Tag Archives: marathon

Boston Marathon Bomber’s Sentence Reignites Death Penalty Controversy

The 2013 Boston Marathon was not expected to be any different than the 115 times the race was ran before. On Boylston Street, near the finish line, a bomb went off, followed by a second one, only 12 seconds later. The bombs consisted of pressure cookers filled with nails and ball bearings, all concealed in a back pack. There are instructions online on how to make a pressure cooker bomb. The explosions left 2 dead and hundreds injured. Just 4 days later, police suspected 26-year-old, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and 19-year-old, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to be responsible. In a shootout with the police, Tamerlan is wounded, and would eventually die, leaving his brother to face 30 federal charges.

Opening statements in Tsarnaev’s trial would begin on March 4, 2015. The U.S. would call 23 times as many witnesses as the defense (92 to 4), and testimonies would continue through 15 days. 11 and a half hours of deliberations push 30 guilty verdicts on Tsarnaev. Now the case would go into penalty phase, leaving the jury to decide if the death penalty would be in order. A 14 hour deliberation positions Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to be executed.

Of course, controversy will arise whenever someone is sentenced to be killed. Some arguments are made more directly to the Tsarnaev trial, others are kept more broad. In the end, if a jury all agree someone deserves to be killed, I believe that the death penalty is made just. Some may argue that there’s no sense in taking another life, and that it will not change anything for those affected by lost loved ones. However, I feel if you were to ask those people affected, they would want the bomber to be held accountable for his actions. The death penalty, in many cases, is a necessary and favorable thing to do for humankind. You must remember, we do not sentence random people to death, instead, only those who pose a threat to our country and our people .

~ Tyler

Who Would’ve Thought?

The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by several cities in Massachusetts. This event first began a year after the success of the first modern day marathon in the 1896 Summer Olympics and is now the world’s oldest annual marathon ranking as one of the world’s best known road races. However, during the Boston Marathon this year on April 15th, 2013, two pressure cooker bombs detonated killing three people and injuring many, triggering a massive manhunt for the bombers. Three days after the tragic explosions set off, photographs and surveillance videos were released by the FBI of two suspects soon identified as the notorious brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. On the morning of April 19, 2013 in Watertown, Massachusetts, Tamerlan became involved in a shootout with police where he was shot and captured. According to those police officers involved in the shootout, his brother, Dzhokhar, ran him over with an SUV and dragged him with the vehicle for twenty feet leading to an even greater manhunt for the one single suspect. I assume this was so his brother would not be captured and questioned and would just be dead. That’s just me though. Anyways, during this manhunt on the evening of April 19, Dzhokhar was discovered wounded in a boat in the backyard of a very unlucky resident in Watertown, Massachusetts less than a quarter mile from where he abandoned the SUV.

In my opinion, and most likely every other American citizens’ opinion, the Boston Marathon Bombing was a very horrific tragedy. Another thing I take out of this whole travesty is, why were there not more precautions? After 9/11, safety was a huge issue but somehow, it dwindled to the point where it was almost forgotten which seemed to be the case at the marathon. These two men casually walked the streets with seemingly meaningless backpacks that were, in reality, carrying bombs that they would aimlessly place in random places. I believe if there was security placed evenly around the marathon’s route that the suspicious bags would have been noticed and taken care of before any catastrophes could occur. Nevertheless, I believe a smidge of goodness came out of this; although there were way more negatives about the Boston Bombing, proven above, than positives, the fact that these explosions allowed kind hearted people to come to the rescue of wounded runners or observers is a somewhat pleasant side to this disaster. Every little thing that happened, good and bad, allowed America to come together as a nation in remembrance of the lives lost and to show remorse towards the wounded victims. All in all, the Boston Bombing was a terroristic event very despised by not only me but by mostly all American.  My last question is based towards the two bombers, even though I know they will never answer it but, how could you look at a little boy and think ‘I’m going to kill you’ and not have a bit of guilt or remorse?

~Daniielle Dietrich