Nation of Laws

This is perhaps the most frightening aspect of the #BundyRanch saga. As Elaine Hurd has so eloquently explained, Cliven Bundy has been threatening our entire way of life with his continued attempts to subvert the rule of law. America is a nation of laws. We are a representative democracy, not a chaotic anarchy.

Since last week, national G-O-TEA astroturf outfits have been jumping into Bunkerville to defend Cliven Bundy's "right" to break the law. And G-O-TEA Culture Warriors from across the nation have rushed in to escalate an already precarious situation. One such G-O-TEA Culture Warrior is Richard Mack.



He was the one who suggested the wannabe #BundyRanch insurrectionists use women as human shields.



He's also known for his rather cozy relationship with white supremacists and extreme right militia groups. He sits on the board of the notorious Oath Keepers. And he's often led the anti-government "Patriot Movement" in its war against any & all efforts at gun violence prevention.

Have the #BundyRanch agitators really thought about what they're advocating? Do they understand the consequences of their endorsement of "Second Amendment Remedies"? If it's OK for them to take up arms to prevent the enforcement of the law, then was it OK for Anita Hill to shoot her son's boyfriend? Was it OK for Frazier Glenn Miller to open fire on that Jewish community center? Was it OK for the Tsarnaev brothers to blow up the Boston Marathon?



The reality of the #BundyRanch "logic" is that there is no logic there. They're essentially advocating the kind of armed combat that terrorists use. And their rallying cry truly looks to be nothing more than dreams of anarchy.

Again, we're supposed to be a nation of laws. We elect a government to make our society a civilized society. How can anyone claim to "love America" when one refuses to participate in our nation of laws?

Pulling Out All the Stops

Last week, we observed the mounting "tea party" campaign to kill comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) legislation in Congress by invoking the Boston Marathon Attack. Never mind that Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were granted legal asylum, and ultimately citizenship. At the very least, CIR would not have expedited the Tsarnaev brothers' plot. If anything, it may have given law enforcement more tools to prevent this tragedy!

However, that didn't stop Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) from continuing to peddle wildly inaccurate "tea party" conspiracy theories. Yet oddly enough, he also denied he ever went there! Yes, go ahead and see the madness for yourself. This is from today's Senate CIR hearing.

During a hearing on Friday, Grassley argued that “[g]iven the events of this week, it’s important to understand the gaps and loopholes” in the immigration system. “While we don’t yet know the immigration status of people who terrorized the the communities in Massachusetts, when we find out, it will help shed light on the weaknesses of our system.”

And Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) didn't stop there. He continued calling out both the radical & xenophobia fueled opposition to CIR. He also pointed out the nefarious delay tactics opponents are trying to use to kill the bill.



Perhaps Senator Schumer paid close attention to what Ezra Klein wrote this morning.

“I call Washington ‘the city of the perishable,’” Nancy Pelosi once told me. Anything left out on the floor of Congress too long runs the risk of spoiling.

The conservatives massing to stop immigration reform agree with Pelosi. This push for immigration reform, they hope, is perishable. And as long as it doesn’t come for a vote anytime soon, it can spoil — or be spoiled.

So they’re grasping at anything that can delay it. At Friday’s Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Chuck Grassley spent his entire opening statement emphasizing the need for less speed. “Unfortunately, I think that we’re kind of off to a rough start from the standpoint that the majority is rushing to read and analyze the bill,” he said. One unsavory reason he gave for slowing down the bill: “While we don’t yet know the immigration status of people who have terrorized the communities in Massachusetts, when we find out, it will help shed light on the weaknesses of our system.”

Seeing the danger of tying the Boston bombers to the proposal, Sen. Lindsey Graham replied from the Sunday shows. “What happened in Boston and international terrorism I think should urge us to act quicker, not slower,” he said on CNN, arguing that passing the bill would mean strengthening border security and better tracking who is actually here. Sen. Marco Rubio’s office also harshly rebutted Grassley’s comments.

The other advantage of slowing the bill down is that it creates an opening to oppose the law — or at least its progress — without opposing the law itself. It could even allow some senators to have it both ways. A key dynamic to watch as reform grinds on is where Rubio falls on the calls to endlessly lengthen the schedule. If, as conservative opposition mounts, he joins with those who want a slower process, he could help the anti-immigration forces on their key tactical priorities for killing immigration reform even as he publicly supports the bill itself.

Even if the law passes the Senate, it will be mired in the House. “The bill will be immediately sent to the committees, and then either sent back to the Senate with changes, or rewritten in a bicameral conference committee,” reports Robert Costa. “That tweaking process could take months, which is just fine with many Republicans, who’d like the public to have as much time as possible to chew over the controversial elements of Obama’s prized bills. The caucus consensus is: The more time Congress takes to consider a bill, the more time the public has to sour on its components.”

