Boston Marathon Blast - 3 dead

FireIce SG

Three are dead, including an 8-year-old boy and more than 130 injured.

Two bombs exploded in the crowded streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon early this morning at 2.50am (Singapore time), leaving a bloody scene of shattered glass and severed limbs.

In forceful statement immediately after the incident, President Barack Obama said that "We will find out who did this; we'll find out why they did this. Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice."

Reports from the US say as many as two unexploded bombs were also found near the end of the 42.165 km course, but they were safely disarmed.

The fiery twin blasts took place about 10 seconds and 90m (100 yards) apart. The impact of the blasts knocked spectators and at least one runner off their feet, shattered windows up to three stories high and sent dense plumes of smoke rising over the street and through the fluttering national flags that lined the course.

One of the devasting images to emerge is of a man in a cowboy hat, 52 year old Carlos Arredondo, who was seen helping a paramedic with a badly wounded man in a wheelchair.

About 23,000 runners took part in this year's race - one of the world's oldest and most prestigious marathons.

The race winds up near Copley Square, not far from the landmark Prudential Center and the Boston Public Library. It is held on Patriots Day, which commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution, at Concord and Lexington in 1775.

According to media reports from the US, the attack may have been timed for maximum carnage as the four-hour mark is typically a crowded time near the finish line because of the slow-but-steady recreational runners completing the race and typically, there are crowds of friends and relatives to cheer them on.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said at a news briefing that police also detonated a suspicious package found along the race course, but it did not appear to have been an explosive device.

Moments after the incident Google launched an initiative to help people look for loved ones whom they think are affected by the blast. Called "Person Finder", it is currently tracking 4,800 people on the page.

There are no reports of any Singaporean casualties in the blasts.

Singaporeans in Boston who require consular assistance please contact +19172934540for the New York City office or +12022564629 Washington D.C. office.

reports

isntitobviousstoptokinrot SG

caould it be done by NK spies? or cheena spies?

Tcsaaa SG

so sad for the victim.. nvm, pls use the F22s, F35s n all those expensive n sure win Fs..

we also have many Fs..

FireIce SG

18 singaporeans took part in the race

non affected

Tcsaaa SG

non of our business?

Mr Milo SG

worst is some people created fake news to gather donations for themselves

*Whips the culprits

FireIce SG

video

laurence82 SG

fuckers...

Dalforce 1941 SG

Boston Marathon bombing: The initial theories

Early reports link twin blasts to right-wing extremists or al-Qa'ida

Early reports of the Boston Marathon bombing sought to link the blasts to domestic right-wing extremists.

The main thinking behind a link to the far-right was that the relative small size of the bomb and the fact it took place on Patriot’s Day – a hugely symbolic event.

Patriot’s Day is a civic holiday commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The battles marked the beginning of military action American Revolution and have been seen as a symbol of American independence and freedom ever since.

The devastating Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995, which killed 168 people, took place the day after Patriot’s Day. Perpetrator Timothy McVeigh reportedly considered the date significant to his anti-government terrorist attack.

Patriot’s Day also marks the anniversary of the end of the Waco siege on April 19, 1993. Right-wing groups have long linked Waco’s bloody conclusion – in which 86 people died after the FBI stormed the Branch Davidian cult’s compound following a 51-day siege – as an example of the US government abusing its power.

The right-wing extremist theory was strengthened by fact April 15 is tax day, an event that in recent years has been used as a rallying date for members of the Tea Party group.

The Tea Party movement is, of course, named after the famous Boston Tea Party political protest of 1773 and, with President Obama’s taxation policies widely criticised by many conservative groups – both moderate and extreme - the date is increasingly seen as a focal point for right-wing protest.

Other experts have sought to distance the attacks from right-wing extremism however; suggesting twin blasts are a hallmark of al-Qa'ida.

The Telegraph reported Peter Neumann, professor of security studies at King’s College, London, as saying: “Some groups used a particular kind of attack. With the IRA it was car bombs. With al-Qa'ida it has almost become a cliché but multiple explosions in the same place are regarded as hallmarks of Islamist terror.”

Although the Boston devices are generally smaller than those used by Islamic extremists, the reported use of ball-bearings in backpacks filled with explosives has fuelled speculation that al-Qa'ida operatives may have been involved. Such devices have often been used by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Professor Neumann added: “A bomb with ball bearing seems homemade, the type of thing you would build if you don’t really know how to build a bomb, perhaps with some instructions or guide on the Internet.”

