WASHINGTON POST
They did it. A small group of students in Georgia staged their high school’s first integrated prom, breaking a long-time tradition of two segregated proms — for blacks and whites. And it was a big success.
It seems hard to believe that segregated proms would be tolerated in this day and age, but that’s what was going to happen again this spring until a small group of black and white students who have been friends since childhood decided to push for an integrated prom for the Wilcox County High School community.
They ran into some resistance but prevailed in the end, and the event was held this past weekend at the Cordele Community Clubhouse in Crisp County. Turnout was high, and many white students did not attend last week’s prom exclusively for white students and attended the integrated dance instead. There were limousines, ball gowns, tuxedos and disc jockeys from Texas and Atlanta.
The students who planned the prom — which was off campus because the school doesn’t sponsor any prom — had set up a Facebook page asking for help, and they raised enough money to not only stage the event but also donate some to fund scholarships.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
2 Killings and 2 Guns Unattended
Joe Nocera
NEW YORK TIMES
On the afternoon of Aug. 7, 2012, Greg Imhoff — a big, friendly 61-year-old construction superintendent from Madison, Wis., who had moved to Florida with his partner, Shari Telvick — went to check on the home of a neighbor. The neighbor, Richard Detlor, was a friend, someone Imhoff had known back in Madison, where the Detlors still lived for part of the year. Whenever the Detlors went back to Wisconsin, Imhoff would look in on their house, something he did for many of his neighbors.
It is impossible to know whether, on that August afternoon, Imhoff ever saw the stranger in the house with the .22 caliber revolver; all we know for sure is that Imhoff was shot in the head. When Telvick and a friend found him that evening, he was lying in a pool of blood, dead.
The killer turned out to be a man named Billy Ray Retherford, who was on the lam after killing a woman two weeks earlier and was hiding in the Detlors’ empty home. The next day, Retherford was killed in a shootout with the police. He was using the same .22 handgun. The gun, however, was not his. It belonged to Richard Detlor, who, according to the police report, had left it, loaded, in the nightstand by his bed before departing for Wisconsin several months earlier.
When Imhoff’s murder was brought to my attention recently, I was stunned that a supposedly “responsible gun owner” would leave a loaded gun in a house that was empty for months at a time. Yes, the odds of someone breaking into the house and using the gun were small, but they weren’t zero. That the Detlors didn’t take the simple precaution of unloading their gun and locking it up struck me as incredibly negligent.
Not surprisingly, that’s how Shari Telvick sees it, too. “I think the Detlors had a responsibility to secure their weapon,” she told me when I spoke to her earlier this week. “I think they should be held accountable.” But when she talked to a lawyer, she discovered, to her dismay, that leaving a loaded gun in an empty house doesn’t violate Florida law. As Arthur Hayhoe, the executive director of the Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, explained to me, “Safe storage laws in Florida only apply if a minor lives in the house. If it’s adults, you can do whatever you want.” (He added, “In Florida, there are more laws to protect guns than people.”)
For all the protestations by gun owners that most are responsible with their weapons, I have been struck by how many killings take place because people do careless, stupid things. In the gun report that my assistant, Jennifer Mascia, and I compile on my blog, I see daily examples of children accidentally shooting other children with a gun found in the house.
Just the other day, in Burkesville, Ky., a 5-year-old boy shot and killed his 2-year-old sister with a small rifle that had been given to him as a present. Who gives a 5-year-old a gun? (The rifle is called a Crickett; incredibly, it is marketed specifically to children.) Who leaves the room where their children are playing without checking whether the rifle in the corner is loaded? For that matter, who puts a shotgun within such easy reach of a child?
Gary White, the county coroner, was quick to say that no charges would be brought because it was an accident — and, after all, “accidents happen.” But it was a completely preventable accident. When a passenger dies in a car accident that is the result of negligence, there are usually serious legal consequences for the driver. If we really want to reduce gun violence, there must be consequences for negligent gun owners, too. The entire culture of gun ownership has to begin emphasizing safety in a way it doesn’t now. It is as important as universal background checks, or limits on magazine rounds.
Shari Telvick couldn’t live in Florida after Imhoff’s death. “It was unbearable to be in that house without him,” she said. She remains devastated. Two months after Imhoff died, she told me, his first grandchild was born. Telvick had never been friendly with the Detlors, and she made it clear that she didn’t want to see them. But she’s been surprised, she said, that they’ve never reached out to Greg’s children, whom they’ve known for years.
