Boston Marathon Bombing

For my current event topic I am choosing the Boston Marathon Bombing. I feel as though this event is something a sociologist would like to study for a number of reasons. As in my previous post about suicide bombers I think from a sociological standpoint it is interesting to look into why people do such radical things like fly planes into buildings or bomb large events.  The second reason I think a sociologist may want to study this event is due to the affect it had on others, why in times of tragedy do people do extraordinary things for strangers?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/15/us/boston-marathon-explosions
This link is to a simple summary of what happen at the Boston Marathon Bombing, I chose it because it is well written and contains all the necessary information about the event.

"The terrorist attack, near the marathon's finish line, triggered widespread screaming and chaos, shattered windows and barricades and sent smoke billowing into the air at Copley Square.

The blasts were about 50 to 100 yards apart, officials said, on a stretch of the marathon course lined with spectators cheering runners through the final yards of a 26-mile, 385-yard endurance feat.

Authorities in Boston found at least one other explosive device that they were dismantling, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said. Rep. Bill Keating of Massachusetts, meanwhile, said two more were found. One unexploded device was found at a hotel on Boylston Street near the bomb site and another unexploded device was found at an undisclosed location, Keating, a Democrat and member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said. He called the bombing a "sophisticated, coordinated, planned attack.""

 

First responders helping a runner

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/spt--boston-marathon-explosions-attract-an-outpouring-of-help-from-city-s-residents-022321905.html

This second article shows how in times of tragedy people will open their homes to others. I think it would be interesting to study why people do these things for strangers. I chose this article because it shows how will people are to help others in times of need.

 

"There are names, thousands of names of people in the Boston area with standing offers to help those displaced by the horrifying explosions near the finish line of Monday's Boston Marathon. By Monday evening, the Google document had become more than a resource for the stranded. It became a viral statement of solidarity from the proud people of Massachusetts. The first entry appeared at 5:39 p.m., only a few hours after the explosions occurred. The most recent entry (as of this writing) comes two hours later, at 7:40. More than 4,000 people put their personal information on the Internet for everyone to see because they wanted total strangers to come over to their houses and rest and feel better. Think about that."

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/24/anzor-tsarnaev-zubeidat-tsarnaeva-boston-bombing-suspects-parents-us-investigators-russia_n_3146126.html

 

The final article is about the suspected attackers and their possible motives I think it important to look into the reasoning behind such tragedies to possibly prevent them from happening again.

"Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are accused of setting off the two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15. The elder brother was later killed in a police standoff. Investigators are looking into whether Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who spent six months in Russia's Caucasus in 2012, was influenced by the religious extremists who have waged an insurgency against Russian security services in the area for years. The brothers have roots in Dagestan and neighboring Chechnya, but neither spent much time in either place before the family moved to the United States a decade ago."

Interview with the suspects uncle