It's Nights with Dan Ray.
I'm doell you easy Boston's new video. All right, welcome back everyone. Well where were you twelve years ago tonight? I know exactly where I was twelve years ago tonight. It would have been the night of April fifteenth, two thy and thirteen. That was the day of the Boston Marathon bombing. And I remember that night very clearly being on the air, and I even remember more clearly four nights later when the wild chase down Memorial Drive into
Watertown occurred. But let's just go back to the bombing. And it's amazing to think that twelve years have passed, always stunned by the passage of time. And once again we need to remember and recall those who died, those who were killed, and those who were injured, who did nothing wrong that day. All they did was go to either run a race or watch the finish of a race.
And you know, before I take your phone calls about your memory from that day in that week, I just want to again, you know, mention the names of Martin Richard, who was at the little eight year old boy from Dorchester, Lindsay lou the graduate student at Boston University, twenty three years of age. You think of it, you know, Martin Richard would be twenty today, he'd be a young man,
probably finishing up his college, his time in college. Lindsay Lou who knows where she would be thirty five and could be you know, who knows where her career path would have taken her. Crystal Campbell was twenty nine, she grew up in Medford, was from Medford, and she would be forty one. And of course it was four days later when Mit Police officer Sean Collier was assassinated by these animals, the Boston bombers. He was twenty seven, so he would be now thirty nine years of age if
he had survived. And then a Boston police officer, Dennis DJ Simons died a year later from injuries sustained during the manhunt for the bombers, and there were the appropriate services today memorializing this event. There was the one hundred and seventeenth running of the Boston Marathon in twenty and thirteen. It certainly brought our city together like it's never been brought together before. Boston strong and all that. The they were, they were upwards of I don't know how many hundreds
of people injured. I've seen one statistic that says five hundred were injured. Obviously, five lost their lives, a dozen at least lost limbs in these two explosions, which were crimes against humanity is what they were. They were. They were labeled terrorism, and there was plenty of evidence why
it was terrorism. And one of the bombers, Uh, the older brother, he was killed during a shootout in Watertown four nights later, and and then his younger brother actually drove over him, I believe, and as he was trying to escape and he was he wasn't found until the next morning. I think it was well, it was, it was. It was later that night found in the in the boat in the backyard in Watertown. But it was a
horrific time in Boston that week. Mayor Menino, Police Commissioner Ed Davis, they they were extraordinary in their leadership of the city. There was so much about this. I don't want to revisit my my experiences. I'd like to know your experiences. I do remember even more vividly, I guess. Four nights later, it was Thursday night after President Obama had spoken in Boston at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, and I was in the old studios at WBZ on
soldiers Field Road. Little did I think twelve years later COVID would have basically compel me to do my shows remotely. For now, it's been five years, but not five years. No, might say four years, two thousand and one to three, two thousand and one, two thousand and two, three, four or five five years. I've done five years of remote
remote broadcasts. But I remember the night on Thursday night that around I guess it was maybe ten o'clock or so, there was there was a story about a police officer who had been wounded on the campus of MIT, and the first reports were that he had been shot in the hand. And I never connected it with the Marathon bombers, but at that point Sean Collier was probably dead, uh, And I remembered that we had remembered the the shelter in place order for Friday.
Yeah.
Yeah. The brother wasn't caught until the next day, well into the next day when he was caught in Watertown. But that Friday night, I was going to pick my daughter up at Harvard. She had some sort of a doctor's appointment the next day, and I picked her up and this now was after midnight, and as I picked her up, I knew that there was a police chase going on down Memorial Drive, and that was the police chase in which they was going to terminate in Watertown.
I remember my daughter jumped in the car. She had on her cell phone, she had a police scanner, and she said, let's follow, let's follow the police chase. And I said, are you crazy. You know, we're only going to get in the way. And so I just we went home. And then Friday, people sheltered in place on Friday morning. No one knew where this other madman was. He's now been convicted and is awaiting the death penalty out in Colorado. President Biden had suspended the death penalty.
