Boston Bombings and the Death Sentence

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s sentence. The infamous Boston Marathon Bomber was sentenced to death a few weeks ago, with the trial drawing a lot of the attention from the media and the public, as anyone who has turned on the TV or looked at the news over the last year will know. I always find myself feeling slightly uncomfortable watching coverage of these kinds of high profile trials for a number of reasons.

The media always loves a spectacle. The more terrible things in the world are, the happier FOX and CNN are. Some networks, of course, are worse in this regard than others, but even the most unbiased news networks enjoy a spectacle simply because their viewers enjoy one. It’s simple logic. We get endless reports about the heroics of the rescue services involved, stories from the survivors, and interviews with the teary eyed family members of the dead, speaking of how they can finally have peace now they’ve achieved justice.

Now, I’m being cynical, but it is an undeniable fact that the public, you and I included, feeds the cyclical nature of the news. Even now, only a few weeks after the sentencing, the amount of coverage has dropped drastically in lieu of other more pressing news stories, and it will remain this way until some other revelatory event happens. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, his older brother, and their victims will be forgotten again by the bloodlusting public for a time. People react to these cases very emotionally, whether in anger at the act itself or elation at the sentence. Yet, as soon as it isn’t flashed in their faces every waking moment, the emotions slip their mind. I don’t blame people for this (the average individual has far too many worries on their hands to be concerned with the sentencing of some terrorist). However, the more I think about it, the more I find myself wondering: does this not lend a false air to their cries for justice?

The argument can probably be made in relation to any major news story from terrorist attacks to natural disasters, and I am not saying it’s ever going to change. However, surely if such emotive reactions were sincere then they would last a little longer, with more depth? I suppose this is beside the main point of this essay, which I am getting to, but I think it is very important to consider the manner in which we are affected by a sensationalist media, one that loves to stoke the fire.

And here, I reach the problem I set out to write about: Tsarnaev’s death sentence.

I am not a supporter of the death penalty and never will be. My reasons are long and varied, but they effectively boil down to a belief that the death sentence is institutionalized murder. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are some people out there who could not be rehabilitated, would waste taxpayer money in the prison system, and the world could generally do without. However, I think these people are surely few and far between, and it is impossible for a bureaucracy weed these individuals out. How can a society hope to uphold civil rule of law when its government is exempt from the same rules?

The media attention, people’s overly (empty?) emotional reactions, and my pre-ingrained biases in regards to the death penalty all combine to leave me incredibly uneasy over this case. I simply can’t help but feeling have not seen the results of a trial, but that of a witch hunt. Tsarnaev’s trial represents an entire nation in search of vindication. This is an incredibly dangerous president to set, and we see the same mentality in the biases present throughout the west concerning Muslims and Middle-Easterners.

Now, I’m all for patriotism and I am certainly all for justice. However, it is an incredibly slippery slope once we, the public and the government, begin making examples of certain individuals in the way that America seems to have done with Tsarnaev. This is a problem present throughout western nations, not just the United States; in Canada, as much as any other country, we are so brainwashed into a fear of the “terrorist threat” that we allow bills such as C-24 and C-51 to be passed.

As we have seen with the Tsarnaev trial, people are scared and they are angry; scared and angry people tend to lash out.

And, finally, I come back to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev himself. The boy was only nineteen at the time of the attacks, barely more than a kid. By all accounts, he was a caring, good natured kid, who idolized his older brother. He was not the mastermind in this plot, simply a pawn. This does not excuse his horrific actions, but it does provide some context for them. We’ve all been there: confused, young, alone, tired of constantly putting up a façade and hoping for a chance to do something meaningful with our lives. His older brother’s radicalization provided Dzhokhar an opportunity to do something meaningful, and, for better or worse, he took it.

I guess I’m just trying to say that evil acts do not make evil people. This was a confused – probably depressed and lonely – young man who was presented a way to do something meaningful. I don’t mean to say he should not be punished, but can’t we show at least a minute amount of compassion, the slightest bit of understanding?

Dzhokhar Tsarvaev’s sentence saddened me, but it did not surprise me. I’ve been trying to work out my thoughts in order to write this piece for a while now. I suppose I expected it, but hoped for a different outcome to the trial. Many people reading this (not that anyone actually reads this blog) will probably not understand where I’m coming from, so I was hesitant to voice my thoughts, lest I not articulate them clearly. These sorts of cases continually inspire a “you’re either with us or against us” mentality, that extends even to these at home discussions.

That said, I hope I’ve articulated my thoughts clearly. Anyone reading this, I’d be interested to know what you think! Message me on facebook or comment on here. Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not? I value all kinds of feedback, and I love debate and discussion.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read my rambling!