Boston Marathon bombings vs. the London bombings of 7/7/05

I spent most of last night gripped in the high drama of the manhunt that shut down an entire city. And I couldn't help but think of the similarity between this scenario and the London bombings of 7/7/05.

The things that struck me about the London bombings were the biographical history and odd behavior of the "perpetrators" (like buying return tickets and arguing over change at a petrol station). One of the guys taught disabled children. He was beloved by his students. I'm sorry, that just doesn't fit my mental image of someone who would bomb a random group of people for no apparent reason. Neither did any of the other guys, who most certainly didn't act like people on their way to a suicide bombing judging from the video footage available at the scene.

Here we've got a guy that looks like a modern-day Sylvester Stallone and his kid brother who looks like a heartthrob from a boy band. Neither of these guys look like killers to me. At all. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev reminds me most of London bomber Shehzad Tanweer, a university graduate who studied sports science and loved cricket and football. Here's what people had to say about Shehzad: "The best lad you could ever meet" and "He was proud to be British. He had everything to live for."

What many people don't know is that there was a terror drill being held in London that day. The guys who participated in the London bombing fit the profile of the kinds of guys who would participate in a drill, not actual terrorists. I'm very glad the Boston Police were able to get Dzhokhar Tsarnaev into custody alive. He deserves a trial and we deserve a proper investigation.

Dad says Boston suspects were framed for bombing

Neighbor: Dzhokar was a "lovely kid"

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a 'true angel' to his father and family, friends express shock to hear his alleged role in Boston bombing

Is this how you'd act if you just planted a bomb that killed three people, including an 8-year-old boy???

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev spent an apparently normal day Wednesday at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where he was a sophomore, according to a school official, working out in the gym, then sleeping in his dorm room that night, while law enforcement officials frantically scanned photos trying to identify the men who planted deadly bombs at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Card swipes told officials that Tsarnaev, described as a good and typical student who played intramural soccer, was on campus Wednesday, but it was not clear if he had been there earlier in the week.

A student, who did not want to be identified, also said she saw Tsarnaev at a party on Wednesday night that was attended by some of his soccer friends.

“He was just relaxed,” she said. -- Boston Globe

(H/T: Scott Creighton)