Donald Trump said the death penalty will be reinstated. I can't think of any any individual more deserving of a federal death penalty than Boston bomber number two. So what I'd like to do is just spend a little bit
of time here. If you were a friend of someone who who was killed, who were killed, of any of the people who were killed, and you'd like to talk about them, fine, if you'd like to talk about what your experience was the day of the bombing, or maybe as I just talked about my experience the night that they were well, that one was killed and the other took shelter inside of a boat and actually scrawled inside the boat and basically admitted with he wrote in with
his I guess his blood inside the boat, what they were doing, and why they did it. I just think it's important not to forget these things. You know, in the normal course of a year, none of us probably give it a second thought unless we're a family member of someone who was killed. So this is an opportunity just to rekindle that spirit, if you will. Boston Strong, which sounded very much like a slogan at the time, but I wish that slogan came back. I don't feel
like it's Boston Strong anymore. I feel like, yeah, we're Boston and all of that, and we're approaching the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Revolution, and there will be of the American Revolution, the beginning of the American Revolution, the Battle of Lexington Concert and all of that. But I don't feel there's We're such a divided country, and
obviously it's politics that divides us. I get it, but maybe for the balance of this hour, we could just talk as fellow Americans and celebrate what we have and celebrate what some successfully we stopped people from taking away from us. We celebrate our police officers, our firefighters are EMTs uh and and the leadership that we had the late Great Tominino and former Boston Police Commissioner At Davis.
Sometimes the right people are in the right place for all the right reasons, and I think that's what happened on April fifteenth, twenty and thirteen. I don't want to be somber about this, but I want to be respectful. So we'll open up the phone line six one seven, four ten thirty, six nine, three, ten thirty. This is an event, just like nine to eleven, we can never forget. We can never forget from nine to eleven to twenty thirteen.
That's twelve years now, twelve years later, where we're remembering as we move into this weekend, not only the two HU fifty, the anniversary of the start of the Revolutionary War, but we're remembering another attack upon our freedom, our way of life, our democracy, and we need, we need to understand how lucky we are to be living here at this time and to have been born into this country. I'll be back on nightside and we'll get as many phone calls if you want to go a couple of
hours we can. Let's get it going right after this.
You're on night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
All right, let's grow. Let's go to Mark and Austin. Mark's going to start us off. Hey Mark, how are you tonight?
Dan? My friends, thanks for taking my call. I have very specific memories of what happened that gosh awful day.
Go right ahead.
Yeah, Well, at that time, I was working part time eight am to one pm shift at the supermarket in Austin, very good employer, and I rushed home a little bit to see I guess there were some very high, top rated American contenders in the marathon. And I turned on the TV, and my god, it was a horror show. And the thing about law enforcement is that I remember that the FBI was pouring in every possible resource into
the city. But I knew the city a lot better, having lived here most of my life, and I had a theory as to how the total jerks had escaped. Like after the bombings, my theory went that they had well escaped through the MBTA to the bus to New York. Turned down, Well, the woman has the eye agent thanked me. When they say every possible bit of information that can be helpful, they mean every possible bit of information. Of course,
my theory turned out to be incorrect. They wandered to Watertown, and we'll have to agree to disagree about the death penalty. But suffice it to say that if you've never been directly involved in the criminal justice system, except I am a survivor of violent crime, and I've never ever in my adult life taken a specific criminal justice class, and just a newspaper.
Man, we're kind of drifting away from the issue at hand, Mark, so you can bring it back to the marathon.
Inevitably, it's a bit traumatic when all of a sudden you get suddenly involved in the criminal justice system.
And it's more traumatic for the people who were adversely impacted by the involvement of these punks and what they did. So we can agree with you so far on that one. Thanks, Mark, appreciate it, as always talked to you.
Soon.
Let me go next to Dan and Brookline. Dan, you were next on Nisager, right, ahead, Hey.
Dan, thanks for taking the call. So I on the I don't know, must have been whenever they identify the name of the bombers, something was sort of eating away at me, Like I recognized the name and I couldn't figure out why. And so after a few hours of hearing the name, I searched for it on my computer, and sure enough, dozens and dozens of documents popped up with that kid's name in it. And it turns out I was his soccer coach when he was in eighth grade.
I was an administrator at the school that him and his sister went to. The sister who became sort of sort of infamous like he did. If you remember, you know the details of that she.
I guess.