They know this is their best path, and perhaps their only available path, to kill CIR in Congress. Just stretch out the process and find more excuses to delay even further. And then, just hope that the process becomes so toxic that bill can no longer survive.

They have to do this because their arguments have no basis in reality. As mentioned above, the "TERRORISM!!!" panic is completely illogical. And the economic case doesn't make sense, either. Former Commerce Secretary (under President George W. Bush) Carlos Gutierrez recently refuted this.



And this is backed up by actual data. CIR can actually help American born workers along with immigrant workers. And overall, CIR stands to help the American economy build and maintain a competitive advantage. Just watch out when trying to explain this to the "tea party".

But really, they don't care about the (lack of) veracity of their argument. They're now just flinging crap to the walls of Congress and hoping enough sticks to kill the bill. That's why the increasingly infamous Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) just wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Searchlight, Don't Forget It) demanding CIR "address national security concerns". (Never mind that it already does & probably does so in a more effective way than what Rand Paul wants!) So of course, this quickly led to fellow 2016 Presidential Candidate Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), himself a Gang of 8 member (??!!), promising to address "flaws in our immigration system that were exposed by the attack."

And in case this latest outbreak of "tea party" madness isn't enough, expect even more. They're continuing to attack Marco Rubio for even joining the Gang of 8, and they now have these lovely buttons to display their opposition to CIR in a very special way. In addition, RedState.com co-founder and particularly loud "tea party" pundit Erick Erikson declared, "Count me out!" (of the Gang of 8 CIR compromise).

What's so disgustingly funny about this is that the virulent "tea party" opposition to the Gang of 8 CIR bill might lead some to believe their bill is so "wildly & radically progressive". But really, it isn't. In fact, their bill appropriates even more federal funds for even more militarization of the US-Mexico Border while subjecting undocumented immigrants to a 13 year path to citizenship! Oh, and the bill (as is) fails to address the plight of LGBTQ families. That's what led a former Republican Member of Congress to speak out today.

"I know, as the partner of an immigrant how difficult it can be to build a life and protect the system under the current system," he said. "While this is an excellent starting point, I submit to you it is still incomplete. Families like mine are left behind as part of the proposal."

Immigrant and gay rights groups were disappointed last week when the "Gang of 8's" bipartisan immigration bill did not include measures allowing Americans to bring same-sex partners or spouses from abroad on family visas. Because of the Defense Of Marriage Act, now under review by the Supreme Court, the federal government is barred from recognizing gay marriages for immigration purposes, forcing many families into effective exile abroad.

"My partner was born in Panama and came to the United States on a scholarship to pursue [a graduate degree] in special education," [Former Rep. Jim] Kolbe [R-Arizona], who was outed in 1996 after voting in favor of DOMA, said. "He has been a dedicated teacher for almost two decades. He was...was forced to turn to Panama when his visa expired. The separation was painful."

Kolbe and his fiance are planning to marry in DC next month. It just took an incredibly long and expensive visa process to get them there. And as of now, the Gang of 8 bill does nothing to fix this. President Obama has endorsed inclusion of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in CIR legislation, and at least a few Senators have expressed interest in adding UAFA to the Gang of 8 bill as an amendment.

The Gang of 8 bill truly is a compromise. It includes some priorities that progressives care about, along with priorities that conservatives care about. And it addresses a long standing problem that needs to be solved... Well, a decade ago.

But again, even this is just too much for the G-O-TEA. So they're pulling out all the stops to kill the bill. And now, we're left (again) to see which way Senator Dean Heller (R-TEA Curious) is blowing to determine the fate of immigration reform. It may ultimately depend on how much "TEA" Heller decides to drink.

Oh, joy... (/snark)

2nd Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Now IN CUSTODY

Over the course of today, we've been learning more about the main suspects in the Boston Marathon Attack. Now, we can finally say both of them have been captured. One was caught dead... And the other has just been caught alive.

Boston Mayor Tom Menino tweeted “We got him,” along with a photo of the police commissioner speaking to him.

During a long night of violence Thursday into Friday, the brothers killed an MIT police officer, severely wounded another lawman and hurled explosives at police in a car chase and gun battle, authorities said.

The suspects were identified by law enforcement officials and family members as Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, ethnic Chechen brothers who had lived in Dagestan, which neighbors Chechnya in southern Russia. They had been in the U.S. for about a decade, an uncle said, and were believed to be living in Cambridge, Mass.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a 26-year-old who had been known to the FBI as Suspect No. 1 and was seen in surveillance footage of the marathon in a black baseball cap, was killed overnight, officials said. His younger brother, who had been dubbed Suspect No. 2 and was seen wearing a white, backward baseball cap in the images from Monday’s deadly bombing — escaped and was on the run.

