If they've shut down Boston to search for one man (which a soon to be former MSNBC reporter pointed out was an over reaction) do you need a special permit to be interviewed by the corporate owned media? Or is that the special case where you don't need a permit to leave the confines of your home?

I'm new to living in proto-martial law land so when this happens in Seattle I just want to know my parameters.

Yeah, the "martial law" aspect of what's going on in Boston is most disturbing. If I were there I cannot imagine that I would comply with "orders" to stay inside. I would hope that the conservatives that post here would feel the same way.

@1 give me a fucking break.

@1 Oh. Christ.

First: It's not a "lockdown." It's completely voluntary. The authorities are asking people to stay off the streets for their own safety. And people are understandably scared shitless.

Second: There are no criminal charges for disobeying and leaving your home. Lot's of people have.

@2, as you can see....they don't (see #3).

@2 Martial law has absolutely not been declared.

@1
Please provide us us with some evidence that citizens are being arrested for leaving their homes.

@2, very very true..the "lockdown" is just a friendly suggestion from those who are armed to the teeth. And the word "lockdown" just sounds so .... warm and fuzzy. Kinda like kittens playing with puppies on a warm summer day!

For fuck sake. Look you have a guy armed who was involved in a shoot out, killed a cop, and is a suspect in bombing. His brother already used deadly force to resist arrest and detonated more explosives.

People are stupid as shit. And what will happen if the don't ask people to stay off the street in a dense city like Boston you will get thousands of idiot looky-loos cluttering up every potential stand off and crime scene. Not only putting themselves at great risk of getting in cross-fires but contributing to the general mayhem of the situation.

If you can't operate from facts instead of this incessant knee-jerk hysteria, then YOU are part of the problem. And precisely the reason public safety officials face the nightmare they face in these awful situations.

@8 How many times has it got to be explained. Nobody is locked down. people can do what ever they want free from recrimination. But yes. they might get shot.

What the fuck do you idiots want?

"Hey, everybody there's a bunch of SWAT dudes in Brockton let's all drive down there and do a Jackass skit and pretend we're Osama Bin Laden and upload it to YouTube, it'll be HILARIOUS!"

Jesus Christ. I swear SLOG is like one giant internet repository for every person in the world with excess chromosomal damage that prevents cognitive function.

@2--Big talk.

I once had the pleasure of coming face to face with a SWAT team. You might be surprised how eager you would find yourself to do whatever the fuck they asked you to.

"Please stay in your homes" is a more polite way of saying, "Stay the fuck out of our way while we catch this murderous fucker that you already want caught." The police aren't going to drop the flashbangs and beat you down if you're in your back yard playing with your dog, they just don't want to be given reason to divert their attention on someone unrelated to their efforts.

And obviously, fewer people on the streets means that the escaping Djokhar (misspelling intended) would be much easier to spot - since he'd be one of the very few people moving around. So, you know, shutting down businesses, voluntarily suspending sporting events, and staying the fuck out of the way helps isolate a dangerous asshole.

Were I in Boston, I'd be gladly staying in my home to let the cops track and apprehend D.T.

Yeah, I guess you're right. After all, when the Cafe Racer manhunt was going on here last year, SPD pretty much shut down the city in the same way. Yeah, they didn't.

There are manhunts every day. You don't shut down a whole city of 5 million people to look for one guy. When we allow this to change the way that we live our day to day lives, WE are the ones that lose. We are the ones that succumb to terror.

Tool.

One person. One fucking person who at any given moment can wreak havoc on, what, a city block at a time? So for that lets shut down everything within a five mile radius?

I understand the desire to keep random people out of the way and the potential safety risk. But, goddamn.

How many other dangerous idiots are there out there equally capable of resisting arrest with a weapon? Should we do this every time there's an armed and dangerous fugitive?

Statistically speaking, what the odds that he will wreak havoc on your block? Why should the entire city be advised against movement?

Also, there's this weird presumption in some of the above comments that, as everyone else obediently stays indoors, the perp is gonna be outside playing hopscotch, just waiting for the cops to find him. Odds are, he's on his own sorta lockdown.

One more thing.. how many of y'all praised that Bruce Schneier column about not being terrorized? You're doing it wrong. Good lesson for wanna be terrorists.. have a foreign name and do something scary and you can shut down an entire city!

