforehand, it might add to the fun.