Their uncle in Maryland, Ruslan Tsarni, pleaded on live television: “Dzhokhar, if you are alive, turn yourself in and ask for forgiveness.”

And just minutes ago, we saw this.

The capture of Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev triggered an outpouring of seemingly pent-up emotions among residents here who took to cheering, applauding, and clapping as the long blue line of police and troopers left the city they had shut down as they hunted Tsarnaev.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is now in custody. Apparently, the investigation is still very active. But now, one main suspect is in police custody while the other is dead.

We'll continue updating the blog this weekend as more information comes in.

UPDATE: Boston Manhunt Coming to An End?

Over the course of this week, we've occasionally noticed local connections to the Boston Marathon Attack. Today, we found another one. A Reno Gazette Journal reporter has a brother who's trapped in his home as a result of today's lockdown of much of the Boston Metropolitan Area.

[Gary] DeLong and his wife, Susan, are busy with other things but the TV stays on, as it has all day. It’s a captivating story that has caught the world’s attention, and it’s playing out in his back yard. Everything that’s happened over the past few days –the marathon bombing, last night’s carjacking and subsequent shootout with police that claimed the life of the surviving suspect’s brother –occurred within a few miles from DeLong’s Brookline, Mass., home. He attended the marathon Monday but left before the bombs exploded.

The semi-retired emergency room physician said it’s disappointing to realize a single individual can virtually “shut down” such a huge metropolitan area. At the same time, he said it’s encouraging to see so many people cooperating with police requests to shelter in place and thus aid in the manhunt. He’s scheduled to depart for a fishing trip in Florida Saturday, but doesn’t at this point know if leaving Boston will be possible.

The bombing itself, DeLong said, leaves him sad and reflecting on the evil nature of those associated with such an act. It’s a decidedly unwelcome point in history for the city he loves so much.

“It’s horrific,” DeLong said. “From my perspective, it brings out a piece of humanity that shouldn’t exist. There is no place for this kind of senseless violence.”

Boston and several surrounding suburbs have been on lockdown all day. Pretty much the only people who've been outside are law enforcement officers and media reporters. Imagine having to spend an entire Friday at home. That's the fate that many in Massachusetts have had to suffer today.

Yet while much of Greater Boston is on lockdown, we've seen a media feeding frenzy. It's had Salon's Willa Paskin asking why the rush.

The news networks are trying to make sense of everything before they have the information needed to make sense (or the information needed to know it will never make sense). As an NPR reporter put it —and this helps explain why NPR, not as slavishly devoted to the new and fast, has had so much better coverage than TV news —“We are collecting dots. It’s a day to be careful about connecting them.” TV news keeps trying to connect them anyway. It’s against this backdrop of puffed-up insight that all the interviews with the people who knew the two bombing suspects are so gripping. The uncle, the aunt,the kid who smoked a bowl with Dzhokhar and the one who still can’t believe that he did it are all processing what’s going on in human, not news time: You can see them working it through, struggling with it, not providing answers they don’t have. There’s something to that.

As we discussed earlier, the media feeding frenzy has sometimes led to inaccurate reports. And that led to innocent people being hurt by false accusations. We need to be careful not to led prejudice lead us to wrong conclusions.



Many have been wondering why Dzhokar Tsamaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev would commit such a brutal and heinous crime. A cousin recently spoke to The Boston Globe. He offered his experience with his cousins and his thoughts on this week's events.

A picture has begun to emerge of 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev as an aggressive, possibly radicalized immigrant who may have ensnared his younger brother Dzhokhar — described almost universally as a smart and sweet kid — into an act of terror that killed three people and injured more than 170 at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday.

“I used to warn Dzhokhar that Tamaralan was up to no good,” Zaur Tsarnaev, who identified himself as a 26-year-old cousin, said in a phone interview on Friday from Mkhachkala, in the Russian republic of Dagestan. “[Tamaralan] was always getting into trouble. He was never happy, never cheering, never smiling. He used to strike his girlfriend. He hurt her a few times. He was not a nice man. I don’t like to speak about him. He caused problems for my family.”

Zaur Tsarnaev said he most recently expressed his concerns about Tamarlan — the alleged bomber pictured in a dark hat in FBI videos released Thursday — to Dzhokhar when Dzhokar visited last summer. He added that Dzhokhar went to mosque sometimes but he was “never an extremist.”