Ultimately, the thing that strikes me of all of this is how I knew both of them very well, and you never would have suspected this, And it shows you what radicalization can do to you.
You're talking not about the older brother. I assume you're talking about the younger brother. Younger brother who's a death roger.
I was a soccer coach in eighth grade.
And now they were going to a public school, and I assume Somerville right.
So it was I don't know if I should say the name of the school, but it was a charter school in Cambridge.
Okay, fine, but yeah, came but you don't have to say that, but it's a charter school. Is still a public school?
Oh absolutely, charter public school percent.
So they were small enough to come here, take advantage of free housing, take advantage of all sorts of benefits, take advanta of the liberty that we have in this country, and get into a charter school. I mean, there's a lot of people in this city. Strata schools are all subscribed and it's tough to get in. So you just wonder. And the sister was she was a loose cannon too. I wonder where she ended up, hopefully back in Dagistan.
Yeah, I do remember. The sister wrote a paper about Kazakhstan actually, like the injustices that were going on there, and I don't remember too much about it, but that was sort of the only hint that I ever got that either of them had any kind of exposure to anything.
But the bottom line is that if you knew them like I did, which was pretty well, every day I was in that school, I was an administrator at the school and the soccer coach, and they were just he was super quiet and always had a smile on a face, and she was a little sassy and I kind of liked her. She had a personality. And in a million years, I never would have thought this would have been they
would have gone down this road. But again, what it shows you is the strength of this radicalization that can happen and does happen, you know, and it's frightening.
Well, I got to tell you, I was reading some materials tonight in preparation for the show, and it's it's pretty clear that the brother was a big influence in this kid's life. Yeah, but the kid, you know.
He.
You know, I just it's frustrating to me that he still is amongst the living and that that I don't want it to be made a martyr of But it's twelve years on. I mean, how how much longer is he going to have to be in the criminal justice system? And yeah, and basically, yeah.
He's been convicted and and there's this beyond any shadow of a doubt that he did it.
I have a different I have a difference for it. Yeah. I have a very simple standard, and we discussed this the other night, and I came to uh, you know point where we can do we can agree to disagree. Their guilt inness is beyond a scintilla of doubt. Right, that's the legal standard. There's no question, there's no possible question, and there are horrifically aggravating circumstances, right, and that for me, basically clinches the case. I would be very limited in
the use of the death penalty. I know that there were those like Mark from Alston who were opposed to it, you know, for whatever reason, philosophically, religiously, morally, spiritually, whatever. I can't disagree with those folks. They have a higher standard, I guess than I do. But I would make an exception for this guy. There's a few others out there who are who who I just want to see gone.
And I mean again, ultimately, if the law provides for which it does, and they were convicted, which they were, which she was, and then again what you're saying, you know, there's simply no question that he did it. And so how do you defend not carrying out the sentence? I'm not sure.
Well, there can be no question, you know, beyond a since hill or a doubt. Okay, there's no there's no real question about it. But when you add in the aggravating circumstances, you know, this is not a guy who robs a bank and panics and shoots a police officer. You know, maybe he get he qualifies too, but because it's a police officer, but this is aggriva. He Basically, they bombed innocent civilians, maimed people, killed people. That's the point.
Intentionally, right, yeah, intentionally, and the bomb was designed to cause horrific outcomes.
Right, exactly, exactly exactly, Dan, I love your calls. I wish you call more often. Okay, you are, you're also a voice of reason to thank him a friend.
Thanks Dan, appreciate it.
Good night. Okay, here comes the news. I'll be back on the other side. The only line right now is six one, seven, two, five, four tenth. It's the twelfth anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing. Look. I know you'll be at the beach this summer. I know you'll be football games this fall and you won't even think about this day. But I think tonight we need to give it a little thought. And I'd love to hear your thoughts and your recollection of that day back on night Side.
Right after this, It's Night Side with.
Boston's News Radio.
All right, let's keep rolling here. We're going to go next to Hopefully we won't keep people too long, Keith and Kate down to the Cape. Keith on Cape Card. But it was a nice day down in the Cape today, Keith, I hope. How are you?
Yeah, not bad. I'm just down here on business. I'm from the North Shore originally. But hey, I've got a quick question.
Roy.