I decided to call the Detlors. The woman who answered refused to put Richard Detlor on the phone. “Do you think he is sorry?” I asked. “Sorry for what?” she said, before hanging up on me.
A few days later, I called again. The same woman picked up. This time, she said, “We are as much victims as anyone else in this.” Then, once again, she hung up the phone.
NEW YORK TIMES
On the afternoon of Aug. 7, 2012, Greg Imhoff — a big, friendly 61-year-old construction superintendent from Madison, Wis., who had moved to Florida with his partner, Shari Telvick — went to check on the home of a neighbor. The neighbor, Richard Detlor, was a friend, someone Imhoff had known back in Madison, where the Detlors still lived for part of the year. Whenever the Detlors went back to Wisconsin, Imhoff would look in on their house, something he did for many of his neighbors.
It is impossible to know whether, on that August afternoon, Imhoff ever saw the stranger in the house with the .22 caliber revolver; all we know for sure is that Imhoff was shot in the head. When Telvick and a friend found him that evening, he was lying in a pool of blood, dead.
The killer turned out to be a man named Billy Ray Retherford, who was on the lam after killing a woman two weeks earlier and was hiding in the Detlors’ empty home. The next day, Retherford was killed in a shootout with the police. He was using the same .22 handgun. The gun, however, was not his. It belonged to Richard Detlor, who, according to the police report, had left it, loaded, in the nightstand by his bed before departing for Wisconsin several months earlier.
When Imhoff’s murder was brought to my attention recently, I was stunned that a supposedly “responsible gun owner” would leave a loaded gun in a house that was empty for months at a time. Yes, the odds of someone breaking into the house and using the gun were small, but they weren’t zero. That the Detlors didn’t take the simple precaution of unloading their gun and locking it up struck me as incredibly negligent.
Not surprisingly, that’s how Shari Telvick sees it, too. “I think the Detlors had a responsibility to secure their weapon,” she told me when I spoke to her earlier this week. “I think they should be held accountable.” But when she talked to a lawyer, she discovered, to her dismay, that leaving a loaded gun in an empty house doesn’t violate Florida law. As Arthur Hayhoe, the executive director of the Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, explained to me, “Safe storage laws in Florida only apply if a minor lives in the house. If it’s adults, you can do whatever you want.” (He added, “In Florida, there are more laws to protect guns than people.”)
For all the protestations by gun owners that most are responsible with their weapons, I have been struck by how many killings take place because people do careless, stupid things. In the gun report that my assistant, Jennifer Mascia, and I compile on my blog, I see daily examples of children accidentally shooting other children with a gun found in the house.
Just the other day, in Burkesville, Ky., a 5-year-old boy shot and killed his 2-year-old sister with a small rifle that had been given to him as a present. Who gives a 5-year-old a gun? (The rifle is called a Crickett; incredibly, it is marketed specifically to children.) Who leaves the room where their children are playing without checking whether the rifle in the corner is loaded? For that matter, who puts a shotgun within such easy reach of a child?
Gary White, the county coroner, was quick to say that no charges would be brought because it was an accident — and, after all, “accidents happen.” But it was a completely preventable accident. When a passenger dies in a car accident that is the result of negligence, there are usually serious legal consequences for the driver. If we really want to reduce gun violence, there must be consequences for negligent gun owners, too. The entire culture of gun ownership has to begin emphasizing safety in a way it doesn’t now. It is as important as universal background checks, or limits on magazine rounds.
Shari Telvick couldn’t live in Florida after Imhoff’s death. “It was unbearable to be in that house without him,” she said. She remains devastated. Two months after Imhoff died, she told me, his first grandchild was born. Telvick had never been friendly with the Detlors, and she made it clear that she didn’t want to see them. But she’s been surprised, she said, that they’ve never reached out to Greg’s children, whom they’ve known for years.
I decided to call the Detlors. The woman who answered refused to put Richard Detlor on the phone. “Do you think he is sorry?” I asked. “Sorry for what?” she said, before hanging up on me.