“Dzhokhar is a sweet boy, innocent. He was always smiling, friendly and happy,” Zaur Tsarnaev said. “I don’t know how he is involved in this.”

This story has become increasingly tragic over the course of this week. But at this point, we still don't know all the facts yet. And we still shouldn't jump to too many conclusions.

At this point, the stay-inside order is finally being lifted for Greater Boston. However, Dzhokar Tsamaev is still at large and wanted. And police still suspect he's somewhere in Massachusetts.

We'll provide more updates on this story this weekend. And we'll do our best not to jump to wrong conclusions.

4:35 UPDATE: Is the second suspect being caught? Here's the latest update from Watertown, MA.

Mutiple networks, including NBC, FOX, and CBS, are reporting that a body is in a boat in Watertown, MA after being shot by police. The identity has not yet been confirmed. FOX News' Shep Smith reported that police searched a woman's backyard after she called to report blood on her shed, leading them to the boat where they engaged in a major firefight.

Right now, Twitter and the cable networks are lighting up over this. The suspect may finally be cornered in Watertown. Some outlets were ready to report him dead, but those reports were quickly retracted.

We don't know yet if he's dead or alive. We're not even 100% sure yet this is the suspect. But so far, it looks like he's being cornered.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Here's a Novel Concept: Don't Blame Any More Victims.

On Wednesday, Ammar Harris had his day in court here in Nevada. He's charged with murder in the Las Vegas Strip shooting and car crash this past Feburary. After weeks of fighting extradition from California, Harris was finally brought back to Nevada to go to trial.

Now remember, Ammar Harris is on trial for murder. Yet in the first week after the shooting, some were quick to point fingers at Kenneth Cherry, one of the VICTIMS in that attack. "Oh, but he was a pimp. He was a gangster. He was asking for it!" We heard excuses for Cherry's untimely death, and it forced his family to step forward to remind everyone that he was a slain victim, not a criminal.

What made this case even more poignant was that it was happening around the time of the one year anniversary of the murder of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. There, George Zimmerman claimed he shot Trayvon Martin dead because he looked "threatening". He was walking home while carrying a bag of Skittles & a bottle of iced tea when Zimmerman shot him dead.

Even though Trayvon Martin was the victim, he posthumously faced allegations of criminal wrongdoing. A Florida police chief even used Trayvon's photo for "target practice". And remember, he was killed for wearing a hoodie while walking home with a bag of Skittles and a bottle of iced tea.

Yesterday, Trayvon Martin's parents sent a special message to the parents of Martin Richard, the 8 year old boy who was killed in the Boston Marathon Attack on Monday. He was watching his father finish the marathon when he was caught in the bomb blast.

The parents of Trayvon Martin, the teen shot and killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in 2012, have sent a message to the family of the 8-year-old boy who was killed in the Boston Marathon explosions.

Martin Richard, 8, was pictured on Facebook holding a peace sign created in response to a lesson by his teacher about the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, which prompted the parents of Trayvon Martin to send a special message to the family of Martin Richard.

The statement released on Tuesday reads as follows:

"Our hearts are broken over the tragedy in Boston yesterday. Our family sends our sincerest condolences to all of those who have been affected by this terrible situation. We especially would like to send a message to the family of eight year old, Martin Richard. We have come to understand that the peace sign that Martin is holding in a photo being circulated throughout the media, was created in response to a lesson by his teacher about the death of our son. From our family to yours', we are praying for you, thinking about you and will remember your son for the rest of our lives."

This moved me to tears when I first read it this morning. Sadly, so did this. After facing a full media swarm descend upon his house, Ruslan Tsarni strongly condemned his nephews for their likely role in the Boston Marathon Attack.



Apparently, I wasn't alone. Joan Walsh was thinking about the same thing. It's the dark underbelly of American culture that always emerges after a tragedy like this one.

Tsarni’s rant wasn’t exactly what law enforcement might have advised: A soothing person giving young Dzhokhar a reason to come out of his hiding place alive,and to cooperate with officials in revealing whether there may be more hidden bombs as well as what his and his late brother Tamerlan’s motives were.

But it was a window on an ancient American story: the anguish of immigrants when one of their own becomes notorious, and shames not only his family, but his entire ethnic group.

“He put a shame on the Tsarni family. He put a shame on the entire Chechen ethnicity,” the uncle raged. “It has nothing to do with Chechnya.” To reporters questions, he answered: “We’re Muslims, we’re ethnic Chechens,” and he went on: “Of course we’re ashamed. They’re children of my brother. Who had little influence of them.” [...]