As well as Patriot’s Day, yesterday also marked the 65th anniversary of Israeli independence, leading commentators, including the Boston Globe's Lawrence Harmon, to speculate on links to Islamic extremism.

Professor Neumann reportedly called the attacks “amateurish right-wing, or amateurish al-Qa'ida”, adding that investigators will now be looking online for individuals or groups boasting of the attacks or claiming responsibility.

He said: “The point of terrorism is to communicate a message through acts of violence. The IRA used to call a newspaper, and now you often have claims on the Internet.”

Professor Neumann went on to say that, as there currently appear to have been no such claims, it would suggest the culprit was either acting alone or as part of a small group loosely connected to a larger network or ideology.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/boston-marathon-bombing-the-initial-theories-8575115.html

FireIce SG

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/world/story/boston-blasts-bomb-scene-pictures-show-remains-explosive-device-20130417

Mr Milo SG

Acts of terrorism are cowardly acts. These people do not have balls to fight their enemy face to face.

Hear me? Fucking cowards

Dalforce 1941 SG

Acts of terrorism are cowardly acts. These people do not have balls to fight their enemy face to face.

Hear me? Fucking cowards

Some U.S. right wing wackos are exploiting this sad event to serve their own hate agenda against U.S government.

That is truely disgusting. Fucking ultra right wing filth.

Apr 17, 2013 by PATRICK EDABURN, Assistant Editor

I was driving home today when I had the misfortune to listen to a few minutes of Alex Jones.

For those who don’t know Alex he is a far right whack job who thinks that everything that happens is a government conspiracy. Everything from 9/11 to the Boston Marathon attack is not real to him but a big secret government (or guvmint) conspiracy to trick us and turn the world over to the secret cabals that plot our doom (and no I am not exaggerating).

During this brief segment he talked about how the Boston attacks were a “false flag” operation (IE a scam by the government) and he attacked those who called him nuts for saying so.

As an analogy he said that if he was sitting in a boat and saw a car drive off of a bridge that it would not be crazy for him to assume the car was going to crash into the water.

True enough

But Alex, what you do is not to say that the car is going to crash in the river. What you do is say that a secret government agent rappelled down from a black helicopter to slash the brake lines in order to give the government the power to regulate speed limits.

In other words you are, in my humble opinion crazy as a loon.

There is no big government conspiracy, there are no secret black helicopters, there is no secret cabal eating babies wrapped in gold foil (yes he said that too).

And for you to take events like Newtown and Boston and 9/11 to use as part of your twisted agenda is beyond disgusting (in my opinion).

And if you want to label me part of the conspiracy, I’d be proud to join it because it comprises the 99.9% of us who are not deluded.

http://themoderatevoice.com/180426/yes-alex-jones-you-are-an-idiot/

Mr Milo SG

Insanity meets more insanity Laughing

Dalforce 1941 SG

picture of Boston suspects

One Boston marathon bombing suspect has been shot dead and another is on the loose, police have said.

It follows a shootout in Watertown between the two suspects and dozens of armed officers after a policeman was shot dead at Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, nine miles from Boston city centre.

Boston Police commissioner Ed Davis said: "What we are looking for right now is a suspect consistent with the description of suspect number two - the white-capped individual who was involved in Monday's bombing of the Boston Marathon.

He is described as light-skinned with brown wavy hair and dressed in a grey hooded top.

"You have seen the picture, You all have it. That's the individual we are looking for at this moment."

http://news.sky.com/story/1080236/boston-marathon-bombings-one-suspect-dead

sacredspirits SG

After Boston, now Texas….

‘an eye for an eye and the world will be blind’......

Dalforce 1941 SG

Texas is the citadel of the U.S. ultra right wing crazies.

• Civil rights report shows 250% rise in 'patriot' groups
• Economy and media conspiracy theories fuel growth

The US is facing a surge in anti-government extremist groups and armed militias, driven by deepening hostility on the right to Barack Obama, anger over the economy, and the increasing propagation of conspiracy theories by parts of the mass media such as Fox News.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre, the US's most prominent civil rights group focused on hate organisations, said in a report that extremist "patriot" groups "came roaring back to life" last year as their number jumped nearly 250% to more than 500 with deepening ties to conservative mainstream politics.

The SPLC report, called Rage on the Right, said the rise in extremist groups was "a cause for grave concern" given their propensity to use violence during their heyday in the 90s, most notably with the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. It added that the issues driving support for such groups were increasingly populist and that "signs of growing radicalisation are everywhere".