A few days later, I called again. The same woman picked up. This time, she said, “We are as much victims as anyone else in this.” Then, once again, she hung up the phone.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Black voter turnout passes white rate in 2012
ASSOCIATED PRESS
America’s blacks voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and by most measures surpassed the white turnout for the first time, reflecting a deeply polarized presidential election in which blacks strongly supported Barack Obama while many whites stayed home. Had people voted last November at the same rates they did in 2004, when black turnout was below its current historic levels, Republican Mitt Romney would have won narrowly, according to an analysis conducted for The Associated Press.
Last year’s heavy black turnout came despite concerns about the effect of new voter-identification laws on minority voting, outweighed by the desire to re-elect the first black president. Overall, 2012 voter turnout was roughly 58 percent, down from 62 percent in 2008 and 60 percent in 2004.
Overall, the findings represent a tipping point for blacks, who for much of America’s history were disenfranchised and then effectively barred from voting until passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. But the numbers also offer a cautionary note to both Democrats and Republicans after Obama won in November with a historically low percentage of white supporters. While Latinos are now the biggest driver of U.S. population growth, they still trail whites and blacks in turnout and electoral share, because many of the Hispanics in the country are children or noncitizens.
In recent weeks, Republican leaders have urged a “year-round effort” to engage black and other minority voters, describing a grim future if their party does not expand its core support beyond white males.
The 2012 data suggest Romney was a particularly weak GOP candidate, unable to motivate white voters let alone attract significant black or Latino support. Obama’s personal appeal and the slowly improving economy helped overcome doubts and spur record levels of minority voters in a way that may not be easily replicated for Democrats soon.
Romney would have erased Obama’s nearly 5 million-vote victory margin and narrowly won the popular vote if voters had turned out as they did in 2004, according to Frey’s analysis. Then, white turnout was slightly higher and black voting lower. More significantly, the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and Colorado would have tipped in favor of Romney, handing him the presidency if the outcome of other states remained the same.
America’s blacks voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and by most measures surpassed the white turnout for the first time, reflecting a deeply polarized presidential election in which blacks strongly supported Barack Obama while many whites stayed home. Had people voted last November at the same rates they did in 2004, when black turnout was below its current historic levels, Republican Mitt Romney would have won narrowly, according to an analysis conducted for The Associated Press.
Last year’s heavy black turnout came despite concerns about the effect of new voter-identification laws on minority voting, outweighed by the desire to re-elect the first black president. Overall, 2012 voter turnout was roughly 58 percent, down from 62 percent in 2008 and 60 percent in 2004.
Overall, the findings represent a tipping point for blacks, who for much of America’s history were disenfranchised and then effectively barred from voting until passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. But the numbers also offer a cautionary note to both Democrats and Republicans after Obama won in November with a historically low percentage of white supporters. While Latinos are now the biggest driver of U.S. population growth, they still trail whites and blacks in turnout and electoral share, because many of the Hispanics in the country are children or noncitizens.
In recent weeks, Republican leaders have urged a “year-round effort” to engage black and other minority voters, describing a grim future if their party does not expand its core support beyond white males.
The 2012 data suggest Romney was a particularly weak GOP candidate, unable to motivate white voters let alone attract significant black or Latino support. Obama’s personal appeal and the slowly improving economy helped overcome doubts and spur record levels of minority voters in a way that may not be easily replicated for Democrats soon.
Romney would have erased Obama’s nearly 5 million-vote victory margin and narrowly won the popular vote if voters had turned out as they did in 2004, according to Frey’s analysis. Then, white turnout was slightly higher and black voting lower. More significantly, the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and Colorado would have tipped in favor of Romney, handing him the presidency if the outcome of other states remained the same.
Monday, April 29, 2013
John McCain: Syrians need America's help!
(CNN) – The people of Syria, beleaguered by war and potentially being attacked by chemical weapons, are “angry and bitter” that the United States has not played a more leading role in ending the country’s conflict, Sen. John McCain said Sunday.
Long an advocate of a more pronounced American effort in Syria, McCain described the disappointment he saw while visiting a Syrian refugee camp in neighboring Jordan. “This woman who was a schoolteacher said, ‘Sen. McCain, do you see these children here? They're going to take revenge on those people who refused to help them,’ ” McCain recalled on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “They’re angry and bitter. And that legacy could last for a long time too, unless we assist them.”