Tsarni’s anguished press conference (video below) was a live, televised twist on an old American narrative: an immigrant struggling not to have his people defined by the bad behavior of one of the group. Generations of American immigrants not only Americanized their names to seem less foreign; they cringed whenever one of their group “shamed” them with notorious criminal behavior.

Irish Americans ashamed of the poverty, destitution and sometimes notorious behavior of famine Irish refugees in the mid-19th century dropped the “Mc” or the “O” from their names. Even as a second generation Irish Catholic on Long Island in the 1960s and ’70s, I was schooled in not seeming “shanty Irish,” which mainly involved not yelling out the window at friends or my family, not serving food directly from the pot to the table, and keeping my fingernails clean. Our Italian neighbors shuddered at the high-profile Mafia escapades of the era. [...]

The rabid anti-Muslim prejudice in the U.S. since 9/11 provides new reasons for any Muslim who finds a family member accused of a crime. Tsarni expressed solidarity with the families of Boston bombing victims. “We’re sharing them with their grief. I’m ready to just bend in front of them, kneel in front of them, seeking their forgiveness, in the name of the family.”

I'll add that this isn't even limited to immigrants. As mentioned above, the families of Trayvon Martin and Kenneth Cherry have had to clear their names in the media... Despite the fact that they were the victims!

Still, this has allowed the "tea party" to throw a giant, xenophobic monkey wrench into the pursuit of comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) in Congress. Following Reps. Steve King's (R-Iowa) & Louie Gohmert's (R-Texas) respective nonsensical & unhinged attempts to tie the Boston Attack to the Gang of 8 CIR bill, fellow "tea party" icon Ann Coulter chimed in with another insensitive, nonsensical, and unhinged rant. This has even forced Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) to beg his fellow Republicans not to engage in any more mindless speculation that only results in more xenophobia and more trouble. Unfortunately for Rubio, his request seems to be falling on deaf ears.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) raised the topic early in the hearing, which was supposed to feature Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano before she was forced to cancel her appearance due to the ongoing response to the attack.

"Given the events of this week, it’s important for us to understand the gaps and loopholes in our immigration system," Grassley said, according to the Huffington Post. "While we don’t yet know the immigration status of the people who have terrorized the communities in Massachusetts, when we find out, it will help shed light on the weaknesses of our system."

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), one of the sponsors of the immigration bill, said that he will work with DHS on any immigration issues that emerge from the bombing. But he warned that his colleagues should not rush to tie it to reform legislation given the lack of available information.

"I'd like to ask that all of us not jump to conclusions regarding events in Boston or conflate those events with this legislation," Schumer said. "In general, we're a safer country when law enforcement knows who is here, has their fingerprints, photos, etcetera, conducted background checks ... Two days ago, as you may recall, there was widespread erroneous reports of arrests being made. This just emphasizes how important it is to allow the actual facts to come out before jumping to any conclusions."

Actually, we know the two named suspects had been living in America for over a decade. And the one who was shot dead this morning had become a permanent legal resident in 2007. But of course, that won't stop the "tea party" from trying to take advantage of this tragedy and (mis)use it to shoot down comprehensive immigration reform.

And herein lies the problem. We're all too often to react to tragedy with prejudice, and that prejudice only serves to hamper efforts to recover. We saw this earlier in the week as some "internet detectives" and media sensationalists were falsely accusing people of Monday's attack. But now that we know the names of two suspects (and one of them has already sided in a shootout with police), the same media senationalists are already jumping to wrong conclusions again as family members of the suspects have had to issue condemnations to quell any backlash against Muslims and ethnic Chechens.

Certainly, it looks increasingly like these suspects committed a very heinous crime and hurt many innocent people. However, their uncle and aunt are not to blame. Neither are other Chechen Americans living peacefully in this country. And neither are the many Muslim Americans who live peacefully in this country, just like the rest of us.

Yet again, a vicious cycle of bigotry and xenophobia is playing out. We can only hope enough people speak against this nonsense and debunk the madness before it causes any more problems. Haven't we seen enough victims hurt this week?

UPDATE: Manhunt Underway for Boston Marathon Bombing Suspects

Yesterday, we had our first look at the first identified suspects in the Boston Marathon Bombing. Last night, we learned these suspects' names. And then, this happened.

Police on Friday morning surrounded a home in Watertown, Mass., the same suburban Boston community where authorities engaged in a firefight with 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the two suspects in the deadly marathon bombings. The older Tsarnaev was killed in the firefight, while Dzhokhar Tsarnaev remains at large.

And now, two more people have been taken into custody.

Two unidentified people were taken into custody at the Cambridge, Mass., home where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan grew up, but they were not being described as additional suspects. Three dozen FBI agents were ringing the house.