"Patriot groups have been fuelled by anger over the changing demographics of the country, the soaring public debt, the troubled economy and an array of initiatives by President Obama that have been branded "socialist" or even "fascist" by his political opponents," the report said.

"Already there are signs of … violence emanating from the radical right. Since the installation of Barack Obama, rightwing extremists have murdered six law enforcement officers. Racist skinheads and others have been arrested in alleged plots to assassinate the nation's first black president. One man from Brockton, Massachusetts – who told police he had learned on white supremacist websites that a genocide was under way against whites – is charged with murdering two black people and planning to kill as many Jews as possible on the day after Obama's inauguration. Most recently, a rash of individuals with anti-government, survivalist or racist views have been arrested in a series of bomb cases."

The report says the patriot movement has "made significant inroads into the conservative political scene" in part driven by a growing view of the US administration "as part of a plot to impose 'one-world government' on liberty-loving Americans".

"The Tea Parties and similar groups that have sprung up in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist groups, but they are shot through with rich veins of radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism," the report says.

The SPLC notes that the rise comes as part of a deepening disillusionment with government in which just one quarter of Americans think government can be trusted. It said that a recent poll found that the anti-tax Tea Party movement is viewed in more positive terms than the Democratic or Republican parties.

"The signs of growing radicalisation are everywhere. Armed men have come to Obama speeches bearing signs suggesting that the 'tree of liberty' needs to be 'watered' with 'the blood of tyrants'. The Conservative Political Action Conference held this February was co-sponsored by groups like the John Birch Society, which believes President Eisenhower was a communist agent, and Oath Keepers, a patriot outfit formed last year that suggests, in thinly veiled language, that the government has secret plans to declare martial law and intern patriotic Americans in concentration camps," the SPLC said.

The report says that, unlike during the 1990s, the patriot movement's core ideas are more widely propagated and accepted by prominent politicians and some in the mass media, such as the Fox News presenter Glenn Beck.

"As the movement has exploded, so has the reach of its ideas, aided and abetted by commentators and politicians in the ostensible mainstream," said the report. "Beck, for instance, reinvigorated a key patriot conspiracy theory – the charge that the federal emergency management agency is secretly running concentration camps – before finally 'debunking' it."

How far such language is now part of the mainstream political discourse was confirmed by Politico today, which reported that it had obtained a Republican national committee document detailing plans to raise election funds with "an aggressive campaign capitalising on 'fear' of President Barack Obama" and a promise to "save the country from trending toward socialism".

In the presentation, the administration is portrayed as "the Evil Empire", and Obama as the Joker in Batman.

Patriot groups and militias are planning a march on Washington next month ostensibly in defence of the right to carry guns.

The SPLC has identified 512 groups, including "patriots" and militias, which it accuses of pushing extreme anti-government doctrines or promoting political conspiracy theories. It says that many are not directly involved in violence but help feed extremism.

States with several groups include: Texas (52 groups including American Patriots for Freedom Foundation, Central Texas Militia, Texas Well Regulated Militia); Michigan (47 including Northern Michigan Backyard Protection Militia); California (22 including State of California Unorganized Militia, Northern California State Militia, American Armenian Militia, Freedom Force International); Indiana (21 including Indiana Sedentary Militia, Indiana Citizens Volunteer Militia, 3rd Brigade); New York (17 including Empire State Militia); Oregon (14 including Oregon Militia Corps) and Kentucky (13 including Kentucky State Militia – Ohio Valley Command).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/04/us-surge-rightwing-extremist-groups

FireIce SG

1 dead, other caught

SJS6638 SG

By Tim Clary and Tim Witcher | AFP News – 1 hour 32 minutes ago

US police on Friday captured an ethnic Chechen teenager suspected of staging the Boston marathon bombings, after a massive manhunt that virtually shut down the city and its suburbs.

After a tip from a local resident, police found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, hiding in a boat in a suburban backyard in Watertown, wounded and weary after a gun battle with police overnight in which his accomplice brother was killed.

"Captured!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody," Boston police department said on Twitter after Tsarnaev was taken away to applause from relieved residents.

Hundreds of people later descended into the streets of Boston to celebrate, chanting: "USA! USA!"

A neighbor alerted police after finding Tsarnaev "covered with blood" in a boat where he had taken refuge, Boston police chief Ed Davis told reporters.

The University of Massachusetts student was surrounded by a small army of police for a final showdown which lasted nearly two hours. Attempts to negotiate with him failed as he was "not communicating," Davis said.

Following his capture, the suspect was taken to hospital, where he was in serious condition.

