Tag Archives: Martin Richard

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Boston faithful come together for prayer, worship

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Four glowing white pillar candles illuminated photographs of the people killed in bombing-connected violence in the Boston area last week as the city sought comfort in religious services on the first Sunday after the blasts plunged the community into days of chaos.

The photographs showing the faces of 8-year-old Martin Richard, 23-year-old Lu Lingzi, 29-year-old Krystle Campbell and 26-year-old Sean Collier, a police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were propped up on the altar at Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross, where Roman Catholic Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley spoke about the city’s pain and looked ahead to its spiritual recovery.

“Everyone has been profoundly affected by this wanton violence and destruction inflicted upon our community by two young men unknown to all of us,” said O’Malley, speaking to a crowd of mourners that included Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, who sat in the front row of the cavernous cathedral with other elected officials. “It’s very difficult to understand what was going on in their heads. What demons were operating, what ideologies or politics, or the perversions of their religion.”

Two Muslim brothers from Russia, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, are suspected in Monday’s Boston Marathon bombings. Their motive remains unclear. The older brother was killed during a getaway attempt, while the younger brother was captured Friday night after a gunfight with police and remains in a hospital.

Along the barricade that has become a shrine near the marathon finish line, hundreds of people sang hymns and prayed beneath a brilliant blue sky.

“Guide my feet while I run this race,” they sang.

Bouquets of flowers, small white crosses and American flags are piled at the makeshift memorial, where people have been gathering to pay their respects ever since the explosions.

Susan Ackley, a priest at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church a few blocks from the blast site, said religious leaders had visited the area “to clear the air and to bless it.” She encouraged people to forgive the perpetrators, noting that her congregation had prayed for the suspect who had been killed and the other who remains in police custody.

“Instantaneous forgiveness, I think, is impossible,” she said. “That’s not what needs to happen. But I think it is the role of the churches and the synagogues to try to hold this community of human beings together.”

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/v8D4jsfkDiY/

News, Politics, Government

Boston services held to honor victims and first responders

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Four glowing white pillar candles illuminated photographs of each of the people lost in bombing-connected violence in the Boston area last week as the city held religious services on the first Sunday after the blasts shattered the community and plunged it into days of chaos.

The photographs showing the faces of 8-year-old Martin Richard, 23-year-old Lu Lingzi, 29-year-old Krystle Campbell and 26-year-old Sean Collier, a police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were propped up on the altar at Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross, where Roman Catholic Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley spoke about the city’s pain and looked ahead to its spiritual recovery.

“Everyone has been profoundly affected by this wanton violence and destruction inflicted upon our community by two young men unknown to all of us. It’s very difficult to understand what was going on in their heads, what demons were operating, what ideologies or politics or the perversions of their religion,” he said.

“Our task is to keep this spirit of community alive going forward,” he said. “We must be people of reconciliation, not revenge. The crimes of two young men must not be the justification for prejudice against Muslims or against immigrants. “

Two Muslim brothers from Russia, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, are suspected in Monday’s bombings. Their motive remains unclear. The older brother was killed during a getaway attempt; the younger brother was captured Friday night after a gunfight with police and remains in a hospital.

The cardinal said the violent culture of video games and films has made Americans insensitive to suffering. He criticized Congress for failing to enact gun control legislation and cited abortion as evidence of this insensitivity.

The service at the cathedral also honored police, firefighters, EMTs and doctors who saved lives.

A Boston synagogue, Temple Israel, opened its doors to worshippers from Trinity Episcopal Church, which sits in the shadow of the marathon finish line and remains closed.

An interfaith service was also held Sunday near the finish line, where the bombs went off.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/BE8D6PJDhts/

News, Politics, Government

London Marathon runners offer tributes to Boston victims

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The London Marathon started in defiant mood on a glorious sunny morning Sunday despite concerns raised by the bomb attacks on the Boston Marathon six days ago.

Thousands of runners offered tributes to those killed and injured in Boston. The race began after a dignified moment of silence for the victims in Boston, and many wore black armbands as a sign of solidarity.

“It means that runners are stronger than bombers,” said Valerie Bloomfield, a 40-year-old accountant from France just before she started the marathon.