Across the area, as police cars screamed down streets and helicopters hovered overhead, authorities urged the public to stay inside, their doors locked to anyone but a law-enforcement officer.

"There is a massive manhunt under way," Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said. "We are asking people to shelter in place."

The lockdown initially affected more than 300,000 people in Cambridge, Watertown, Newton, Brighton, Allston and Belmont, but by 8 a.m., the entire city of Boston was paralyzed, officials said.

Watertown, where the second suspect was last seen, was the epicenter of the search. Frightened residents were trapped in their homes as convoys of heavily armed officers and troops arrived by the hour.

Harvard University, Boston University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Emerson University were all closed and students were told to stay inside. Boston public schools were shuttered for the day.

The overnight violence began near MIT about five hours after the FBI released surveillance photos of the two men suspected of planting two bombs near the finish line of Monday's Boston Marathon, killing three and wounding 176.

As of now, a huge swath of the Boston metropolitan area has effectively been shut down this morning as residents are being asked to remain inside as the manhunt is underway. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is still at large and wanted. And a third suspect may soon go into custody, as the Amtrak train he boarded has been stopped in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Overnight, MIT police officer Sean Collier was killed in a gun fight with two of the suspects.

Just in the last 24 hours, we've seen major developments in this case. Suspects have been identified, then two were named. And now, one is dead while another is being cornered in the Boston area and another may soon be arrested in Connecticut. It's amazing to see how quickly law enforcement is moving on this case.

However with that being said, there may still be other suspects/accessories to this crime at large. So far, this is still an active investigation. If you have any information that can lead to the capture of any suspects, contact the FBI immediately at this web site, or by calling 1-800-225-5324.

We'll update the blog today as this story continues to develop.

UPDATE on Boston Marathon Attack

Just minutes ago, the FBI released new video and photos of the suspects in Monday's Boston Marathon Attack. Here's what we now have.

FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers said at a Thursday evening press conference that investigators have pinpointed two different suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings who "appeared to be associated."

Relying on video footage, DesLauriers said "suspect one" was donning a dark hat while "suspect two" was wearing a white hat. Suspect two was seen in video footage setting down a backpack at the site of the second explosion, right in front of the Forum restaurant.

And here are photos of the suspects. The FBI is warning civilians NOT to try to apprehend either of these suspects themselves. They are considered to be armed and dangerous. Instead, if you come into contact with either of these suspects and/or have information that can help authorities apprehend these suspects, please visit bostonmarathontips.fbi.gov and/or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Here's what we now know about the suspects, and about Monday's attack.

The images show two men in baseball caps and dark jackets who were seen walking together through the crowd at Monday's iconic race.

One of them set down a backpack at the site of the second blast, minutes before the explosion.

"Somebody out there knows these individuals…though it may be difficult, the nation is counting on those with information to come forward and provide it to us,” Boston FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers said at a Thursday evening briefing.

"We consider them to be armed and extremely dangerous," DesLauriers said of the men. "No one should approach them...If you see these men, contact law enforcement." [...]

Investigators are casting a wide net for clues. The FBI was canvassing hobby stores in the Boston area to determine whether electrical components in the bombs were bought there, NBC News learned.

Forensic work from the blast zone has helped authorities identify major components of the bombs.

They were housed in metal containers — at least one an everyday kitchen pressure cooker — and studded with metal, including fine nails or brads, to make the devices more lethal. A battery pack typically used on toy cars and a circuit board were also recovered.

Again, if you have information that can help authorities catch these suspects, use the contact info above to reach the FBI. Do NOT try to arrest these suspects yourself.

In the past 72 hours, we've seen plenty of false leads and misinformation. It's reassuring to see the FBI step forward with real, credible information. Now, it's just a matter of how long before this leads to an arrest.

La Decisión

Today wasn't supposed to be like this. But with most of the nation's attention still focused on the Boston Marathon tragedy, the US Senate Gang of 8 comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) plan. Yet nonetheless, it's finally been revealed today.

Millions of immigrants living illegally in the United States could earn a chance at citizenship under a sweeping Senate proposal to be released Tuesday that would represent the most ambitious overhaul of the nation's immigration system in three decades.

The highly anticipated proposal from an eight-member bipartisan group also aims to stem the flow of undocumented immigrants into the country by creating tens of thousands of new visas for foreign workers in low-skilled jobs, according to a 17-page summary of the bill obtained by The Washington Post.

In addition, billions of dollars would be invested in new border-control measures, including surveillance drones, security fencing and 3,500 additional federal agents charged with apprehending people attempting to enter illegally from Mexico.