"We will determine what happened. We will investigate any associations that these terrorists may have had. And we'll continue to do whatever we have to do to keep our people safe," President Barack Obama said after the capture.

The arrest ended a dramatic four days after two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon finish line, killing three people and wounding about 180 in the worst attack on the United States since the September 11, 2001 atrocities.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan were named as the main suspects. They were also at the center of a violent spree in which one policeman was killed and a second officer wounded.

The bombings traumatized the city with investigators at first seeming to be struggling to find the attackers.

A major breakthrough came when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Thursday released video and picture images of the Tsarnaev brothers as they walked in Boston's Boylston Street where the attacks took place.

Within hours of that press conference, the brothers embarked on a final rampage through the Boston suburbs.

The brothers were captured on a video surveillance camera in a convenience store near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge late Thursday. A police officer was killed in a "vicious assassination" minutes later, Davis said.

The suspects then carjacked a Mercedes, sparking a high-speed police chase to Watertown. Police said the two men hurled explosives out of the car window before the elder brother was shot. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died of bullet wounds and injuries from explosives strapped to his body, a hospital doctor said.

A police officer was wounded in the clash and Tamerlan's use of explosives sparked the fears that his brother also had bombs on his body.

Police launched a huge manhunt on Friday with 9,000 police surrounding Watertown and parts of nearby districts hoping to isolate the teenager who was believed wounded in the shootout in which his brother was killed.

"We assumed that those injuries occurred the evening before. There was an exchange of gunfire at the boat. I don't know if he was struck," Davis said.

Authorities halted all public transport and ordered schools and universities closed and told people in most of the Boston region to stay in their homes.

Tsarnaev was spotted a few minutes after police chiefs and political leaders ended a press conference at which they said they believed the teenager had eluded their operation.

The brothers are ethnic Chechen Muslims who moved to the United States about a decade ago. Their social media pages appeared to express sympathy with the struggle of Chechnya, which has been ravaged by two wars since 1994 between Russia and increasingly Islamist-leaning separatist rebels.

The suspects' father Anzor Tsarnaev told Russia's Interfax news agency his sons had been "set up by the secret services because they are practicing Muslims." But an uncle, Ruslan Tsarni said the pair had put "shame on the entire Chechen ethnicity".

The attack on the marathon sent a hail of nails and shrapnel into crowds of thousands on Boston's Boylston Street.

Boston has held emotional tributes to the dead -- eight-year-old Martin Richard, Boston University graduate student Lu Lingzi of China and Krystle Campbell, a restaurant manager.

More than 100 of the wounded have left Boston hospitals and fewer than 10 of those still in hospital remain in critical condition. Some have horrific injuries and will require new operations, doctors said.

The FBI acknowledged on Friday that an unnamed foreign government had asked about Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2001 but they had found no key information.

SJS6638 SG

MAKHACHKALA, Russia (Reuters) - A man who identified himself as the father of two brothers suspected of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings said on Friday he believed his sons had been framed and pleaded with police to spare his younger son who was still on the run.

U.S. police said they killed Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and were conducting a massive search for his brother and suspected accomplice, Dzhokhar, 19, on Friday after the bombings killed three people and wounded 176.

Both ethnic Chechens, the brothers lived in Russia's volatile Dagestan region, which borders Chechnya, more than a decade ago before moving to the United States.

Sitting on an unmade bed in his home in Dagestan's provincial capital Makhachkala, Anzor Tsarnaev, defended his sons' innocence.

"Somebody clearly framed them. I don't know who exactly framed them, but they did. They framed them. And they were so cowardly that they shot the boy dead," he told Reuters, clasping his head in despair.

"I'm scared for my boy - that they will shoot him dead too," said the thin man in a black-and-blue sweater. "They should arrest him, bring him in, alive. And the judicial system should investigate everything, who's right and who's guilty."

Tsarnaev also said he was expecting the younger brother to visit him in Dagestan soon for summer holidays, before cutting the interview short.

It was not possible to independently verify he was the brothers' father, but he has also been identified as such in Russian and other media reports.

In the United States, a man who told reporters he was an uncle of the brothers said they went to America in the early 2000s and settled in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, area.

Ruslan Tsarni, who lives in suburban Washington and has not spoken to the brothers since 2009, said the bombings "put a shame on our family. It put a shame on the entire Chechen ethnicity."

Russia said on Friday it was awaiting official information from the United States about the brothers whose homeland Chechnya fought two bloody separatist wars against Moscow in 1994-2000.

More than a decade later, the North Caucasus region is still volatile, with Dagestan now the epicentre of violence.