Boston Marathon bombings
The Boston Marathon bombings occurred on April 15, 2013, during the 117th running of the marathon in Boston, Massachusetts. Two homemade bombs, concealed in pressure cookers and placed in backpacks, detonated near the finish line, resulting in the deaths of three individuals and injuring over 260 others. The attack prompted a massive emergency response, with local police and medical personnel rushing to assist victims. In the aftermath, authorities identified the suspects as brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev through surveillance footage. The brothers were motivated by extremist religious beliefs but were not affiliated with any terrorist organization.
A manhunt ensued following the bombings, culminating in a violent confrontation with police in Watertown, where Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed, and Dzhokhar was eventually captured. Tsarnaev was charged with multiple offenses, including using a weapon of mass destruction. In addition to the legal proceedings, the Boston community rallied to support victims and their families through various fundraising efforts, memorials, and vigils. The 2014 Boston Marathon saw a significant turnout as a show of resilience, though heightened security was implemented in response to the attacks.
Boston Marathon bombings
On April 15, 2013, two bombs exploded near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts. The blasts killed three people and injured hundreds. The bombs, contained within pressure cookers, were hidden inside backpacks. Three days later authorities identified two suspects through surveillance videos. The images purportedly showed brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev leaving the backpacks near the finish line shortly before the explosions.
The brothers fled after the images were released and allegedly killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus police officer before stealing a car and attempting to escape. Police cornered the suspects in the suburb of Watertown, Massachusetts, on April 18, 2013, and engaged in a shootout. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot and died when his brother ran over him. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev escaped but was found and arrested the following day. Investigations said the two men were motivated by radical religious beliefs in Islamic fundamentalism. Tsarnaev was indicted on April 22, 2013, and charged with homegrown terrorism. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and a trial date was set for January 5, 2015.
Overview: Initial Explosions and Response
The Boston Marathon kicked off on the morning of April 15, 2013. The race began in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and extended 26.2 miles to Boston. More than twenty thousand runners participated in the race that year. Thousands of spectators also lined up along the route to cheer on the runners. Participants began reaching the finish line on Boston's Boylston Street about 1:00 p.m. At approximately 2:50 p.m., the first bomb exploded near the finish line. A second bomb exploded about a block away several seconds later. Medical personnel onsite immediately begin to assist victims. Boston Police were first to respond, and emergency units and the fire department arrived shortly after. Many spectators also joined in rescue efforts. The Boston Police Bomb Squad swept a fifteen-block area in search of other potential explosives, but found none. The American Red Cross and several web initiatives helped provide updates and casualty information to victims' families and friends. Three people died from the explosions: a local eight-year-old boy, a twenty-nine-year-old female restaurant manager, and a twenty-three-year-old Chinese graduate student at Boston University. More than 260 people sustained injuries from the blast.
Investigation and Subsequent Manhunt
That evening, President Barack Obama issued a statement from the White House promising to find those responsible for the attacks. The following morning, he called the explosions an act of terrorism. Memorial services for the victims were held at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross on April 18. More than two thousand people were in attendance. The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced it would take over investigation efforts that same day. They soon released photos taken from street surveillance cameras of two male suspects. The suspects were identified as brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
Later that evening, the suspects reportedly shot and killed an MIT security officer. According to police, they carjacked a sport utility vehicle in Cambridge, Massachusetts, early the next morning. Police engaged the men in a high-speed chase, eventually surrounding the suspects in the city of Watertown. The parties exchanged gunfire for more than an hour. The suspects also threw explosives at police. Twenty-six-year-old Tamerlan ran out of ammunition and was shot by officers. When police attempted to arrest him, nineteen-year-old Dzhokhar jumped into a vehicle and proceeded to charge the arresting officers, running over his brother. Tamerlan died soon after. Dzhokhar abandoned the vehicle and escaped on foot.
Hundreds of officers searched the streets of Watertown, going door-to-door throughout the day looking for the remaining suspect. About 7:00 p.m., a man discovered a bloodied Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding inside his covered boat. Police seized the suspect about an hour later and transported him to a local hospital, where he was treated for gunshot wounds.
The United States brought charges against Tsarnaev on April 22, 2013. He was accused of using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death and malicious destruction of property by means of an explosive device resulting in death. Within days, three others were charged with obstruction of justice for helping Tsarnaev after the bombing.
Tsarnaev initially spoke with police before requesting a lawyer. Investigators deemed the suspects' actions religiously motivated and in accordance with extremist Islamic beliefs, but said the men acted independently and were not involved in any terrorist organization. They learned how to build the bombs from an online magazine affiliated with al-Qaeda. Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty to thirty of the federal charges filed against him. He was eventually moved to Federal Medical Center, Devens, in Devens, Massachusetts, to await trial. A trial date was scheduled for January 5, 2015. Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Tsarnaev.
Trial
Tsarnaev's defense team, which included high-profile defense attorney Judy Clarke, never denied that he had planted the bomb, instead relying on the argument that his older brother had coerced him into committing the crime. Sister Helen Prejean, a longtime opponent of the death penalty and author of the influential book Dead Man Walking, appeared in court to assert that Tsarnaev felt remorse for his actions. These arguments, however, failed to sway the jury: on April 8, 2015, Tsarnaev was found guilty of all thirty charges. On May 15, Tsarnaev was sentenced to death, a controversial move as the death penalty had been outlawed in Massachusetts in 1984. As it was a federal case, this was not relevant legally, but did affect locals' feelings on the sentencing. Polls of Boston residents conducted during the trial showed a strong preference for life in prison over the death penalty, although all jurors in the case were required to be willing to impose the death penalty. Reactions of victims and families of victims were mixed, though many were in favor of the sentence.
In July 2020, a federal appeals court ruling reversed Tsarnaev's death penalty sentence, arguing that trial jurors should have been more sufficiently questioned about their media exposure relevant to the case when they were being selected, and that a decision to omit a piece of evidence had been questionable. Following a Justice Department petition for a US Supreme Court review and potential reinstatement of the death penalty, oral hearings began in October 2021.
Memorials and Support for Victims
With the suspects detained, Boston focused on getting help to victims and their families. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick started the One Fund Boston organization to aid those affected by the bombings. A benefit concert titled Boston Strong featured acts such as Aerosmith, James Taylor, Carole King, New Kids on the Block, and Jimmy Buffet. Several crowdfunding websites raised a combined total of $2 million in aid money. Vigils and memorials honoring the victims of the bombings were held all over the world. One year after the attacks, the 2014 Boston Marathon featured the second-largest group of runners in the race's history. While there was no official recognition of the tragedy involved in the 2015 marathon, the effects of the bombing were still evident in increased security measures and patriotic sentiment surrounding the race.
Boston University started a scholarship in honor of Lu Lingzi, a graduate student who had been killed in the bombings. MIT established a memorial fund for Sean Collier, the officer killed in the shooting, to finance the establishment of a "Collier Medal" for outstanding members of the MIT community. A memorial statue for Collier on the MIT campus was unveiled on April 29, 2015. Four years later, in 2019, three memorial stones had been completely installed in the areas of the bombings.
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