You mentioned that you mentioned that President Biden took the death penalty away from this guy, and Trump is going to give a death penalty back to this guy. I was just wondering what the legal mechanism is for the president to have that kind of power. I didn't realize.
It is my understanding that President Biden signed an executive order which removed the death penalty for anyone who was on death row. My view is that if one president can remove it with an executive order, another president can restore it with an executive order.
I never knew that. So all federal death penalty cases are off the table.
Well, death penalty cases were placed off the table for the last few weeks of the Biden administration. I don't know, you know, I don't know if Joe Biden understood what he was doing or you know, there's now all sorts of questions being raised about his competency, his metal competency, particularly in the last couple of years of his term.
But if he indeed did sign, and there's some question about whether or not he signed, they were signed by auto penn irrespective of that, what one president can impose by executive order, another president can reimpose it by say, I.
Just I didn't realize. I didn't realize that he had rolled back federal death penalty cases. Whether he was competent or not, it wasn't really my question.
My question was right right right now. Well, he basically said, as the President of the United States, I am taking away death penalty sentences. I believe that Donald Trump has the authority, and I suspect he will use it. It may end up going up to the courts that he can reimpose those those sentences, or he basically can in effect negate the executive order. It wasn't an act of Congress.
When when the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in the Furman versus Georgia case in nineteen seventy two men and if there were any women on death row nationwide, those that single decision erased the boat, erased, it cleaned because it was a US Supreme Court decision. And then eventually death penalty cases came back and they were fed. I mean Timothy McVeigh was executed, Gary Gilmour was executed.
You remember all of those cases. But again that's when Congress reinstored the death.
Penalty and the history of it for sure.
Y yeah, yeah. So I mean, if one president says I'm doing the executive order, I believe that the subsequent president can if they want, recind the executive order, override.
E get that up, all right, Dan, thanks very much, appreciate it.
Thank you, Keith, appreciate your call. Let's go next to Eileen in Cambridge.
II.
Leen, where were you the day of the marathon bombing.
Well, I was at the airport and I had gotten to the airport.
Early at Logan Airport.
At Logan Airport. It was at Logan Airport I was, I had I was about to take off on a plane to London, England. I was headed to a conference there that I had signed up for many weeks earlier, and I was at the airport and I got a phone call from my son, who was at that time in New York City, and he told me what happened, and I mean, you know, that's how I heard about it.
I didn't hear it over the news or anything. But then, of course I tried to call his brother, who had planned to go to the finish line to watch the You know, I was very very upset you were. I couldn't reach him. I I the phone went dead, and I thought, oh, oh, you know, I was really scared.
How long did it take you to realize that he was okay? Because I know he was okay because we've had prior conversation. How long How long were you in that state of apprehension?
I it must have been at least an hour. And then he called me and he said, I didn't want you to worry, Mom, But I was on I was on a on a Red Line train that that just he was in Cambridge or something, and they went from Cambridge all the way to Quincy Adams, the last stop because they wouldn't they weren't going to stop in the tunnel in Boston because they didn't know what was going on.
Absolutely, you got that situation, take all precaution. Did you get it? Did you? Actually? Then I assume got on your flight and continue on to London. It wasn't like nine to eleven where they shut the airport down.
Well they did shut the airport down, but I was on the very last plane that took off. And then the thing is people say, well, his disguise execution was postponed because the people who on the jury apparently were too close to you know, well, there.
Was some question. I can summarize that for you. I lean pretty quickly. There was some question whether or not the federal judge or tried the case, George O'Toole, who's a really good judge, did an adequate var deer on the jurors in terms of their their knowledge of the case. It wasn't on the decision of guilt or innocence, or guilt or not guilty. It was a decision on the death penalty. And so you know, ense lawyers exhaust every potential appeal. I'm not exactly sure where that is at
this point. I think the US Supreme Court had basically said, uh that the death penalty could be imposed and then Biden subsequent to that lifted the death pay. Matter of fact, I'm I I'd have to go back and check now. He lifted the death penalty in some cases. He did not lift the death penalty on the guy roof who would killed the who killed the black church goers uh in Charleston, South Carolina, And he may not have lifted
the death penalty on Snaia. As a matter of fact, I might be wrong on that, so let me quickly during this break here double check that, because if I'm wrong, I want to correct myself. Go ahead, I just.