Last week, the White House told lawmakers in a letter that intelligence analysts have concluded "with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin." But the analysis was characterized as preliminary, with the White House saying the "chain of custody" of the chemicals was not clear and that intelligence analysts could not confirm the circumstances under which the sarin was used, including the role of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
President Barack Obama has said that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a “red line” threshold for greater U.S. action in the country, which McCain argued was coming too late.
“For about two years this situation has deteriorated in a very alarming fashion, affected the surrounding countries, destabilized Lebanon, destabilized Jordan, and has had implications and repercussions throughout the region,” McCain said.
On Friday, Obama noted again that the use of chemical weapons in Syria “crosses a line that will change my calculus and how the United States approaches these issues.” But he said the intelligence gathered on potential use of sarin was still too preliminary to be conclusive.
Nicholas Burns, a former undersecretary of state, said Obama was in a difficult situation. “He was right to make those warnings in the last several months because use of chemical weapons is a war crime under the chemical weapons convention,” Burns said, also on CNN. “I think he's right to be prudent and cautious. We got in a situation in 2003 in Iraq and didn't have all our facts together and went to war in part on an erroneous basis. So he's right to be cautious.” “But when you draw a line in the sand in the Middle East and you dare someone to cross it and they appear to have crossed it, there have been to be consequences,” he added. “And our credibility as a country is very important.”
Long an advocate of a more pronounced American effort in Syria, McCain described the disappointment he saw while visiting a Syrian refugee camp in neighboring Jordan. “This woman who was a schoolteacher said, ‘Sen. McCain, do you see these children here? They're going to take revenge on those people who refused to help them,’ ” McCain recalled on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “They’re angry and bitter. And that legacy could last for a long time too, unless we assist them.”
Last week, the White House told lawmakers in a letter that intelligence analysts have concluded "with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin." But the analysis was characterized as preliminary, with the White House saying the "chain of custody" of the chemicals was not clear and that intelligence analysts could not confirm the circumstances under which the sarin was used, including the role of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
President Barack Obama has said that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a “red line” threshold for greater U.S. action in the country, which McCain argued was coming too late.
“For about two years this situation has deteriorated in a very alarming fashion, affected the surrounding countries, destabilized Lebanon, destabilized Jordan, and has had implications and repercussions throughout the region,” McCain said.
On Friday, Obama noted again that the use of chemical weapons in Syria “crosses a line that will change my calculus and how the United States approaches these issues.” But he said the intelligence gathered on potential use of sarin was still too preliminary to be conclusive.
Nicholas Burns, a former undersecretary of state, said Obama was in a difficult situation. “He was right to make those warnings in the last several months because use of chemical weapons is a war crime under the chemical weapons convention,” Burns said, also on CNN. “I think he's right to be prudent and cautious. We got in a situation in 2003 in Iraq and didn't have all our facts together and went to war in part on an erroneous basis. So he's right to be cautious.” “But when you draw a line in the sand in the Middle East and you dare someone to cross it and they appear to have crossed it, there have been to be consequences,” he added. “And our credibility as a country is very important.”
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Imam: I wouldn't give Boston suspect last rites
(CNN) – Tamerlan Tsarnaev died early Friday, and according to the rules of Islam, he should have been buried by now. But his severely wounded body is still being held to determine a cause of death.
Tsarnaev, 26, had so many penetrating wounds when he arrived at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center early Friday that doctors could not tell which ones had killed him. He'd engaged in a ferocious battle with police in which more than 200 rounds of gunfire was exchanged. He and his brother Dzhokhar, 19, also allegedly hurled improvised explosive devices and handmade grenades at officers.
There are questions about when, where and how Tamerlan Tsarnaev will be buried. And there's a bigger question: whether any Muslim entity will be willing to deliver last rites.
Many Muslim community leaders have sought to distance themselves from the Tsarnaevs in light of reports that Tamerlan Tsarnaev might have been influenced by radical Islam. Fearing retaliation, Muslim leaders have strongly condemned the bombings and made it clear that Islam does not condone violence. At least one Boston cleric said he would refuse to perform funeral rites for a man accused of committing so much violence. The Quran, said Imam Talal Eid, says that anyone who has killed another human being is going to hell.
Eid, who is imam at the Boston Islamic Institute, said he had never met the Tsarnaev brothers but questioned media accounts that Tamerlan Tsarnaev had become a devout Muslim. "A person who is devoted does not kill innocent people," Eid said.