Most participants said they weren’t worried by the Boston bombings, and the impressive turnout of enthusiastic fans lining the routes showed the same spirit, but one runner acknowledged an undercurrent of anxiety.

“It definitely affects us,” said Chris Denton, a 44-year-old engineer who was stretching his legs by the start line. He said he’d been concerned enough to ask that his family not come out to support him because of a possible copycat attack.

“I left them at home,” he said. “If only for my peace of mind.”

His friend, 45-year-old David Wilson, said there was no question of canceling the marathon. Londoners had come back onto the streets the day after the lethal July 7, 2005, transit system bombings and weren’t easily cowed.

“You can’t not do anything, because otherwise you’d stay on the outs all the time,” he said.

Moments before the majority of runners set off on the grinding race, announcer Geoff Wightman used the loudspeakers to ask for silence. He described marathon running as a global sport that unites runners and supporters in every continent in a spirit of friendship.

“This week the world marathon family was shocked and saddened by the events at the Boston Marathon,” he said. “In a few moments a whistle will sound and we will join together in silence to remember our friends and colleagues for whom a day of joy turned into a day of sadness.”

Blackheath, where the runners were gathered, fell silent. The only noise was the buzz of helicopters and the rumble of a distant truck.

Runner Martin Connell, 42, wore a picture of 8-year-old Boston bombing victim Martin Richard on his jersey in tribute to his young namesake.

“It’s a sign of peace and goodwill,” said the runner, an IT worker from near Liverpool.

Some 36,000 runners are expected to take part in the race, which also draws tens of thousands of spectators. Police said they planned to add 40 percent more officers and extra surveillance as a precautionary measure.

Security was plentiful but not intrusive near the finish line at the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. It was mostly good-natured, as it was at the London Olympics.

Marathon staff, officials and media had their bags thoroughly checked as they entered security, which wasn’t deemed necessary at the event last year. Officials said this was in response to the Boston attack.

London‘s is the first major international marathon since the double bomb attack near the finish line in Boston, which left three people dead and more than 170 injured, including many who are still hospitalized. In

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/Ad5aMtIZxe8/

Articles of Interest

Marathon Massacre

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By Allan Erickson

American Flags SC Marathon Massacre

People sure do say a lot of crazy things in the wake of a ‘human-caused disaster.’  Others try to understand, looking for truth; or they fear the PC police and stand silently.  Others bind wounds and comfort the victims.  Many more reach out in unity, attempting to stabilize and heal. And some always believe there is a global conspiracy at work using staged atrocities to demonize, then control.

On the day of the attack, the President implies that tax protesters could be responsible; then the next day, he calls it a terror attack.   Others note it was Patriot Day in Boston, leading some to conclude that anti-government forces were at work, an unlikely scenario given the track record.

At the moment, not much is known publicly about what happened precisely: why this attack, who was involved, how did they avoid security, who were they after, what is the message, etc.  It is odd no one has yet claimed responsibility.  Usually, Al Qaeda is glad to chest-thump.

All we really know is that four are dead, including a sweet-faced eight-year-old named Martin Richard.  Upwards of 30 lost limbs, with 170 injured overall.  Speculation abounds: What about the guy on the roof? What about the fire at the library? How do you explain the guys in tan pants and black jackets communicating with each other and watching?  What about various men with backpacks who look as if they are carrying large, heavy objects?

One prominent broadcaster blames the government, calling this attack a false flag operation.  This conclusion was issued one hour after the event.  An actor says that the bombing results from the gun culture in America.  The only rational explanation: he must be on drugs.  The head of DHS says the attack is not part of a broader conspiracy.  Really?  How on earth can she determine that so quickly and with certainty?  This from the woman who thinks Americans are the problem: a chief of insecurity at best.

A Leftist writer says he hopes white terrorists are to blame because that will put an end to our extraordinary military spending and the drumbeat to preemptively strike.  Geez.  Other Leftists immediately blame the Right, without a shred of evidence of course.

On the other side, people on the Right immediately blame Jihadists, some inferring that Leftists are at least complicit.

Given the use of pressure cookers filled with ball bearings and sharp metal objects detonated at precise times, the attack is likely the work of Al Qaeda or a related group, since these are known methods used by such groups.  Walid Shoebat, respected terrorism expert and reliable source concerning authoritative Islam, points the finger at Saudi Arabia activating sleepers domestically, coordinating with Al Qaeda.

