Patriots' Day is a civic holiday commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. These were the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. It is observed on the third Monday in April in Massachusetts.
Along with this commemoration of the "shot heard round the world" has been a contemporary attachment with the date around several notable acts of violence in this country, including the Waco siege, Oklahoma City bombing, and now the Boston Marathon bombings.
It is of course premature to know the perpetrator(s) of this horrific terrorist act. While a story has surfaced of a Saudi national who was running away (as terrified people are wont to do away from a dangerous situation) and tackled by a supposed concerned citizen, this story appears to be unfounded currently.
Let's talk about why it would make sense for this terrorist act to be committed by a far right domestic terrorist. First of all, the significance of the date. The nation's deadliest domestic terrorist act was also committed on Patriots' Day. The symbolism of the fight against tyranny and Gadsden flags and such is a hallmark of the far right nationalists.
The location is Boston, which is significant both for its ties to Revolutionary America as well as the city being one of many "elite," liberal, Northeast cities. There is also the city's unofficial seat of Irish culture in this country, which in some white nationalist circles is revered in some respect, but that connection is admittedly more tenuous.
The annual Boston Marathon, one of the world's oldest, is iconic for many things along with its multinational makeup. This tragic setting, with the cold calculus of detonating at a mark around the average finishing time is egregious and insulting.
Meanwhile in tinfoil land, Alex Jones claims this is a false flag attack by the government and also something about the price of gold. There are reports about people being warned they were going to die before hand, and that there was a training exercise going on. Folks, there is a large group of very deluded people who think the country is on the brink of war against themselves. Just try buying .9mm or .22 ammunition and you hear about DHS and billions etc. blah.
Let us pray for the victims and not rush to judgment but I offer this possibility as other forces also rush in a Jonesian fever that I hopefully do not embody from a different perspective.
We literally have another Boston Massacre. It very well could be the case that in the future people look back on this as a vile manifestation of paranoia, hatred, and ideology ran afoul through the apex of a vile nationalist and neoconfederate swing in this country. A hatred launched as the counterreaction to liberalism generally and Barack Obama specifically and executed against the innocent people who gathered to celebrate life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness at the storied institution of the great Boston Marathon.