I just want to say that I was across the Atlantic in Birmingham, England, and the Boston marathon bombing was the only thing. It was the major story on every news channel. So this was a worldwide disaster that you know, you didn't have to live in this area to know about it. Everybody knew about it. And I ended up coming home early because my poor husband was confined to the house and he was very upset, and I had planned to go sightseeing in London after the conference.
But by the way, I just I need to do this, II Leen, I was incorrect. Biden. There were forty inmates on death row, and he commuted the sentences by executive
order now on thirty seven of those individuals. He did not commute the death the death penalty against Sanayev, against Dylan Roof, who shot and killed nine black church goers in Charleston, South Carolina in twenty fifteen, or against Robert Bowers, he was the guy that killed eleven Jewish worshipers during a mass shooting in twenty eighteen at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. So those three are still eligible.
And I am pretty sure that I stand committed to believe that if President Trump wanted to, he could override Biden's executive order. But at this point Zhanaf is still facing the death penalty, and let's get to it as far as I'm concerned, Okay, I agree with you.
I think we don't need to talk about him anymore.
Just get rid of it.
Thank you for the call and the recollection, and again I apologize I had a brain cramp on that one, and I should have remembered that the president president former President Biden did have three exceptions and those were the exceptions. Thanks Eileen, appreciate you. Paul as will always talk soon. Bye by good night, six one seven, four ten thirty. One line there six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
We'll get back to more phone calls. We got one open line at six one seven, two five four to ten thirty and one at six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. Back on Night's Side after this Night Side with Dan Ray on BZ, Boston's news radio. So it looks to me as if Biden has given commutations. So I thought it was an executive order. This makes it more difficult because the the US Constitution does allow a president broad power to grant reprieve's pardons for offenses
against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. So the thirty seven whom he basically gave commutations on their death penalty, they cannot be executed. However, the Boston bomber, as well as the guy down in South Carolina who killed the black parishioners and the guy that killed the eleven parishioners at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, they are still there, and let's let's do it for all of them, because I think, again no question in
those three cases who they were. Back we go. I've slowed it down a little bit. I apologize. Let's go to Paul and can't and Paul you next do on a night saga? Right ahead?
Yeah, well done, Dan, Auticle one, Section two, the commutation powers right there.
So yeah, I thought that they were I thought that he had that he had there were so many executive orders that but that Trump has has used now. So yeah, I apologize for that. We got it right though, and that's what matters.
No, absolutely, Yeah, it's a it's definitely a very esoteric area. Not everybody specializes that commutations. I'm just here to give a recollection. I had a family member running the marathon that day, and my mom, who's an air Force that was there with my nephews and nieces and was between the two bombs when they went off.
So she was there at the two bombs went off about twelve seconds apart, at two in the afternoon. I mean, the winners had already passed a couple of hours before the finish line. So your mom is there with your her nephew. Is that what you said?
When her grandchildren, my nephews.
And what did what did they do when they heard one bomb go off on the left of them and another go off on the right of them. Oh my god.
Yeah, you know, it was really tough. They were really young, basically between like two and probably eight at that time, and you know, it was that they just saw a bunch of things that you know, you hope kids any kids anywhere should never see, but that you know, when it's your family, the things they saw, it was really difficulty.
They saw the same things that people in war zones saw that that's what.
They Iraq or Belfast or whatever, you know, And and you know, they had there was a lot of residual effect. You know, like Fourth of July they couldn't watch fireworks and things like that because of the noises and reminded them of what happened.
Were they doing now, you know, twelve years later, is getting any easier or no?
Yeah, I mean they were able to interact and everything else. But like the one thing that stood out for me for that day was like, you know, I was working that day and when I heard what happened and I knew where people were, I came flying into the city and I figured everybody was going to be at you know, b I or mess general ceuth phone sales service was out. You couldn't call anybody, you could communicate with anybody, so
you had no idea what was happening. And it didn't really come on until like seven or eight o'clock that night.