Congressman Peter King of New York suggests this may be the beginning of an entirely new front in the war on terror; and former CIA Director Michael Hayden, Lt. Col. Oliver North, and others agree.  Still, the commander in chief does not recognize a war on terror on any front, begging the questions: how

From: http://www.westernjournalism.com/marathon-massacre/

News, Politics, Government

Families of Boston Marathon bombing victims applaud suspect's capture

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The families of two of the three Boston Marathon bombing victims welcomed the capture and arrest of 19-year-old suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Friday night in the Boston suburb of Watertown.

The family of Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy killed in the bombing offered its thanks to the investigators who worked around the clock on the case and the civilians who offered tips and images that helped authorities zero in on two suspects.

“Tonight, our family applauds the entire law enforcement community for a job well done, and trust that our justice system will now do its job,” the family said in a statement released late Friday.

Martin was killed in Monday’s blast along with two other. His mother and sister were among some 180 others wounded.

“None of this will bring our beloved Martin back, or reverse the injuries these men inflicted on our family and nearly two hundred others. We continue to pray for healing and for comfort on the long road that lies ahead for every victim and their loved ones,” the statement read.

The brother of Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager killed in the blast, told The Boston Globe he applauds the arrest ofTsarnaev, but said his capture will not bring his sister back.

“I’m happy that nobody else is going to get hurt by these guys, but it’s not going to bring her back,” William Campbell III told the paper.

Krystle’s father, William Campbell, said she had gone with a friend to watch the race. Her friend was seriously injured in the explosion.

William Campbell III told the Globe his parents are “happy they got the guys, but basically they feel the same.”

The third victim in the Boston Marathon bombing was Lu Lingzi, a graduate student at Boston University originally from China‘s northeastern city of Shenyang.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click here for more from Boston.com.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/k-AtmjYW0mg/

News, Politics, Government

'We got him!' Second marathon suspect in custody after tense standoff

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BREAKING: A day-long dragnet for the second of two brothers believed to be behind Monday’s Boston Marathon bombing ended Friday night, with police capturing the suspect covered in blood and hiding in a boat in the backyard of a man who called 911 after becoming suspicious of activity on his property.

“We got him,” Boston Mayor Tom Menino tweeted moments later, as neighbors gathered to form a gauntlet of cheers while a phalanx of police cars departed the scene.

Police moved in on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Friday evening after a tip led them to the home on Franklin Street, where he apparently had been hiding in the back yard. Neighbors said they heard more than 30 shots one likened to “a roll of firecrackers shooting off.” Police swarmed the scene, and several explosions, possibly police concussion grenades, were heard after a robot moved in on the boat.Less than two hours later, at about 9 p.m., the suspect, believed to have been injured in a wild shootout that spanned Thursday night to Friday morning, was being taken to Beth Israel Hospital.

No police were injured when shots were fired by the boat.

“We are so grateful to bring justice and to bring closure to this case,” Massachsetts State Police Col. Tim Alben said moments later, at a staging area set up down the block from the crime scene. “We have a suspect in custody.”

Sources told Fox News the shed and the boat had been searched earlier, but a local man noticed a door to it had been opened, saw blood on the tarp and called police.

“It was a call from a resident of Watertown,” Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau said. “We got that call, and we got the guy.”

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said Tsarnaev was in serious condition and was found “covered with blood.” He did not come out from inside the boat willingly, despite the efforts of negotiators, Davis said.

“We assume that those injuries came from the gunfire the night before,” Davis said. He also said Tsarnaev did not have any explosives with him when he was taken into custody.

The hiding place was found just moments after police said their hunt for Tsarnaev, one of two radical Muslim brothers suspected in Monday’s attack, had gone cold and urged people to “go about your business.”

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Shortly after the capture was announced, Watertown residents poured out of their homes and lined the streets to cheer police vehicles as they rolled away from the scene.

Celebratory bells rang from a church tower. Teenagers waved American flags. Drivers honked. Every time an emergency vehicle went by, people cheered loudly.

