The Boston Bombings: A tale of drills, patsies and terrible, terrible geography

On 15th April 2013, as marathon runners were crossing the finish line in the Boston marathon, two explosions – 10 seconds and about 100 yards apart – took place near the finish line. It was a scene of blood, debris and carnage. Chief of emergency services at Massachusetts General Hospital, Alasdair Conn, said: “This is something I’ve never seen in my 25 years here … this amount of carnage in the civilian population. This is what we expect from war.” The FBI were quick on the scene. Initial reports stated the bombs were homemade devices and were hidden along the marathon route. By 18th April, the FBI were able to release photographs and videos of two suspects believed to have been involved in the Boston Marathon bombings. FBI special agent in charge of the investigation, Richard Des Lauriers said, “The FBI developed a second suspect. “Suspect 1, is wearing a dark hat. Suspect 2—set down a backpack” at the site of the second explosion, he said during a press conference. Identification The two suspects were later identified as 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. However, what has not been mentioned much in the media is how the [...]