Patriots’ Day: a Massachusetts State holiday marking the opening battles of the American Revolutionary War in Lexington and Concord. It’s a day that is celebrated on the third Monday of April every year with the Boston Marathon.
April 25, 2013: a day that will be remembered forever. The day of the Boston Marathon wasn’t a celebration, but rather a day of tragedy.
The Boston Marathon bombings and the events that followed were a series of attacks that began with two pressure cooker bombs that exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The FBI took over the investigation and photos of the two suspects were released; they were Tamerlan Tsarnaev (left) and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (right) who are Chechen brothers.
Everyone in the Boston area was glued to their TV as the search for the brothers continued. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a fire fight in Watertown, Massachusetts and his brother escaped in a stolen SUV. A manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ensued and his was found the evening of April 19th. On April 22, 2013 Tsarnaev was charged and then pleaded not guilty to those 30 charges in September.
Due to the large amount of evidence, jury selection didn’t being until January 5, 2015 and the trial didn’t start until March 4th. The trial took place at the federal court in Boston. The jurors listened to over 90 witnesses including those that were injured in the bombings. Just over a month after he trial started on April 8th Tsarnaev was found guilty of all 30 charges.
That isn’t the end for Tsarnaev though. 17 of the 30 counts carry the possibility of death penalty. Capital punishment is not legal in Massachusetts, but since this is a federal case, the trial will continue. The sentencing phase for this part of the trial is set to begin April 21st, the day after the 2015 Boston Marathon. The same jurors will be a part of this trial and in meantime are not allowed to participate in anything relating to the bombings or the marathon.
It has been two years since the bombing and it is still something that you constantly see in the media. The people of Boston will never forget the day that tragedy struck. Although the residents of Massachusetts are very upset about the bombings, whether or not Tsarnaev should be put to death is still controversial in the state.
In the past years we have seen Boston unite due to the bombing. Shortly after the bombings occurred, makeshift memorials were made around Boston that had flowers, shirts, sneakers and other token to respect those that lost their lives. The next year, the Boston Marathon was a reminder of what happened and the city came together show that Bostonians are strong.
This year, One Boston Day was started. According to the website, it is a day to be “a celebration of the resiliency, generosity, and strength of the people that make Boston the great city it is.” This year the Boston Marathon was held on April 20th.
Rest in Peace Martin Richard, Sean Collier, Lu Lingzi and Kristen Campbell