Proud to be a Bostonian – Thoughts on the Capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

It was a tragic week for Bostonians. Perhaps not since the 1919 Molasses Flood or the fear caused in the early 60's by the Boston Strangler has our city been so enveloped by confusion, heartache and primal fear. However, amidst the horror of this past week, a brutal act of terror that took the lives of four Bostonians, one not yet a decade into his life, and injured dozens of others, there is a prevailing sense of pride in how our fair city handled the circumstances. Although terror pervaded as the initial bombings cleared the streets for days, followed by the lock downs once the suspects were on the run, Bostonians can hold their heads high knowing that they didn't give in to the ultimate goal of these evil attacks: panic.

From Watertown to Winchester, Revere to Reading, Boston and the nation watched and waited patiently as we put our faith, and for some, even their lives, in the hands of the Boston Police Department. The actions of BPD in the face of ultimate shock not only met the standards of diligent and ethical service, but went to the very pinnacle of police work. By all accounts, the bombers had no intention of going peacefully, emphasized by their execution of 26 year old MIT Campus Officer Sean Collier, the wounding of 33 year old Transit Police Officer Richard Donahue and the shootouts with police. However, with patience, and what is being seen as a high water mark for anti-terrorism police work, the BPD were able to secure the second suspect, 19 year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Although his brother, 26 year old Tamerlan, was killed, taking Dzhokhar into custody instead of what many of us assumed would happen: a quick death at the hands of our police force, shows a unique and welcome restraint that exemplifies how in the face of such unbridled aggression towards our authorities and city at large, the BPD were still aware that a live capture would open the door for a true positive that can come out of all this chaos: understanding.

By capturing young Dzhokhar alive, the BPD may have given our country a vital resource into fighting what has become the millennial generations' endless battle: the war on terror. With the capture of a subject, one raised primarily in this country and then somehow poisoned into doing violence against his fellow Americans through Islamist influence, we can perhaps aid in the removal of the festering sore of extremism that pervades in Islam both at home, and abroad. Without deploying a single soldier or launching a deadly drone, the capture of Dzhokhar can provide us with something that no battle or assassination ever could: education. By questioning Dzhokhar, trying him in civilian instead of military court, the American public will be informed of just what drove this madman to violence. Perhaps we can glean some shred of understanding as to why a duo of young men decided to move towards the evils of extremism. In our understanding we will also investigate not only the personal, financial and other key sources that were in-concert with these young men, but through this search, have the chance to gain a deeper public knowledge of exactly how extremism takes hold of even those who hail from our midst. If the BPD gave in to what many of us, this writer included, felt during this past week, a sense to exact vigilante justice, nothing short of revenge, on the remaining suspect, we would have lost a singular opportunity to peel back the psychological and physical network of where this terror comes and what feeds it.

The war on terror has been a long and arduous journey that seems to most a series of confusing and complicated conflicts that has done little to aid in the overall safety of our nation and others. At its worst, the war on terror has compromised who we are as a free and loving nation. With the capture of Dzhokhar and his upcoming trial in civilian court, perhaps we are ushering in a new, more patient and exacting kind of battle against Islamic extremists, one based on first educating and understanding our enemy before we engage them in bloody warfare that has at its best, dubious effects.

I don't often issue statements of pride. I feel humility is a better vantage in most circumstances. However, today, as a Bostonian, pride is the only feeling I have for our fair bean. I am proud to be a Bostonian. I am proud our police force worked so wonderfully to capture this suspect. I am proud our community has taken back its streets with fits of joy and thanksgiving. I am proud that we will gather around the injured and the friends and families of the dead and offer them our support for as long as it takes until their internal and external wounds begin the slow process of mending. I am proud that we are perhaps beginning to understand what it truly feels like when terror comes home, and that when it does; I am proud we recognized the proper way to deal with it, the way Boston deals with all its triumphs and struggles alike: wicked pissah.

- Jonathan Pickering

Jonathan Pickering is a freelance writer and teacher in the Boston area. Jon is also a student of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the "war on terror." His blog, a compilation of narratives from veterans and experts examining the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their impacts can be viewed at www.jonathanmpickering.wordpress.com.