On Monday, April 15, two bombs exploded near the finish line at the historic Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring over 170 more. The moment the bombs went off, police from across the state along with the FBI rushed to lock down the area and begin their extensive investigation.
It was absolutely incredible to watch the investigation unfold. The Boston Marathon bombing’s investigation was one of the first that truly was a modern, collective, cooperative effort between the authorities and the public. Because of the popularity of the event, there were thousands of amateur photos and videos taken. Police requested people submit whatever they had, and the public promptly responded. Because of our modern technology, the relationship between the authorities and the public was amazingly strong throughout this whole process.
Technology allowed people to communicate with the authorities whatever information they had, and it really paid off. By Thursday evening, the FBI had compiled enough information to release photographs of the suspects. The moment they were released, people across the country diligently began working to find the names of the suspects.
At first, they were completely misidentified. As soon as these false names were released, news organizations like the New York Post reported the mistakes as facts. This wasn’t the first time this happened during the week. Earlier, CNN, Fox News and others reported as fact that a Saudi Arabian man was in custody as a suspect in the bombings. Of course the media loves to blame the Arabs, so it is not at all surprising that major news organizations jumped on the chance to perpetuate stereotypes and Islamophobia.
Despite the failures, late Thursday evening the real IDs were made, and the chase for the suspects became more dramatic. The suspects shot and killed a cop at MIT, carjacked a man, and began a high-speed, violent, literally explosive chase with the police. By the end of the battle, one suspect was dead and the other escaped.
Police requested the public of Boston and all the surrounding suburbs stay in their homes. This was for their own safety, but more importantly to prevent waste of limited police resources. With no civilians around, police can easily focus all their efforts on finding the fugitive. It was a strong request, but still completely voluntary. Yet the public complied, wishing to support the police however they could in saving their beloved city from terror.
The fugitive suspect was eventually found after a man reported something amiss with his family’s boat in the backyard: the tarp had moved, and there seemed to be blood on it. The man saw something, so he said something, just like the authorities requested. Because of his actions, the suspect was eventually captured.
Our modern technology allowed communication and cooperation between the media, the public and the authorities in ways that are completely unprecedented. Though it led to the man’s capture, it certainly wasn’t a smooth ride along the way. Racism and sensationalism spurred the rapid spread of misinformation. Privacy was basically nonexistent throughout the week. Misidentified suspects’ social media sites were dissected for any little bits of information that would affirm public suspicions. The media even advertised the address and showed a street-view picture of the house with the boat in the backyard where the suspect was hiding.
But even though every aspect of the spread of information was not perfect by any means, it was still incredibly heartwarming to see the entire Boston area working together in a very dark, scary time. The terrorists were only successful in making Boston stronger.
— Lindsay Lee is a junior in mathematics. She can be reached at [email protected].