Steve Benen lists more details of the Gang of 8 CIR bill, so let's quickly summarize here what's in it. Basically, most undocumented immigrants will be subjected to a 13 year path to citizenship. Meanwhile, a border security goal will be set to achieve "90% effectiveness" in securing the US-Mexico Border. In the mean time, DREAMers will only face a 5 year path to citizenship while the H-1B work visa program is expanded and a guest worker program is created. That's basically the gist of the Gang of 8 CIR plan.

While the hubbub surrounding today's big reveal has been fairly subdued, civil rights advocates at Voto Latino still held a press conference minutes ago with several House Democrats to speak on this latest CIR development. Nevada's own Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas) was among the Members of Congress speaking at this event.



So far, most progressives are sounding at least cautiously optimistic about today's big news. But of course, what everyone is waiting for is reaction from the right. Here's Jamelle Bouie to explain the complicated CIR politics for conservatives.

What ties all of this [Gang of 8 CIR bill] together are a series of border security triggers, to assuage Republicans who fear a new wave of illegal immigration. The first requires the Department of Homeland Security to establish strategies for border security before any unauthorized immigrant can be given "Registered Provisional" status. The second, then, keeps those with said status from becoming eligible for "Lawful Permanent Resident" status until DHS and the Comptroller General can confirm that an employment verification system has been implemented and new border security measures are in place.

There is also a requirement for the federal government to create -- within ten years --an electronic system for checking foreigners as they enter and leave the country through airports and seaports. Overall, these triggers would require DHS to spend $5.5 billion over ten years to enhance enforcement and further extend fencing along the border with Mexico.

All of this should satisfy the various demands and concerns made by Republicans over the last several months. More to the point, it fits broadly with what Republican voters want.

According to a newly released poll from the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution, 62 percent of Republicans support a path to citizenship if it includes specific requirements like paying back taxes, learning English and passing a background check.

In other words, most Republican lawmakers have no real reason to oppose this based on what they've outlined as their concerns. Which is to say that, with this immigration bill, we'll see if Republicans are actually interested in governing, or if they're still completely invested in an approach of constant opposition to anything proposed or supported by President Obama and the Democratic Party.

If only it actually worked that way. Already, "tea party" darling, US Senate candidate, and current Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has not just announced his (expected) opposition to this CIR deal, but he even tried to tie that to yesterday's tragedy in Boston by claiming that the Boston Marathon Bombing "proves" that "national security should be the focus and a path to citizenship should be put on hold". What?! We don't know yet who did this and why, but most likely yesterday's explosions had nothing to do with CIR. But of course, that won't stop "tea party" radicals from drumming up xenophobic reactions to yesterday's tragedy in hopes of killing CIR.

Now, we must wait to see how other Republicans react to the Gang of 8 plan. Will they embrace the proposal offered by top Republican leaders like Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida)? Or will they follow Steve King and the rest of the "tea party" down the rabbit hole of xenophobia powered excuses for further inaction?

The choice is theirs. And once again, whatever Senator Dean Heller (R-46%) decides will be critical to the future of this comprehensive immigration reform legislation. So what will he do? And who will he listen to?

Update on Boston Marathon Bombing

Yesterday, Boston Globe sports reporter Steve Silva was covering the Boston Marathon. He wasn't expecting to cover this story.



And today, this story continues to develop. According to the Boston Police Commissioner's latest count, 176 people were injured yesterday, 17 are currently in critical condition, and 3 have died. Meanwhile, investigations into yesterday's bombing are still underway.

No arrests have been made, no suspects have been named, and officials did not disclose any possible motive for the attack.

“This remains a very active investigation,” Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, told reporters.

DesLauriers said the investigation was taking place at various locations throughout the Boston and greater Eastern Massachusetts area, with authorities interviewing various witnesses and following up on a “variety” of leads. Officials have received “voluminous tips” from the public since the incident, DesLauriers said.

Gene Marquez, special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Boston division, said his agency had approximately 30 forensic specialists at and around the crime scene. He urged anyone with photographic of video evidence of the attack or the surrounding area to contact the FBI’s hotline.

Law enforcement agencies are still investigating the cause of yesterday's explosions. Hospitals are still treating the injured. And witnesses to what happened are still trying to make sense of yesterday's horrific event.

The White House issued a statement Monday saying the government “will increase security around the United States as necessary,” and Reno-Tahoe International Airport spokesman Brian Kulpin said airport personnel were on a “heightened state of vigilance.”

Eight Massachusetts hospitals reported treating at least 124 people. Of those, at least 15 were in critical condition Monday evening.

The injuries ranged from cuts and bruises to amputations. Many victims suffered lower leg injuries and shrapnel wounds. Some suffered ruptured eardrums.