“Tonight, our family applauds the entire law enforcement community for a job well done, and trust that our justice system will now do its job,” said the family of 8-year-old Martin Richard, who died in the bombing.

Early in the day, police told residents of several city neighborhoods, especially

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/CjyU8GAVgfQ/

News, Politics, Government

Bombing suspects followed Harry Potter-hating Australian sheikh

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Four months ago, the Boston bombing suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed yesterday in a shootout with police, uploaded to his YouTube Channel an eight-minute lecture by the radical Australian Muslim preacher Sheikh Feiz Mohammed denouncing the Harry Potter movies for glorifying and promoting paganism.

“How can you allow your children to watch this?” the sheikh demands in the table-thumping lecture. “This film glorifies, magnifies, promotes paganism…What does Harry Potter do and his devilish schoolmates, what do they do? They cast spells, learn magic, brew potions, learn how to tell the future…And this is called harmless.”

He condemns the Harry Potter movies for being built on shirk — the sin of worshipping someone or something other than Allah.

Tsarnaev also uploaded Russian-language videos of the preacher Abdel al-Hamid al-Juhani, who has been influential on Jihadists in Chechnya and the Russian Caucuses.

Poignant ironies abound with the Boston bombing. Martin Richard, the eight-year-old killed in the Boston bombing, and his brother and sister used to like dressing up as movie characters. A few months before the Boston bombing we know the eight-year-old, who perished in the first blast near the finish line of the marathon, and his sister and brother did just that: a snapshot of the kids dressed up in the backyard of the Richards’ family home in Dorchester was shared with the media and shows the kids as characters from the Toy Story movies and Harry Potter.

Sheikh Mohammed appears to have been a favorite intellectual source for Chechen-born Tsarnaev. On his YouTube playlist there are 19 online videos, all are on Islamic themes and four of them are lectures by Sheikh Mohammed, who first gained international notoriety in 2005 for teaching that women who were raped only had themselves to blame.

Feiz Mohammed was born in australia in 1970 and is of Lebanese descent. He studied for four years at the Islamic University of Medinah. Later he headed an Islamic youth center in a suburb of Sydney before fleeing to Lebanon in 2005 after there was a firestorm in australia over his preaching, especially about women. He later moved to Malaysia.

In one lecture he said: “A victim of rape every minute somewhere in the world. Why? No one to blame but herself. She displayed her beauty to the entire world…Strapless, backless, sleeveless, showing their legs, nothing but satanic skirts, slit skirts, translucent blouses, miniskirts, tight jeans: all this to tease man and appeal to his carnal nature.”

In 2007, Australian authorities explored whether his “Death Series” lectures could be prosecuted for inciting violence and terrorism after Britain’s Channel Four exposed them to a wider public and warned DVDs of his lectures were being sold by children in the parking lot of a mosque in the British city of Birmingham.

A theme he has pushed frequently is that children should be encouraged to become jihadists. “We want to have children and offer them as soldiers defending Islam… Teach them this: there is nothing more beloved to me than wanting to die as a mujahid (martyr).” In 2010

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/11-3kCREZoE/

News, Politics, Government

Boston Marathon bombings bring back painful memories for Newtown runners

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Laura Nowacki rushed to help the shooting victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. As a first responder, the pediatrician was stunned at the horror she encountered.

Four months later, she hurried out of Boston with her husband and four children, anxious to keep them safe after the deadly explosions near the finish line of the historic marathon she had just completed.

“That really scared us,” she said Tuesday. “My daughter was really upset, so we needed to be a family first and get back home.”

The race was supposed to help Nowacki recover from the shock of the Newtown shootings that killed 20 children and six educators — and from which her 10-year-old daughter fled uninjured. Instead, it brought the painful memories back.

“Running has been kind of my escape, my freedom,” Nowacki said. “We felt like we were getting back to normalcy. My husband said, `Leave it all in Boston and come back to a fresh start.’ And now it’s just unbelievable.”

About 40 minutes after she completed the Boston Marathon on Monday, two explosions near the finish line killed three people and wounded more than 170, more than a dozen critically.

The death of 8-year-old Martin Richard, who was watching the race, deepened the connection to the Newtown shootings of school children.

“I think there are families back here in town that are feeling it again,” Nowacki said.

