Tag: boston marathon bombings
‘We Endure,’ Joe Biden Says At Boston Marathon Memorial

‘We Endure,’ Joe Biden Says At Boston Marathon Memorial

 

By Alana Semuels, Los Angeles Times

BOSTON — A memorial for the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings ended Tuesday with a thunderous speech from Vice President Joe Biden, who closed an afternoon highlighting remarks from bombing survivors and dignitaries.

“We will never yield, we will never cower, America will never, ever, ever stand down,” Biden said. “We are Boston. We are America. We respond, we endure, we overcome, and we own the finish line! God bless you all, and may God protect our troops.”

The afternoon will continue with  a flag-raising and a moment of silence at the marathon finish line at 2:49 p.m., the moment the bombs exploded.

In Washington, President Barack Obama planned to observe the anniversary with a private moment of silence at the White House.

One year after two pressure-cooker bombs tore through the crowd at the finish line at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others, people throughout the city are pausing to reflect on the day with tributes, prayers, speeches and music.

At a private ceremony in the morning, families of the victims placed wreaths at the two bombing sites — in front of the Forum restaurant on Boston’s Boylston Street, and near Marathon Sports a block away. Police honor guards will stand sentry around the wreaths all day.

The marathon will be held this year on Monday. It is expected to be the second most crowded field ever, after the marathon’s centennial in 1996.

Biden spoke at the city tribute at the Hynes Convention Center close to the bombings. Both families and public figures attended the event, including the family of victim Lu Lingzi, who came from China for it.

A year after the marathon, many victims who previously had not spoken to the media have been featured in local newspapers and TV stations. The family of Martin Richard, 8, who was killed in the bombing, appeared in a lengthy two-part Boston Globe story about recovering from the bombing. Jane Richard, Martin’s sister, who is now 8, lost a leg in the bombing.

Signs along the Boylston Street finish line area remind residents to be “Boston Strong,” but no formal memorial has been erected at the bombing sites. Still, those who were near the finish line a year ago say they think about it every day.

Gerardo DeFabritiis is a manager at the Tannery, an upscale shoe and clothing store across from the site where the first bomb went off. His daughter and son-in-law were visiting the store on marathon day last year and were about to leave when he called them back in to see a new line of T-shirts. The bomb went off soon after.

“They would have been right there,” he said, remembering, pointing to the spot where the bomb went off. He remembers walking outside after the bombing and seeing a woman on the ground, bleeding. He thinks about the bombing whenever he passes over that little piece of sidewalk.

He learned something from that day, he said: “When your time comes, your time comes.”

Nicolaus Czarnecki/METRO Boston/Zuma Press/MCT

Boston Marathon Beefs Up Security With Thousands Of Cops, No-Bag Rule

Boston Marathon Beefs Up Security With Thousands Of Cops, No-Bag Rule

By Matt Pearce, Los Angeles Times

Ask a runner what sets the Boston Marathon apart, and he or she will tell you it’s a people’s race. You run with a herd through a series of towns around Boston and finish downtown to the cheers of a jubilant mob.

But now, a year after two bombs killed three people and wounded scores more near the finish line on Boylston Street, one of the world’s most famous marathons has become a 26.2-mile public-safety puzzle for officials hoping to prevent another attack and ease concerns of participants and observers without destroying its quirky personality.

On Monday, law-enforcement and race officials announced some of their solutions to the security cipher. In short, expect more cops at the race on April 21 — about double the number in the past.

With 36,000 runners and as many as a million spectators expected to clog the streets around the race this year, 3,600 police were expected to be scattered throughout the eight cities and towns that form the path of the marathon.

Dozens of law enforcement agencies were expected to pitch in, with the cost of the effort “not driving the security plan,” as one official put it at a Monday news conference in Boston.

In addition to adding more cops along the route and surveying the crowds, the security plan also adds several restrictions on participants and onlookers.

Officials are asking onlookers not to bring their backpacks, which the Tsarnaev brothers were suspected of using to hide two pressure-cooker bombs before the detonations last April 15.

Runners will be barred from carrying containers larger than a small fanny pack or a “fuel” belt holding liquids for the run.

Coolers aren’t welcome either; officials ask that fans bring belongings in plastic bags.

In a remark reflective of officials’ struggles between vigilance and fun, Massachusetts public safety director Kurt N. Schwartz told reporters that they hoped the plan “strikes the right balance between safety and security and ensuring that we maintain the traditional character and feel of the Boston Marathon.”

“We are encouraging the public, spectators to enjoy the day,” said Schwartz, who also framed many of the marathon’s new safety moves as a matter of courtesy and consideration for a potentially jittery crowd. “We understand that we are asking everybody, 1 million people, to do things a little differently this year.”

When reporters asked Schwartz about security for next year’s race — more or less grasping at whether this year’s preparations were a one-time deal or a more permanent condition — Schwartz refused to say.

“We are not talking about 2015 and beyond,” Schwartz said, then gave a nod to the obvious emotion attached to the first race after a scarring terrorist attack: “We are all mindful of what happened a year ago.”

Photo: Christopher S. Penn via Flickr