I know the father has had a terrible shock, and is grief-stricken and in denial, but his "inside job" accusation doesn't really hold water when these guys were hurling bombs and shooting at the police in their escape attempt. Plus they told the 7-11 clerk and the person whose car they hijacked that they were the Marathon bombers.

And I'm sure the cops would love to catch this guy alive, but it won't make much difference what they want if he is determined to go out in a blaze of glory.

But I'm sure none of that will stop the conspiracy theorists from taking the father's word as writ from on high.

@14: This is a major event of major importance of the kind that hasn't happened in 12 years. It's helpful if you think of these things in terms of events and patterns, and then draw your conclusions.

Interesting comments, 14 & 15. Nice strawmen/exaggeration arguments going on.

1. Dzhokhar isn't "outside playing hopscotch", he fled in a vehicle, so he's either in a vehicle or on foot, continuing to flee, or hiding somewhere. But currently, they don't know which one.
If he's moving around, then having fewer people on the streets is good, because he will stick out and be more obvious. If he's hiding, less of an issue, obviously..but they don't know where he is right now, so asking people to stay out of the way makes total sense. Hardly a "weird presumption".

2. These fuckers are ruthless, they set off two nail-and-bearing packed bombs at a crowded sporting event, for no other reason than to cause agony. They shot at and threw bombs at police, and may be wearing suicide vests. They are willing to kill people, very violently. There also may be others involved, we don't know yet.

3. The Cafe Racer situation was not very much like this situation. There weren't tons of riot police armed to the teeth with cop tanks rolling around then. So perhaps maybe a little bit staying inside is a wise idea so that you don't accidentally get shot by the cops. Which, you know, happens some times.

So hey, fly to Boston and take your statistical risks yourselves.
Otherwise, let the people & police of Boston sort their own shit out re: this madness.
Because, you know, your comments here make all the difference in the world to them. I'm sure Boston's Mayor is reading Slog comments right now to glean such wise advice.

It's so clear that both of you have had intense tactical police or military training on how to deal with ruthless and violent assholes though, so you are probably 110% correct, and everyone should do what you say, not the police. Especially in Boston.

@14- Actually after the Cafe Racer shooting the police did ask people in the area to stay indoors and keep their eyes open.

@19 and a lot of us in the U-District stayed indoors voluntarily. When you get a text message alert about a gunman on the loose, no one has to argue with you to stay inside.

@17 - I appreciate the sentiment, Gay Dude for Raindrop (love the new avatar, btw), really I do.

I assume with your inference that this is a "major event of major importance of the kind that hasn't happened in 12 years", that you are invoking the "worst since 9/11" claim. Maybe it is in your mind, but I would suggest that Virginia Tech, Aurora, Sandy Hook, et al would be every bit as bad as this situation is, one that has taken a fraction of the lives that those major events did.

For all they know, this guy is in Ohio by now. Boston is a ghost town today. I for one, choose not to live in fear.

@21: Yes, I was referring to 9/11. But this is not "living in fear" per se, but taking precautions to catch a madman whose capture would be of overwhelmingly global importance.

Thanks for your comment on the avatar. I needed something soothing.

BTW, saw this on Twitter retweeted by Dom:

Jesus, next week better involve news stories about kittens riding dolphins, a cure for cancer, and Betty White running a unicorn preserve.
- @Snockard

Alison Yeardley, Cambridge MA Tells the BBC: "It's eerily quiet outside. I can hear sirens and helicopters only. I'm half a mile away from the suspect's house. Everyone is confident things are going to be ok. If was bit closer to Watertown I might feel differently. My friend in Watertown slept through everything! All the city is in shutdown - we are allowed outside, but the transport system is down. We're staying in and keeping off the roads to help police. We're not all in fear - we're in our pyjamas eating chocolate."

Emphasis added.

It's always the same thing.

"He was just a quiet guy."

Wow the liberals here really seem to be in favor of martial law, just friendly police in full battle rattle, diving in MRAPs carring enough ammunition to fight a war and giving the friendly reminder to "Stay the fuck in side or you will be shot."

Meanwhile they are conducting warrant less searches of residences.

All in the name of safety right?

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"
-Ben Franklin

What does the alternative look like, I wonder?

Reporter: what should we tell the citizens of Boston about the shootouts? Is there anything they can do to help? How can they best protect their families?