Nowacki was part of a group of eight people who ran the Boston Marathon for the Newtown Strong Fund, which was set up to raise money in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings last Dec. 14. She was its spokeswoman and attended a news conference in Boston last week at which marathon organizers announced they would honor the victims of the shootings with a special mile marker at the end of the 26th mile of the 26.2-mile race on Monday.

Before the race began, there were 26 seconds of silence in honor of each of the 26 victims. And each of the eight Newtown Strong runners wore T-shirts with the names of those victims on the back. Each mile of the race was dedicated to one of them.

“When I ran each mile, I thought about each kid,” Nowacki said, “from Charlotte Bacon on Mile 1 and all the way to Allison Wyatt at the 20th mile. Her mom cheered me on when I was running. So I feel like each mile did mean something to the families.”

Each of the last six miles was run in honor of the educators who were shot.

“I felt strong coming across the line,” said Nowacki, who finished the race in 3 hours, 28 minutes, 55 seconds. “I felt like I came and did what I meant to do and you heard the cheers for Newtown all the way along. It was a good thing. And then we got back to the hotel and started hearing the sirens.”

David Oelberg, another Newtown Strong runner, had crossed the finish line on Boylston Street about 12 minutes earlier in his fourth Boston Marathon —

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/X7I_Hj7gYSU/

Articles of Interest

Boston Marathon Vigil: Community Remembers Martin Richard

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

BOSTON — Near a baseball diamond and a grassy field where 8-year-old Martin Richard used to play, hundreds of neighbors with American flags and candles gathered Tuesday night to remember a young life cut short by the Boston Marathon bombing.

Many of those from the proud, close-knit neighborhood of Dorchester had never met Martin or his family. But they attended the same church, or had kids a few grades ahead, or knew of them through Little League baseball.

“In this town, if you don’t know somebody, you’ve got family that knows them,” said Paula Connolly, a longtime Dorchester resident who saw the vigil as a much-needed chance to connect with close friends and family.

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From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/17/boston-marathon-vigil-martin-richard_n_3096760.html

News, Politics, Government

Stories of the dead and injured in Boston bombing

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The twin bombs at the Boston Marathon killed three people and wounded more than 170 on Monday. Here are the stories of those killed and some of the injured.

A LONG WAY FROM HOME

A Boston University graduate student was one of the three people killed in the bombings at the Boston Marathon, the school said Tuesday.

The Shenyang Evening News, a state-run Chinese newspaper, identified her Wednesday as Lu Lingzi.

Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings, a Hong Kong-based broadcaster with ties to the Chinese government, said she was from the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang and a graduate student in statistics.

In a statement late Tuesday afternoon, the school said it was not releasing the name or any other information about the student. The Chinese Foreign Ministry and Consulate General in New York did not identify the victim at the request of the family.

The Boston University statement says the student was with two friends who were watching the race at the finish line, not far from campus. One of the friends, also a graduate student at the university, was injured and is at Boston Medical Center in stable condition.

A team led by Deputy Consul General Ruiming Zhong was in Boston to investigate and assist relatives of the victims, a statement from the consulate said.

THE RICHARDS: A FAMILY INJURED, IN MOURNING

Neighbors and friends remembered 8-year-old bombing victim Martin Richard as a vivacious boy who loved to run, climb and play sports like soccer, basketball and baseball.

The boy’s father, Bill Richard, released a statement thanking family, friends and strangers for their support following his son’s death Monday. Richard’s wife, Denise, and the couple’s 6-year-old daughter, Jane, also suffered significant injuries in the blasts.

The family was watching Monday’s race and had gone to get ice cream before returning to the area near the finish line before the blasts.

Denise Richard works as a librarian at the Neighborhood House Charter School, where Martin was a third-grader and Jane attends first grade. Counselors were being made available to staff and students.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/5If35oATwYg/

Articles of Interest

Krystle Campbell, Boston Marathon Bomb Victim, Hailed As Loving, Loyal

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

WASHINGTON — Krystle Campbell, 29, was the second person killed in Monday’s Boston Marathon bombing to be identified. Campbell had gone to Copley Square to watch the race finish. She was standing along Boylston Street when the bombs went off, killing her and injuring a friend.