Brandon Reiff, 31, of Reno, had just completed his second Boston Marathon on Monday and was about to enjoy a meal with friends a quarter mile from the finish line when he heard “two big booms like thunder” and saw faces of “pure terror.”

After hearing the explosion, “I looked over my shoulder and saw a wall of people running,” said Reiff, a geologist with Broadbent and Associates in Reno. “I thought there was some guy with a gun shooting bombs in the mall. I tried to get outside and saw clouds of smoke. People trying to make heads and tails of what is going on.”

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We'll post more updates today as this story continues to develop. There is still more work for law enforcement to do in figuring out what happened. And yesterday's victims still have a long road ahead of them in recovering.

Update on the Boston Marathon Attack

For 85 Nevadans, today was a day to remember. And today turned out to be quite the day to remember. Unfortunately for them, it was for all the wrong reasons.

[Tiffanie] Gaspar ran in her first Boston Marathon, finishing in 3:45.43. But about 25 to 30 minutes after she completed the 26.2-mile course, while she was cooling down in the family waiting area, Gaspar heard the booms.

“It was two explosions, unusual sounds,” Gaspar said in a telephone interview from her Boston hotel. “I thought, ‘Oh, it’s Patriots' Day. Maybe it’s fireworks from the Red Sox game.” [...]

Jerry Slater, 46, Henderson, a civil engineer and partner at the Slater Hanifan Group in Las Vegas, said he had finished the race about 45 minutes earlier and was showering in his room at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel when “I definitely heard the explosions go off.”

At 5:30 p.m. Boston time, Slater said the hotel was still on lockdown. Outside the hotel, which is just across the way from where the explosions took place, dozens of police, firefighters and other emergency workers were still swarming.

“I feel safe, but then I keep watching the news and seeing these reports of other devices being found,” he said.

In all, about 40 runners from the Las Vegas Valley were among the nearly 27,000 participants in Monday’s Boston Marathon. It was not immediately known whether any of them were injured in the twin blasts that took place about 100 yards apart from each other.

In his brief remarks earlier, President Obama offered his condolences to the victims of today's bombing. However, he was hesitant to assign any blame He even shied away from declaring this an act of terrorism... Yet.



However just minutes after the President spoke, a White House official said today's incident was being treated as terrorism.

"We still do not know who did this or why and people should not jump to conclusions before we have all the facts. But, make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this," [President Obama] said. "Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups, will feel the full weight of justice."

Though the president understandably did not use the word "terrorism," since the motivations behind the explosions are still unclear, a White House official told NBC news, "Any event with multiple explosive devices -- as this appears to be -- is clearly an act of terror, and will be approached as an act of terror. However, we don't yet know who carried out this attack, and a thorough investigation will have to determine whether it was planned and carried out by a terrorist group, foreign or domestic."

We can't jump to any conclusions now. We still don't know who did this. And we certainly don't know why. But at this point, it's increasingly feeling like terrorism.

We'll probably experience heightened security across the nation this week. Don't be surprised if/when you see more Metro presence on The Strip. There may even be more security in other parts of the valley.

In the coming days, we'll likely reflect on the increasing "normalcy" of running into terrorism, the growing footprint of "The National Security State", possible causes of today's horrific carnage, and other ways in which today's tragedy affects Southern Nevada. But tonight, our hearts go out to all the victims. We hope survivors and their families have the chance to heal. And hopefully, Boston will emerge stronger after today.

Boston Marathon Bombing

Just as I was heading home today, this happened. I'm still in shock.

A series of bombs exploded near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday, leaving two people dead and more than two dozen injured, according to the Boston Police Department. A third explosion was heard just before 4 p.m., about an hour after the first two blasts. The police were apparently aware of that device before the explosion occurred. [...]

The first blasts took place about four hours after the start of the men's race, which meant that there were still several thousand runners yet to finish the course. Several news outlets reported that a loud explosion was heard on the north side of Boylston Street, near a photo bridge that marks the finish line. Another explosion was heard shortly afterward.

The Boston police confirmed at a late afternoon news conference that they were investigating the explosions. A senior United States government official said that the Boston police and the F.B.I. had received no reports in recent days about a threatened attack on the marathon and that there was no warning on Monday.

The Boston Globe is running a liveblog on its main page with the latest updates on what's happening there. So far, over 100 people have been treated in Boston hospitals as a result of the Boston Marathon Bombing. Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies are investigating this incident. And security has been heightened there, in New York, in Washington, in Los Angeles, in San Francisco, and elsewhere.



We'll update the blog here as soon as we know more on what happened today and what happens next.