Explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon

[Tale]

I don't see why a connection is being made between the Boston bombings and the triple homicide.

Dzhokhar reportedly says he and his brother took methods from internet videos. The cops say the murders were like something from the Nicholas Berg beheading video. A Mercedes had been seen at the house and that's what Tamerlan drove. The victims apparently knew their killer(s). Tamerlan had been a pot dealer connected to the victims who became a "self-radicalised jihadist". One or two of the victims were Jews and they were all-but-beheaded on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

From story linked above:

"We are looking at a possible connection with the suspect in the marathon atrocity and this active and open homicide in Waltham,'' Stephanie Guyotte, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex County District Attorney told ABC.
...
In the Waltham murders the three victims' mutilated bodies were left covered with marijuana and thousands of dollars.

A police investigator told ABC the murders were "the worst bloodbath I have ever seen in a long law enforcement career."

"There was no forced entry, it was clear that the victims had let the killer in. And their throats were slashed right out of an al Qaeda training video. The drugs and money on the bodies was very strange," the investigator said.

It's circumstantial and speculative, but this looks like something to follow up.

[Miasma]

They just let the ricin guy out of jail...  No word on what the hell.  I guess I should say "accused" ricin guy at this point.

[Mrbloodworth]

They had no proof he was involved.

[Samwise]

This sounds like a job for social media!

[Mrbloodworth]

Quite sure social media and the media already convicted this guy. Reddit and 4chan are now the Nancy Grace of the interwebs.

[IainC]

This could get weird.

[Merusk]

Could?  The dude's already been charged with child molestation and now he's being charged with framing an Elvis impersonator he disagreed with by trying to kill another Senator.   Shit's fucking SIDEWAYS.

But you wont' hear a peep about it on Fox.

[calapine]

But you wont' hear a peep about it on Fox.

Why should we? He is innoRcent!

[Khaldun]

This has been an interesting thread to read all in one go, since around page 5 when I had to go on a long trip to deal with a family crisis and could only follow this story via TV news and the NYT in quick bits in between. I'm with Margalis. People here are smart, have a diverse range of knowledge about a bunch of things, and have mad Internet skills. That should produce a lot more skepticism and caution than it apparently does. There would be nothing wrong with folks just reporting actual events and confirmed information. If we're going to grow into an always-online world and keep it sane and free in some respect, everyone is going to have to learn that there are times where it's important not to go beyond the story. Particularly when real people and real names are involved, but even when it comes to trying to explain why things happened and what they mean. It's clear we can't count on the "mainstream media" to do that for us any more, not that it ever really did. Learning how to restrain our info-lust at certain points has got to be part of what it means to be an adult in the 21st Century. I really believe we can all be more than a bunch of pre-built narratives that dribble memes out of our mouths at the least excuse.

[Engels]

A Myspace account linked to Dutschke

Well he's guilty. Of something. Not sure what, but of something.

[HaemishM]

This could get weird.

What the fuck? When did my state become Louisiana?

[schild]

This could get weird.

What the fuck? When did my state become Louisiana?

Please. Mississippi and Louisiana are both branches on the same hilarious crap tree.

[Lakov_Sanite]

At least you aren't Florida.

[K9]

I thought Arkansas was where the buck of suck stops?

[Tale]

Jack Womack headline:

RICIN ELVIS DENIES GUILT, BLAMES KUNG FU PEDO

[Khaldun]

Medical examiners will investigate this morning whether a body found yesterday in the Providence River is Sunil Tripathi.

It also turns out that there's no evidence that anyone on the police scanners ever actually said his name during the chase from MIT into Watertown.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/04/coda.php

[Fabricated]

In case you were wondering how this bombing could be exploited for all the GOP's pet agendas; the main headline on Drudge now:

TAXPAYER-FUNDED TERROR?

...Because the older brother got welfare benefits.

[HaemishM]

 

[Tale]

So it turns out Dzhokhar had no gun.

When they shot up the boat and claimed he shot himself in the neck, he was unarmed.

Edit: Here's a story that doesn't need registration.

Authorities originally said they had exchanged gunfire with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for more than one hour last Friday evening before they were able to subdue him.

[Margalis]

They just let the ricin guy out of jail...  No word on what the hell.  I guess I should say "accused" ricin guy at this point.

From an article:

When police suddenly stormed his home last week, Curtis said an investigator asked him about ricin, and Curtis said he responded, "Well, I don't eat rice, and I don't have any rice in the house."

[Khaldun]

Body in the Providence River confirmed to be Sunil Tripathi. Approximate time of death not known yet.