Patty Campbell, Krystle’s mother, read a tearful statement on Tuesday afternoon, standing in front of her house in Medford, Mass. “Krystle Marie, she was a wonderful person,” Patty Campbell said. “Everybody that knew her loved her. She loved her dogs. … She had a heart of gold. She was always smiling. You couldn’t ask for a better daughter. I can’t believe this has happened. She was such a hard worker at everything she did. This doesn’t make any sense.”

More than 170 were wounded in the attack, some still in critical condition. Along with Campbell, 8-year-old Martin Richard, and a Boston University graduate student whose name has not been made public died in the blasts.

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From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/krystle-campbell-boston-marathon-victim_n_3096010.html

News, Politics, Government

Hundreds gather for vigils in Boston as runners across nation offer tributes

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Hundreds of people gathered for vigils in Boston Tuesday night to remember the victims and show solidarity with those hurt in the bombing attack on the city’s marathon.

MyFoxBoston.com reports that several hundred people turned out on the Boston Commonand wrote messages of peace and love on a large sign declaring, “Boston, you’re our home.”

Participants sang songs including “Amazing Grace” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” and lit candles one day after three people were killed and more than 170 people were injured in the bombings near the end of the race on Monday.

Northeastern University student Scott Turner hugged friends, wept and prayed at the vigil. He said the people of Boston would not be afraid and would respond by showing peace and supporting one another.

There was also a heavy military presence on the Common with dozens of National Guard troops.

Hundreds also turned out for a vigil for the family of Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who was killed in one of the explosions at the end of the marathon as he cheered runners completing the race, according to MyFoxBoston.com.

Meanwhile, distance runners all over the country banded together Tuesday by putting on their shoes and going for a jog to honor the victims and deal with their own emotions.

The Twitter hashtag “runforboston” turned into a virtual meeting spot for a steady, somber stream of social media users eager to show solidarity with those hurt in the blasts — along with pride in their sport — by pounding the pavement, even for just a few miles.

Some Boston College students used Facebook to plan a walk of the marathon’s last five miles Friday afternoon “to stand united” with runners who didn’t finish, bystanders who were injured and those who lost their lives.

“We will walk to show that we decide when our marathon ends,” the invitation read. As of mid-afternoon on Tuesday, more than 12,000 people clicked on “join” to signal their participation.

Mike Ewoldt, the co-owner of a running equipment store based in Omaha, Neb., had previously organized an informal run for Tuesday evening to test a new shoe brand. He shifted gears to turn the event into a memorial for the victims.

“Everybody looks at Boston as the pinnacle of running. First, you have to qualify and meet a standard to get to Boston. If you qualify, you have two years to run it. It is a one-time shot for a lot of them. They may never get this opportunity again,” Ewoldt said.

Ewoldt, like many in the massive community that is distance running, wanted to show he cared.

No other sport is so available to the public, with a good pair of shoes and a positive attitude all that’s needed to take part. Though the elites from Ethiopia and Kenya compete for big money in the most famous of the marathons, clicking off 5-minute miles, average athletes of all ages, backgrounds and sizes are behind them on the course running the very same race.

Then there are the tens of thousands of family members and friends who pack

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/1NTrhJKyE7E/

News, Politics, Government

Restaurant manager, 8-year-old among bomb victims

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Third-grader Martin Richard had just gotten ice cream and was near the Boston Marathon finish line, eagerly watching for friends to run by. Krystle Campbell was enjoying the race with her best friend, hoping to get a photo of the other woman’s boyfriend after he conquered the last mile.

Then the unthinkable struck. The spirited 8-year-old with a wide grin who dressed up one Halloween as Woody from “Toy Story” was dead, along with the outgoing 29-year-old woman and a Boston University graduate student — victims of twin blasts that turned a scene of celebration into chaos.

Some 180 others suffered injuries that included severed limbs, shrapnel wounds and abdominal lacerations.

Jeff Bauman Jr., a man pictured in an Associated Press photo being rushed from the scene Monday in a wheelchair, lost both legs. Rescuers took the 27-year-old to Boston Medical Center, where doctors had to amputate because of extensive vascular and bone damage.

“Unfortunately my son was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” his father, Jeff Bauman Sr., wrote in a Facebook post.