Yusufi Vali, executive director of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, the largest mosque in the Boston area, also rejected the Tsarnaev brothers. "I don't care who or what these criminals claim to be, but I can never recognize these criminals as part of my city or my faith community," he said. "All of us Bostonians want these criminals to be brought to justice immediately. I am infuriated at the criminals of these bombings for trying to rip our city apart. We will remain united and not let them change who we are as Bostonians."
The Tsarnaev brothers occasionally attended prayer services at the Islamic Society of Boston Cambridge Masjid, a small mosque near their apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "In their visits, they never exhibited any violent sentiments or behavior," said a statement from the masjid. "Otherwise they would have been immediately reported to the FBI. After we learned of their identities, we encouraged anyone who knew them in our congregation to immediately report to law enforcement, which has taken place."
Tsarnaev, 26, had so many penetrating wounds when he arrived at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center early Friday that doctors could not tell which ones had killed him. He'd engaged in a ferocious battle with police in which more than 200 rounds of gunfire was exchanged. He and his brother Dzhokhar, 19, also allegedly hurled improvised explosive devices and handmade grenades at officers.
There are questions about when, where and how Tamerlan Tsarnaev will be buried. And there's a bigger question: whether any Muslim entity will be willing to deliver last rites.
Many Muslim community leaders have sought to distance themselves from the Tsarnaevs in light of reports that Tamerlan Tsarnaev might have been influenced by radical Islam. Fearing retaliation, Muslim leaders have strongly condemned the bombings and made it clear that Islam does not condone violence. At least one Boston cleric said he would refuse to perform funeral rites for a man accused of committing so much violence. The Quran, said Imam Talal Eid, says that anyone who has killed another human being is going to hell.
Eid, who is imam at the Boston Islamic Institute, said he had never met the Tsarnaev brothers but questioned media accounts that Tamerlan Tsarnaev had become a devout Muslim. "A person who is devoted does not kill innocent people," Eid said.
Yusufi Vali, executive director of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, the largest mosque in the Boston area, also rejected the Tsarnaev brothers. "I don't care who or what these criminals claim to be, but I can never recognize these criminals as part of my city or my faith community," he said. "All of us Bostonians want these criminals to be brought to justice immediately. I am infuriated at the criminals of these bombings for trying to rip our city apart. We will remain united and not let them change who we are as Bostonians."
The Tsarnaev brothers occasionally attended prayer services at the Islamic Society of Boston Cambridge Masjid, a small mosque near their apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "In their visits, they never exhibited any violent sentiments or behavior," said a statement from the masjid. "Otherwise they would have been immediately reported to the FBI. After we learned of their identities, we encouraged anyone who knew them in our congregation to immediately report to law enforcement, which has taken place."
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Pro-gun group endorses background check bill
By Matt Williams, The Guardian
A pro-gun lobby group broke ranks with the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) on Sunday, stating it would endorse a bill that includes expanded background checks.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Bear Arms, which is said to represent around 650,000 members, told its supporters via email that it was backing proposed legislation due to go before the Senate this week. The news was later confirmed by senator Joe Manchin – one of the architects of the comprise bill – in a tweet.
A spokesman for the pro-gun rights group later told the Washington Post that they had decided to back the legislation because “we believe it is the right thing to do”. But it comes just days after the group sent out a press release seemingly mocking the concept of wider background checks on buyers and suggesting that gun laws never work.
The bill proposed by Manchin, a Democrat, and Republican senator Pat Toomey would see background checks increased to cover both commercial sales both online and at gun shows. But private sales would be exempt.
The NRA had initially said the compromise was a “positive development” but later hardened its stance, and threatened political retribution to any senators who backed the bill. But an email from the Citizens Committee to its members suggests that the Manchin-Toomey compromise satisfies its demands. The website Politico.com quoted the message as contrasting Manchin and Toomey’s “balanced approach” to more “draconian” measures being proposed by gun control advocates.
A vote on the compromise bill could come as early as Wednesday, lawmakers said Sunday. “We expect the vote this week. Wednesday is probably the most likely day for the Manchin-Toomey alternative,” said Toomey on CNN’s State of the Nation.
