Tag: Boston

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Gay officer featured on cover of Sports Illustrated

Wow. How incredible is this cover picture?

Openly gay police officer Javier Pagan is one of three first responders to the Boston marathon bombings who are featured on the new cover of Sports Illustrated.

Officer Pagan was ID’d on Boston Pride’s Facebook page after the photo went viral:

“The Police Officer to the far right is a good friend of Boston Pride! He is the Boston Police Gay Liaison to the community Javier Pagan. One of the First Responders who was miraculously standing right behind the flags where the first bomb went off—- Boston Pride would like to thank Javier for all you do!”

The Dallas Voice reports:

Officer Pagan’s husband, Pedro, is a retired sergeant from the New York Police Department who rescued many people when the Twin Towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, according to a recent profile of Pagan by a Boston CrossFit site. Pagan also escorted LGBT civil rights attorney Mary Bonauto to City Hall Plaza on May 17, 2004, when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of marriage equality.

Pagan, a native of Puerto Rico who came out at 26 a year after joining the force, was profiled by the Bay Windows LGBT newspaper when he was named to the position in 2002.

While we’re identifying Pagan because this site deals with LGBT issues, it’s important that we thank ALL first responders and everyone who stepped up in this time of crisis. Thank you for the inspiration in humanity.

True heroes.

(source)

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President Obama: “the American people refuse to be terrorized”

President Obama gave a briefing to press at the White House this morning in which he said that it is not yet known if a group or individual is behind the attacks on the Boston Marathon. He did call the Boston bombing an act of terror today, less than 24 hours after the explosions.

Said Obama: “This was a heinous and cowardly act, and, given what we now know about what took place, the FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism…We will find whoever harmed our citizens, and we will bring them to justice. We also know this: the American people refuse to be terrorized. Because what we saw in the aftermath of the explosions were stories of heroism and kindness and generosity and love.”

Also in President Obama’s comments, he praised our first responders:

“If you want to know who we are, what America is, how we respond to evil – this is it: selflessly, compassionately, unafraid.”

(source)

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Update: Press conference by Massachusetts Gov. Patrick and Boston Mayor Menino

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino held a joint press conference with the FBI to announce continued security measures and to declare that “Boston will overcome” this disaster.

Only two improvised explosive devices or IEDs, both of which exploded, were discovered yesterday at the scene of the Boston Marathon, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Tuesday. “There were no unexploded bombs,” he told a press briefing. State and local officials warned Bostonians that an investigation into the bombing of its prized marathon on Monday will continue to affect every day life.

“Everyone should expect a continued, heightened police presence,” Mr. Patrick added during the news conference Tuesday morning. Yet Mayor Thomas Menino and others tried to set a positive tone for the city as it moves forward, praising first responders, neighbors and runners who offered a helping hand in the wake of the blasts.“This is a bad day for Boston, but I think if we pull together we’ll get through it,” said Mr. Menino, seated in a wheelchair as he recovers from the leg surgery over the weekend.

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Facebook post goes viral after Boston marathon explosions

In 24 hours, this post by Patton Oswalt has been shared on Facebook over 250,000 times.

In the post to his Facebook page, Oswalt wrote that while violence such as Monday’s tragedy exemplifies the worst of humanity, it’s easy to lose track of the bigger picture. :

Boston. Fucking horrible.

I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, “Well, I’ve had it with humanity.”

But I was wrong. I don’t know what’s going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.

But here’s what I DO know. If it’s one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we’re lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they’re pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We’d have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, “The good outnumber you, and we always will.”

A bit of perspective for us all.

The news stories will continue. The clip of the explosion will loop in our brains. We’ll grow fatigued of the inhumanity of it all as we keep Boston and all affected in our best thoughts.

And through it all we’ll continue on.

Forward.

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President Obama speaks to the country regarding Boston bombing

President Obama pledged that the American government will find out who set off the twin bombs at the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon and “hold them accountable.”

Speaking at the White House press briefing room just hours after two bombs exploded in Boston, Massachusetts, Obama was careful not to characterize the attack and instead stressed that “we still do not know who did this or why and people shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts. But make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this and we will find out who did this, we’ll find out why they did this. Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.”

“On days like this there are no Republicans or Democrats, we are Americans united in concern for our fellow citizens,” he added.

A White House official says that the Boston explosions will be “approached as an act of terror.”

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Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line hours after winners crossed finish line

From USAToday:

At least three death and many injuries were reported Monday after two explosions ripped through the crowd near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

Fox News quoted a law enforcement source as saying at least three people had died. The Boston Herald reported at least a dozen injuries.

Authorities have not identified the cause or source of the explosions.

Witnesses said the blasts occurred in quick succession about 2:50 p.m. on Boylston Street near the intersection of Exeter Street, three hours after the winner had crossed the finish line. Some store fronts were blown out.

UPDATE:  MSNBC is reporting that two additional devices have been found and dismantled. A third explosion almost an hour later occurred at the JFK  Library in Boston.

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Chick-Fil-A not welcome in the city of Boston says mayor

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has heard enough of the anti-gay rhetoric coming from Chick-Fil-A, and he’s let the company know that that kind of discrimination isn’t welcome on the Freedom Trail.

“Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston,” Menino told the Boston Herald yesterday. “You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population. We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion. … That’s the Freedom Trail. That’s where it all started right here. And we’re not going to have a company, Chick-fil-A or whatever the hell the name is, on our Freedom Trail.”

Menino said Chick-fil-A will find it “very difficult” to get licenses in Boston unless it changes its policies, and he plans to send a letter to the company’s headquarters in Atlanta “telling them my feelings on the matter.”