The younger Bauman, who had been at the race to cheer on his girlfriend, had to have further surgery because of fluid in his abdomen.

“I just can’t explain what’s wrong with people today, to do this to people,” the father wrote of the darkness that stained the race on Patriots’ Day. “I’m really starting to lose faith in our country.”

While mourning the dead Tuesday, friends and neighbors tried to focus on positive memories of cherished ones whose deaths still seemed unreal to them.

“I just can’t get a handle on it,” said Jack Cunningham, a longtime friend of little Martin and his family. “In an instant, life changes.”

Cunningham recalled how, as a pint-sized preschooler, the boy had insisted on getting out of his stroller during a 5K race in South Boston. As soon as his mom let him out to run with the rest of the family, Martin took off along the rainy race course.

“He was just having a ball, splashing in every puddle,” Cunningham said.

The boy’s father, Bill Richard, released a statement thanking

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/iXP1SAWFbqw/

News, Politics, Government

Boston U.: Grad student killed in marathon attack

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Boston University says a graduate student at the school was one of the three people killed in the bombings at the Boston Marathon.

In a statement late Tuesday afternoon, the school said it was not releasing the name or any other information about the student, pending permission from the family.

The statement says the student was with two friends who were watching the race at the finish line, not far from the university’s campus. One of the friends, also a grad student at the university, was injured and is at Boston Medical Center in stable condition.

The two other victims who died have been identified as 8-year-old Martin Richard, of Boston, and 29-year-old Krystle Campbell, of Medford.

More than 170 people were injured.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/5ZjRkuYIXSg/

News, Politics, Government

A look at the bombing at the Boston Marathon

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An explosion at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday killed three people and injured dozens more. An at-a-glance look at the facts in the case:

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THE EXPLOSIONS

Two bombs exploded about 10 seconds and 100 yards apart at about 2:50 p.m. Monday in Boston’s Copley Square, near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Three people were killed, including an 8-year-old boy, and more than 170 were injured. The explosions occurred four hours into the race and two hours after the winners had crossed the finish line, but thousands of runners were still on the course.

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THE INVESTIGATION

The two bombs were fashioned out of 6-liter kitchen pressure cookers, packed with shrapnel and explosives, and hidden in black duffel bags left on the ground, according to a person briefed on the case who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. No arrests had been made, and police and federal agents renewed appeals for any video, audio and photos taken by marathon spectators.

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THE VICTIMS

The 8-year-old boy killed in the bombings, Martin Richard, was remembered by friends and neighbors as a vivacious boy who loved to run, climb and play sports. Also killed was Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager from Medford, Mass., whose father, William Campbell, said she gone with a friend to watch the race.

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PRESIDENTIAL RESPONSE

President Barack Obama said that the bombings were an act of terrorism but that investigators do not know whether they were carried out by an international organization, a domestic group or a “malevolent individual.” He said: “The American people refuse to be terrorized.”

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SECURITY RESPONSE

The area around Copley Square remained closed Tuesday, and security was tight around Boston, with bomb-sniffing dogs checking Amtrak passengers’ luggage at South Station and transit police patrolling with rifles.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/ypUugl5EkHc/

News, Politics, Government

Second victim killed at Boston Marathon identified, at race to cheer friend

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A 29-year-old restaurant manager has been identified as one of three people killed in the bombing at the Boston Marathon.

Her father says Krystle Campbell, of Medford, Mass., had gone with her best friend to take a picture of the friend’s boyfriend crossing the finish line on Monday afternoon.

William Campbell says his daughter, who worked at Jimmy’s Steakhouse in nearby Arlington, was “very caring, very loving person, and was daddy’s little girl.” He says the loss has devastated the family.

He says the friend was seriously injured in the explosion.

An 8-year-old, Martin Richard of Boston, also died. He was at the finish line watching the race with his family.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/YEQkNQunk0o/

News, Politics, Government

Boston attacks are reminder of violence elsewhere

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The blasts that struck the Boston Marathon on Monday were shocking not only for their brazenness and the lives they shattered, but also because attacks like this usually happen in far-off, troubled places — not in the middle of a major American city.

As the chief of emergency services at Massachusetts General Hospital, Alasdair Conn, put it: “This is what we expect from war.”