But even with the support of anti-gun groups such as Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns and, now, one group on the other side of the debate, it is not clear if there exists enough political will in Washington to push the legislation through. “It’s an open question whether we have the votes. I think it’s going to be close,” Toomey said Sunday.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2013
A pro-gun lobby group broke ranks with the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) on Sunday, stating it would endorse a bill that includes expanded background checks.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Bear Arms, which is said to represent around 650,000 members, told its supporters via email that it was backing proposed legislation due to go before the Senate this week. The news was later confirmed by senator Joe Manchin – one of the architects of the comprise bill – in a tweet.
A spokesman for the pro-gun rights group later told the Washington Post that they had decided to back the legislation because “we believe it is the right thing to do”. But it comes just days after the group sent out a press release seemingly mocking the concept of wider background checks on buyers and suggesting that gun laws never work.
The bill proposed by Manchin, a Democrat, and Republican senator Pat Toomey would see background checks increased to cover both commercial sales both online and at gun shows. But private sales would be exempt.
The NRA had initially said the compromise was a “positive development” but later hardened its stance, and threatened political retribution to any senators who backed the bill. But an email from the Citizens Committee to its members suggests that the Manchin-Toomey compromise satisfies its demands. The website Politico.com quoted the message as contrasting Manchin and Toomey’s “balanced approach” to more “draconian” measures being proposed by gun control advocates.
A vote on the compromise bill could come as early as Wednesday, lawmakers said Sunday. “We expect the vote this week. Wednesday is probably the most likely day for the Manchin-Toomey alternative,” said Toomey on CNN’s State of the Nation.
But even with the support of anti-gun groups such as Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns and, now, one group on the other side of the debate, it is not clear if there exists enough political will in Washington to push the legislation through. “It’s an open question whether we have the votes. I think it’s going to be close,” Toomey said Sunday.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Terror attack at Boston Marathon
(CNN) -- Authorities including bomb experts searched an apartment in Revere, Massachusetts, and removed items, after two deadly bombs struck the Boston Marathon. But investigators remained mum about just how the search may be linked to the bombing investigation.
The search late Monday involved a "person of interest," the Revere Fire Department said on its Facebook page. The FBI; the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; immigration officials, state and local police, detectives and bomb techs all took part, the fire department said. The search, just north of Boston, took place with consent, so no search warrant was needed, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.
Tiny clues may help lead to who was behind the terrorist attack that killed three people and wounded 144. Investigators are beginning the painstaking process of piecing through fragments for anything that could indicate the "signature," said a federal law enforcement official who works in the intelligence community.
Unexploded devices that were recovered could also provide a treasure trove of information such as fingerprints and indications of how the exploded bombs were designed, the official said.
There were two such devices that did not detonate, said U.S. Rep. Bill Keating of Massachusetts. One was found near the bomb site at a hotel on Boylston Street; the other was found at an undisclosed location, said Keating, a member of the House Homeland Security committee. Keating called the bombings a "sophisticated, coordinated, planned attack."
A federal law enforcement official told CNN that both bombs that did explode were small, and initial tests showed no C-4 or other high-grade explosive material, suggesting the packages used in the attack were crude devices.
The FBI is taking the lead in investigating the attack near the marathon's finish line.
The search late Monday involved a "person of interest," the Revere Fire Department said on its Facebook page. The FBI; the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; immigration officials, state and local police, detectives and bomb techs all took part, the fire department said. The search, just north of Boston, took place with consent, so no search warrant was needed, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.
Tiny clues may help lead to who was behind the terrorist attack that killed three people and wounded 144. Investigators are beginning the painstaking process of piecing through fragments for anything that could indicate the "signature," said a federal law enforcement official who works in the intelligence community.
Unexploded devices that were recovered could also provide a treasure trove of information such as fingerprints and indications of how the exploded bombs were designed, the official said.
There were two such devices that did not detonate, said U.S. Rep. Bill Keating of Massachusetts. One was found near the bomb site at a hotel on Boylston Street; the other was found at an undisclosed location, said Keating, a member of the House Homeland Security committee. Keating called the bombings a "sophisticated, coordinated, planned attack."
A federal law enforcement official told CNN that both bombs that did explode were small, and initial tests showed no C-4 or other high-grade explosive material, suggesting the packages used in the attack were crude devices.
The FBI is taking the lead in investigating the attack near the marathon's finish line.
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