[Mithas]

Mayor Bloomberg says the bombers were headed to NYC to set bombs off in Times Square:

boston.com

[schild]

lolwut

[Mithas]

There is still a lot of speculation and contradictory reporting going on. Previously I had read that the person they had carjacked the Mercedes from was let go because he was "foreign". In that article it said he was able to escape at a gas station.

Also it almost seems like Bloomberg was jumping to conclusions saying they were headed to Times Square. The FBI certainly notified him that they may have been headed for New York, but I'm not sure they said where specifically. Also, the bomber first said that they were headed to New York to party. Later he says they were headed there to set off more bombs.

[Venkman]

Media's saying the guy escaped at the station and called the cops. If I recall, they reported that within hours of it happening (though some were saying escaped, others "let go"), including that he said one of the brother's said "we did that". This morning one of the stations was saying the FBI mentioned the carjacked guy further revealed the suspects said they were headed to NYC.

Bloomberg doesn't seem to type to just make this kind of thing up on a lark. Heck, any city between Boston and NY could have been their next target (Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, etc). So I'm going to lean towards him actually getting word from the FBI.

[Lantyssa]

I doubt he made it up, but it's all speculation based on what two troubled individuals said.

I've also heard a great anecdote about him getting extremely mad over a tiny rebuttal, so I won't call him a cool cookie.

[Tale]

Starting to think the brothers only had one handgun the whole time. Tamerlan was captured with the gun, so as bombs had proved ineffective Dzhokhar's only weapon was a car. He wasn't armed in the boat.

They killed the MIT cop to try and get a 2nd gun, but couldn't retrieve it.

Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev only had one real gun and one pellet gun. Investigators believe because the officer's holster had a locking system, they apparently couldn't get the gun out.

So they tried to bluff the carjacking victim.

“We both have guns,” Tamerlan said, though Danny had not seen a second weapon.

All the shooting when Dzhokhar was in the boat was done by cops. Earlier, in the street firefight, the stray bullet that went through some guy's wall and computer chair also came from the cops (by trajectory). Tamerlan is said to have run out of bullets as he approached the cops... maybe he didn't have many to begin with?

Overall the brothers seem to have been woefully unprepared for a firefight. Probably didn't expect one, as they didn't know the Merc could be tracked. Puts paid to my complaint about US gun laws allowing them to equip. They were all about homemade bombs.

[HaemishM]

Puts paid to my complaint about US gun laws allowing them to equip.

You'd think they'd have been able to get plenty of guns if they had really tried. Definitely shows they were the typical "lone mad bomber" as opposed to "sophisticated Al-Qaeda terrorist cell." AQ would have had guns.

[Abagadro]

The shootout at the boat is hilarious in a really dark way. You wonder if they even saw the guy (as it seems he mostly just laid there and bled) or just unloaded their clips into the boat upon arrival.  You'd be amazed how much "spray and pray" goes on with muni police forces.

[KallDrexx]

The shootout at the boat is hilarious in a really dark way. You wonder if they even saw the guy (as it seems he mostly just laid there and bled) or just unloaded their clips into the boat upon arrival.  You'd be amazed how much "spray and pray" goes on with muni police forces.

With the previous firefight with the suspects the night before, I don't think it's that out there to think that one officer accidentally fired and (since it was dark) it could have set off a chain reaction of people thinking they were getting fired at.

[kaid]

Yes very likely it was one got twitchy and fired by accident and the rest unloaded. Still given the random bomb throwing car chase they had the night before I can see the cops erring to the side of kill it with fire.

[Abagadro]

It wasn't dark when it happened though. 

I don't begrudge police reacting to threats. Just find it funny that the guy may not have even popped his head up yet 200 bullets got flung at the boat.  My reaction is probably colored by listening to the cops I work with talk shit about guys who empty clips like this.

[Venkman]

So I haven't followed this much since, but that night I was pretty glued to it. I don't remember all these shots being fired being keep talking about. I remember reports of gas being thrown in, which was being misinterpreted as gunfire from one of the local reports. But I don't remember there being many shots fired, and certainly not 200.

But if there were that many shots (as evidenced I assume by holes in the hull?) then what I find interesting is how low that number is. There were probably 200 various types of security personal on that guy's property alone.

[Abagadro]

It was before the HRT got there when initial contact was made by a few officers. HRT fired in flash-bangs much later after the robot cut the tarp.

There is an iPhone video of it from a neighbor's house:Video (starts at :40 seconds of that)

200 may be what was fired the night before, but it is a sustained barrage from multiple officers for like 12 seconds. Easily over a hundred rounds. 

[Simond]

Body in the Providence River confirmed to be Sunil Tripathi. Approximate time of death not known yet.

They had to ID him via his dental records so he's been under for a while.