Many who live in countries such as Iraq and Syria where violence remains troublingly common had mixed reactions to the bombings. While they were sorry to hear about the attacks, some expressed dismay that the assaults they face on a regular basis get less attention.

“Nobody cared about the dozens of victims who fell yesterday in Iraq and Syria,” said Hazim Khazim, a teacher who lost a cousin in a bombing in Baghdad on Monday, in a reaction typical of many in the region.

Internet cafe owner Hassan Sabeeh in Baghdad was more understanding.

“The Iraqi people can feel, more than anybody else in the world, the misery of the Boston victims and their families,” he said. “We sympathize and feel their suffering.”

Authorities in the United States are urgently searching for clues into the bombing in Boston that killed three, including 8-year-old Martin Richard. More than 170 people were wounded.

Here is a look at some other countries that have faced violent attacks of their own in recent days:

SYRIA

Syrian warplanes swooped over the quiet town of Saraqeb in the country’s north Saturday, dropping bombs on a residential district. The blasts shattered storefronts, set cars ablaze and sent huge plumes of smoke into the sky. Rubble and twisted metal littered the street after the airstrikes, which left 20 dead. Harrowing images like those have become routine for those watching the Syrian civil war unfold. Activists say an average of 120 people get killed daily in violence and clashes across the country.

“In Syria, it’s not Boston every day, but many times per day,” posted Jean Pierre Duthion, a French expatriate in Damascus who has Tweeted the war.

IRAQ

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/tWpDFv2M9Oo/

News, Politics, Government

Boy, 8, killed in Boston Marathon attack reportedly had an ice cream seconds before blast

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An 8-year-old boy who just had an ice cream was killed Tuesday in one of the explosions at the end of the Boston Marathon as he joined his family in cheering runners completing the 26.2-mile race.

Martin Richard, the boy, was with his father, mother and 6-year-old sister near the grandstand when one of the explosions occurred. The mother and sister were both critically injured in the blast. Martin’s mother underwent brain surgery Monday night and his sister, 6, lost a leg in the blast, WHDH.com reported. The status of his father, William, has not been released publicly.

The family had gone to get ice cream, then returned to the area near the finish line. Neighbor Jack Cunningham said Martin’s father was a runner but had been injured and didn’t run the marathon.

“They were looking in the crowd as the runners were coming to see if they could identify some of their friends when the bomb hit,” Lynch said. He described the family as very strong and said they were doing better than might be expected.

The children’s father is the director of a local community group. The mother works at the Neighborhood House Charter School, where her children attend classes, MyFoxBoston.com reported.

A candle was burning on the stoop of the family’s home in the city’s Dorchester section Tuesday, and the word ‘Peace’ was written in chalk on the front walkway.

At least nine children were among the injured, according to law enforcement officials. Hospitals reported at least 176 people injured, at least 17 of them critically. At least eight children were being treated at hospitals.

On Tuesday morning, candle burned on the stoop of the family’s single-family home in the city’s Dorchester section, and “peace” was written in chalk on the front walkway. A child’s bicycle helmet lay overturned on the front lawn.

“What a gift. To know him was to love him,” said longtime friend Judy Tuttle, who remembered sitting at the dining room table having tea with Denise Richard while Martin did his homework. “He had that million-dollar smile and you never knew what was going to come out of him. Denise is the most spectacular mother that you’ve ever met and Bill is a pillar of the community. It doesn’t get any better than these people.”

Neighbor Jane Sherman said Martin was a typical 8-year-old who loved to ride his bike and play baseball, according to The Boston Channel.

“There are no words to describe how they are feeling … we are feeling,” Sherman said, adding that the Richards are a close-knit family.

Neighbor Betty Delorey, 80, said Martin loved to climb the neighborhood trees and hop the fence outside his home.

“I can just remember his mother calling him, `Martin!’ if he was doing something wrong,” she said. “Just a vivacious little kid.”

Delorey had a photo showing Martin dressed as the character Woody from the Toy Story films, wearing a cowboy hat, a sheriff’s badge, jeans and a big smile. His sister, Jane, was at his right dressed as Woody’s friend, Jesse. Their older brother,

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/QvSgRnVQzM4/