Police: We have no comment. I'd probably lay low for a while, but god forbid I suggest that. You know what, citizens of Boston? Figure this shit out for yourselves. Try to stay away from the bombs, OK?

@25 - Pray tell: How would you prefer to conduct a hunt for a dude with homemade bombs and other weapons, possibly wearing an explosive vest? Reminder: the stay at home request is voluntary. People are complying to assist in the capture of a mass murderer.

Also, this is not "martial law". Martial law is when the military is directly controlling everyone's movements... checkpoints... documents... military detention... everyone presumed guilty... etc.

And "warrant less searches"?? Seriously? They are looking for one guy, not ransacking homes of political dissidents and dragging people off to the camps on flimsy evidence.

You, my friend, are being quite alarmist and have clearly never experienced actual martial law. If we had actual martial law, you would see quite a different response from all of us, I am certain.

@27
"If we had actual martial law, you would see quite a different response from all of us, I am certain."

I imagine that in the case of "actual martial law" you liberal progressives would be cowering and licking the hand of authoritarians more than usual.

Want to tell me why the police need to enter residences with 2 dozen pairs of flexicuffs typically used for crowd control arrest to look for one guy?
http://trib.in/13uUzxp

Want to tell me why they are using MRAPs with infantry mounted on the outside as a show of force rather than inside for protection from explosives/gunfire?
http://trib.in/177Rq4W

Want to tell me why police are detaining seemingly random people and conducting searches on the street?
http://trib.in/177UUV9

Kicking doors?
http://ttag.zippykidcdn.com/wp-content/u…

Are these police or .mil?
http://ttag.zippykidcdn.com/wp-content/u…

I have yet to see a legally required visible badge number on any of these guys, and some are hiding their identities.
http://trib.in/13uUzND]

Compliance is totally voluntary.
http://trib.in/13v2z1k

Hey it is one of those unmarked black helicopters that Joe Biden says exist only in the minds of conspiracy nuts.
http://trib.in/17wSyNC

This is what a police state looks like.

@28 -- If this is what you're worried about... if this is the police state... then I wish you'd call it something else or link to a website or something so when you warn against the police state or whatever we'll know what you're talking about.

I suggest maybe a "coordinated police response to a dynamic and very dangerous situation."

How would you suggest the police handle this?

@14

The Cafe Racer shooter didn't have explosives.

The Cafe Racer shooter didn't wasn't labeled by the PRESIDENT a terror attack.

The Cafe Racer shooter didn't trigger a federal law enforcement response and involve the FBI, Homeland Security the National fucking Guard.

The Cafe Racer shooter killed himself in the street a couple hours after the even and large scale mobilizations couldn't be initiated in time.

Lastly, during the Cafe Racer shooting the police and SWAT DID canvas Roosevelt. They DID have local radio and TV in that area to alert people to stay indoors.

I know you thought you scored a real rhetorical coup. But you didn't actually think for more than three seconds before you activated Libertarian Condition Red:

"Ohes Noes! The Man is Crack'n Down on Mah Civul Liburteeeeez!"

@29
How do the police handle the normal active shooter/fugitive/dangerous individual? Not usually by shutting down an entire city.

I have a feeling that this is just a trial run for the future of this country.

At this point the perp is 19, separated from his accomplice, who was most likely the leader of this operation, low on ammunition and separated from his explosives.

@31
These guys are not normal active dangerous individuals.

I don't know if you've seen many movies with Boston cops in them, but I've been led to believe Boston cops don't take kindly to people who shoot at and kill them.

You know, the reaction of some of the people here amazes me. I own a house that is across the street from this:

http://trib.in/13v2z1k

These people used to be my neighbors:

http://trib.in/177UUEp

I lived there for over a decade - in fact, I was staying there last month, my brother currently lives on Norfolk Street in Cambridge, my kids used to play with a tenant in this house:

http://trib.in/13uUzxp

and every single person I've talked to in the area, is VERY happy with the police response. Police State my ass.

What our government is teaching prospective terrorists is that all they have to do is manage to get two jackasses who are willing to die to commit mass-murder, even if they kind of suck at it

The payoff for doing this is that an entire city shuts down to literal empty sidewalks and train service is halted along a hundred-mile+ stretch.

Need I remind people that the entire point of terrorism is to terrorize? To create economic havoc in a given area through violence, and by doing so advance some social or political goal?