Kendall Meehan

March 31, 2016

CJM347

Case Study Assignment #2

Events leading up to Boston Marathon Bombings

The Boston Marathon Bombings took place on April 15, 2013 but Tsarnaev had already been

making marks in 2011 and early 2012. Russian security services gave information to the FBI

informing them that Tamerlan is a follower of radical Islam. FBI officials conducted an

investigation but it was closed after finding nothing to connect him to any sort of terrorism. Also,

in January 2012, Tamerlan traveled back to Russia and spent his time in the Muslim provinces

of, Dagestan and Chechnya. Officials of those provinces say that he applied for a new passport

but he never picked it up. Tamerlan had reportedly arrived in the U.S just a few weeks later.

After a few months after arriving into the U.S, in November of 2012, Islamic Society of Boston

Cultural Center in Cambridge says Tamerlan has an outburst that interrupts a sermon about it

being acceptable for Muslims to celebrate American holidays.(Fox news). In January of 213,

The Islamic Society reported that Tamerlan had a second outburst at another local sermon.

Four months later, on April 15, 2013: Bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon

Role of ISIS in the bombings

The role ISIS took part in the Boston Marathon Bombings in a few ways. The brothers both

worshipped at the same mosque located in Cambridge Mass, known as, the Islamic Society of

Boston. Leaders of that mosque denied that their actions were not coming from the ideas and

practices of the mosque, but acting on their own. After further investigation, it was found that

many worshippers at this same mosque had traces back to ISIS. For example, Abdurahman

Alamoudi, the mosques founder and first president, who in 2004 was sentenced to 23 years in
prison for plotting terrorism. In 2005, the Treasury Department issued a statement saying

Alamoudi raised money for al Qaeda in the US. (NY Post). There are many more known

worshippers that have their own ties to ISIS so there is no surprise that the Tsarnaev brothers

were also involved after the many years of being a worshipper of that mosque.

History of ISIS

ISIS stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and is an extremist militant group that rules by

Wahhabi/Salafi law. The organizations mission is to establish a caliphate and the Salafi Law for

Muslims to gain power and oppress non-Islamic beliefs and ideas

Emergency Management Response

The Emergency Response to the fatal bombings were known as a great success. Police response

was increasing as a rapid response when there was recorded 2,500 officers from all over New

England and New York to help aid the situation. Many of the officers were not ordered to do so

but came willingly.

The Boston Athletic Association medical system worked endlessly to quickly treat the injured

and transport them to the hospitals as quickly as possible. In their efforts, All of the 60 critically

injured patients taken to hospitals survived. (Boston Globe)

After lessons learned from the marathon bombings, Rene Fielding, the director of the citys

Office of Emergency Management, stated that Boston now operates an emergency command

center on Marathon Day. She also announced that planning will be taken to aid any of the
participants of the marathon in the event of another major disruption on Marathon Day, since

there was no strategy planned on the day of the bombings.

Emergency Response Recommendations

My advice for emergency response recommendations for potential future terrorist attacks is to

just be prepared and have a plan. You can never be prepared for something like that to happen

because you just never know when or where terrorist attacks are going to happen. But since these

attacks are becoming more common it is important to be as prepared as you possibly could be

and to be aware. It is also important to have a plan. For example, the Boston Marathon

Bombings, there was no plan for the event that occurred on Marathon Day but officials learned

from the mistake and have started planning in case of another incident.
 Work cited

Associated Press. "A timeline of events leading up to 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the
legal
aftermath." Fox News. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2016. <http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/15/
timeline-events-leading-up-to-2013-boston-marathon-bombing-and-legal-aftermath.html>.

Sperry, Paul. "Boston bombers' mosque tied to ISIS." New York Post. N.p., 7 Sept. 2014. Web. 1
Apr.
2016. <http://nypost.com/2014/09/07/
jihadi-behind-beheading-videos-linked-to-notorious-us-mosque/>.

MacQuarrie, Brian, and Maria Sacchetti. "Bombing response was great success, but problem
areas cited." Boston Globe. N.p., 3 Apr. 2015. Web. 1 Apr. 2016.
<https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/04/03/
report-public-agency-response-marathon-bombings-expected-released-
today/N7Qu63RQfudsMuvKbaK9AL/
story.html>.