The Boston Marathon Bombing: Terror on Boston’s Biggest Day
When I started out researching the disaster that is the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing (and its aftermath!), I thought I knew a lot about it already. I’d casually watched a few documentaries on it in the past and I’d seen the movie Patriot’s Day. But turns out, there was a lot more to learn! Three people lost their lives in this horrific act of terrorism, and approximately 240 were injured. The search for the perpetrators was complex, and so was the additional havoc they created as they fled from law enforcement. I hope you will listen to episode five of the Disaster Queen Podcast to get the full story, but here are some facts you might not know about the bombing to go along with the episode.
The Boston Marathon Bombing Occurred on Patriot’s Day
Bostonians will know that what I just said in that heading is redundant in a way: the Boston Marathon is always run on Patriot’s Day! But what exactly is Patriot’s Day? I was confused when I first heard this because I kind of thought September 11th was supposed to be known as Patriot’s Day, but its actually an older holiday celebrated by six states (it is a state holiday, not federal) to commemorate the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy in April 1775. All of these battles took place in Massachusetts, so it was originally a Massachusetts holiday. In Massachusetts it is always celebrated on the third Monday in April, and the Boston Marathon is always on that day. Hence the reason the movie about the Boston Marathon Bombing starring Mark Wahlberg is called Patriot’s Day.
One of the Boston Marathon Bombers Was an American Citizen
We don’t usually think of Islamic terrorists as being homegrown, but for the most part, Dzokhar Tsarnaev, just 19 at the time of the bombings, was. His family came to the U.S. from Dagestan (they were ethnic Chechens and identified as such) when he was around nine years old, and by the time of the bombing he had lived in the United States for most of his life and had even become a United States citizen just a few months prior to the bombing. (That seems so crazy to me! Why jump through all those hoops? I guess it did probably help him with his rights while he was being prosecuted.) He was much more Americanized than his brother and co-bomber Tamerlan, who was seven years his senior. Friends described Dzokhar as an easygoing college student who liked to hang out with friends and smoke (and sell) weed, and high school friends and teachers were completely shocked by his participation in the bombing. Exactly how his older brother Tamerlan was able to radicalize him still remains a mystery.
One of the Boston Marathon Bombers had an American Wife
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, age 26 when the bombing occurred, married American Katherine Russell in 2010, and they had a daughter later that year. The two had met at a night club in 2007 and dated on and off until their marriage. Russell had converted to Islam while they were still dating, some say at Tamerlan’s insistence. By all accounts she grew up in a typical American family in Rhode Island, but when she fell in love with Tamerlan and converted to Islam, she started living under his strict rules, covering her head and being a submissive wife. It seems odd that such an All-American girl (she was in Boston for college when she met Tamerlan) could be caught up on the wrong side of such a terrible terrorist incident, but love and relationships are complicated and no one but Katherine and Tamerlan truly know the dynamics of their relationship. Though she was questioned after the bombing, Russell was never charged with anything pertaining to it.
Ok, well there are a few facts about the Boston Marathon Bombing that I didn’t really know until I started researching it, and I hope you found them as interesting as I did! I can’t wait for you to listen to my deep dive on this terrible event in episode 5. Please leave me some feedback and let me know what you think!