So I went to Mass General and I went in and I was kind of sitting in the visitors room outside of the er, and there was a lot of difficult situations there and a lot of people who had a really difficult you know, waiting with either they heard or they thought or you know, people were coming in with and there was triage there at the time, you know, and usually when you go in, it's not you know, you don't see people with a kind of injuries kind
of we saw that day. So it was just the communication blackout combined with you know, when I went in that day, I just thought that, you know, I just picked the hospital, and you know, there's a lot of hospitals in Boston just weren't known for it. But it was a really difficult day.
Was really you really have encapsulated the feeling of the day. I was at home. I was in this house actually, and my then producer called me and said that they thought that it had been something happened. And this was early on at the marathon, and they said it might have been an explosion, and I figured it must have been like some sort of you know, sewer that exploded or something like that. And yeah, the producer said, I think it might be worse. I don't think he knew
at the time, or he would have told me. And I just got on my horse and headed in. And for me, it was like I had to figure out how can I get across the city to get to the station. And I got there and I did my show that night. Paul rather Peter, excuse me, thanks for your call. Exceptional call, and I hope that your nephews and everyone in your family have been able to somehow, you know, get some counseling on this and and never imagine anything like that. Again. Thank you so much, thank you,
Thanks well, Thanks Peter, thank you. Next up is Steven Merrimack, New Hampshire. Steve, go right ahead next on Nightside.
Hey, damn, thanks for taking my call. You know, I just want to say up right up front, I love that Boston Marathon. It's it's what Boston's all about. I absolutely love it to death. So on that particular day, what I recall was at noontime. I said, wow, I'm watching Channel four, and I said, everybody's having a great time. I hope nothing bad happened. That's what I said to myself. Yeah, then I think you said it was two forty nine.
I looked at my clock and said two point fifty, and they all had book was in the bonds and all I.
All, Well, the reason I know was two forty nine was they ring the bells today to commemorate the moment. And I just did a little research before the show, and I didn't realize that it was only twelve seconds between the bombs. I mean, that was a nanosecond twelve seconds.
Every time I go to the marathon, I go to the finish line, I'm right there. I would have been right there where the bombs went off. You know, I didn't go for personal reasons that day, but I always I've gone to one hundredth anniversary. I went every year, and I always, you know, had a great time down there. I absolutely love it to death. You know, my heart goes out. What I always remember about that marathon was Martin Richard, and you know that kid, you know, he did not deserve to get killed.
And his sister also lost a leg, and you know, and I and I think the mom lost an eye. That family was was just.
No more never the sign he yeld up, no more hurting people. Oh, I just want to I want to say that on that issue. You know, I love that marathon and it was the worst thing that could have ever possibly happened. The older brother. Two months before the marathon, he was up here not far from where I'm located on Brown Avenue in Manchester, at the Manchester firing line, you know, shooting. He was actually right here at Manchester,
New Hampshire. So I do remember that. And I also want to mention that the following year, it was a big year twenty fourteen for the marathon. I went down there, that everybody went down there that day.
Yeah, a lot of people went there that day to show, you know, resilience and we were not going to be intimidated. Absolutely.
And remember the MBTA cop that lost all his blood and he had to retire.
Yeah, he was shot. He was shot in the shootout in Watertown. Yes, absolutely.
And then that on the when I went down in twenty fourteen, I was on the orange line and I was right next to him talking to he and his wife there from Hayward. I believe what a nice guy. He was a really nice.
I have a nephew who I have a nephew who's serving on the Harvard Police Department. He was there that night. He was standing next to the BT a officer who was you know, shot and might have been shot by friendly fire. I mean, it's you know, it was it was a wild scene at night, and you know, there was a lot of confusion, and there was that big chase, and it was it was pandemonium.
So it was it was a nightmare. And you know the other thing, you know, I know you've been talking about so and I have, you know, the kid that's a supermaclaw the ground, which you know it doesn't sound very pleasant. But I want to tell you in America that if they ever allowed, you know, the firing squad, you know, put me right up front the volunteer to shoot the gun.
Fair enough, fair enough, I gotta I gotta volunteer to get to the to get to the Element clock news. So Paul, thanks rather Steve, thank you very much. I appreciate you call. Thanks for joining us.
I appreciate good night.
All right, if you'd like to continue to talk about this. Keep these lines going with six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty six one seven nine three one ten thirty back right after the news at the top of the hour