Shocked. Confused. Angry. Scared. Those are just some of the emotions going through our heads right now.
Yesterday was the first successful act of organized terror on American soil since 9/11. This wasn’t a random act committed by someone who is mentally ill. Carrying out an attack at an event as large and well-secured as the Boston Marathon takes planning and support.
When we first heard the news, we didn’t believe it. Some of us wondered if the explosions were accidental. Then we found out the truth: bombs. Plural. People were killed. One of the victims was an 8-year-old child. And the number reported injured just kept going up throughout the day. Right now, it’s over 130.
As we’re writing this editorial, we’re deciding what we want the front page of this paper to look like. The photos coming out of Boston are jarring. Whoever committed this attack wanted it noticed — the Boston Marathon is an event with a lot of media coverage.
We still don’t really know what happened, how it happened or why.
Part of us wants to count our blessings. There were an estimated 26,000 runners and 500,000 spectators at the marathon. It’s kind of lucky that relatively few people were injured and even fewer died — though even one casualty is too many.
We’re also reminded of the senseless death and destruction that happens around the world every day — the numerous bombings and killings that don’t get nearly as much attention from the American public or the media. Thousands of civilians have been killed or injured by bombings in Syria over the past two years. Our soldiers put themselves on the line every day in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As more information becomes available, the political conversations will begin. We will be looking for answers, for solutions, for the next move as a country. But we don’t want to dismiss the powerful, human response that comes with hearing about a tragedy like this. Hearing about something as devastating and painful as this moves all of us, and having that whirlwind of emotions without any answers is terrifying — and that’s OK.
We should cry. We should cry about what happened yesterday in Boston. We should cry about what’s happening in the Middle East. We should cry about the death, the war, the famine and the other tragedies that take place every day.
And we should hold our loved ones close, as our hearts go out to those who are mourning the loss of their own.