Boston Marathon Policing Controversy

someone is jealous of Kara follower count.

She is a hypocrite- weds to give back her World medal that she achieved on medication she didn’t need . She conveniently seems to forget this while trying to social climb and fool y’all

jesus crist, you missed the point of LF's post. Try reading next time instead of getting defensive.

I see what you did there.

I ran it and don't remember any part of the course where people jumped in and ran with runners.

The loudest spots had barriers where people couldn't get on the course -
Wellesley had barriers as far as I can remember so the people on the sideline could not get on the course. Around half way people were hitting the sideline barriers and making lots of noise. It was super loud.

The last few miles were really loud and there looked to be a few places people could cross the road but they had people monitoring them and had them to cross at certain times.

I wasn't paying close attention and could be wrong, but I don't think there was any section where people were jumping on the course who weren't running. I do remember one guy jogging backward near maybe just before 12 miles probably trying to find someone to run the second half, and he was very noticeable since it was so rare to see someone on the course.

I heard in the old days through Wellesley they had people cheering on both sides and it was narrow through that section but they kept everyone on one side now.

USA, Land of the Free, lmfao

If all that happened was one cop went and asked the group nicely, but you still had your claim that other groups were doing the same thing (you haven't offered proof) and not getting the stern talking-to, do you really think you'd say, ah well, that's alright then. I don't, because I know how these things always work. If Remy nonetheless made a video claiming racism because one cop talked to him, certain people would still have the knee-jerk reaction to jump into the fight on his side, it's just how people work. But look at how this thread has gone: We've watched the issue shift from "Boston cops were racist to these guys specifically!" to "Boston cops weren't enforcing the rules the same on other groups (allegedly) doing the same thing, and maybe that was kind of racist!" to "okay, but cops do tend to over-police minority groups you know..." We went from a specific flame, to a bit of a spark, to an encyclopedia article on the chemistry of how fire works.

This is often how these viral incidents end up, the initial claim is debunked so we shift to a more general grievance because doing so keeps the people who were wrong in the first instance from having to concede they were wrong. See the video linked below for a pretty solid analysis of this technique or tendency of claims to shift under examination, presented by a hardcore leftist by the way. But fine, I'll grant you that police often racially profile people and bring harsher responses to minorities than to white people, though I think young and poor white people get messed with beyond the call of their infractions as well. It's a pretty well known phenomenon on some college campuses that police look for petty infractions by students to get them into the legal system, which then overcharges them half to death. Plenty of cases of young white guys caught taking a leak in an alley after a party, bothering no one, who are caught and then threatened with a charge that would put them on the sex offender registry unless they plead guilty to a ridiculous, but not quite so egregious, charge, which will come with a nice hefty fine for the state's coffers.

Lol no way. Kara is the epitome of what's wrong with social media. She joins a pile on with no attempt to consider there might be more to the story. Time and time again this happens. People get agitated and angry, then further facts emerge painting a completely different picture. People like Kara never post an update or an apology. The true story never gets the coverage of the originally viral outrageous version. No accountability.

Why is she calling out the "running community?" I doubt those cops are runners (or racist for that matter.) I've run Boston 4 times, 2 after the bombing and my husband couldn't get past cops to watch me at all and he's white. But he is bald so maybe they thought he was a white supremacist.

Kara is a clown.

Had nothing to do with them being black…

In a written statement, the Newton police said that they were respectful in their response.
"After being notified by the B.A.A. three times about spectators traversing the rope barrier and impeding runners, the Newton Police Department responded respectfully and repeatedly requesting that spectators stay behind the rope and not encroach onto the course," police Chief John Carmichael said.
"When spectators continued to cross the rope, [Newton Police] with additional officers calmly used bicycles for a short period to demarcate the course and keep both the runners and spectators safe," the written statement said.

wcvb.com

Marathon spectators say they were intimidated by police

https://www.facebook.com/

"They definitely made us feel like we don't belong there, that we're not welcomed there even though we've been there for five years."

Link:www.wcvb.com/amp/article/boston-marath...

Next year I expect there will be the barriers instead of rope along that stretch like much of the course.

Interesting thread.

Having been deep in running "crew culture" for about a decade, I can tell you that this (mostly white) groups are absolutely crazy about cheer-zone/beer-zones, aggressive high-fives whether you want it or not, etc etc. Don't know if I've ever seen a confetti cannon, but it sounds like it would fit in with the antics crews have been bringing for years.

In all these years and dozens of large races partying with crews, I have NEVER seen police get involved, ever, and I sure as heck haven't seen a situation that couldn't be been handled with a few friendly words from officials (or neighboring fans) to the ultra-enthusiastic hardcore crew people.

Let's be honest: black people are more likely to have the cops called on them, and if called cops are more likely to have an over-the-top response to black people. Everyone knows this. Remember that Central Park dog park lady? There's a reason she immediately specified that a black man was bothering her.

I find it really funny when people deny this. I'm a pretty light mixed person, and every weekend I see the difference between hanging out with white friends and black friends in public. With a mostly-white group we can be as loud as we want and pretty much do whatever, whereas with a mostly-black group in the same city people are immediately unpleasant to us even if we're not loud. (And yes the cops are MUCH more likely to somehow come poking around a black barbeque, ha!)

I was standing right next to this club during most of the marathon. Whenever one of their runners would come by, a large group of the spectators (sometimes 10 or more) would duck the barrier, run onto the course, and huddle around their runner while shooting off confetti canons on the course and waving their running club’s flag. They would then run with the runner for several meters. They did this many times. That’s why police came and formed a barrier to stop them from doing this, which is explicitly not allowed by the BAA (running onto the course and also throwing anything, including confetti) onto the course. Context matters.

Either this is brilliant satire, or you don't know what racism is. On LR, sadly, I am more likely to assume one than the other.

We've already established the police's issue with the group was not merely that they were "loud and excited." Video of other groups running onto the course, leaping over barriers, etc. would be the start of proof for your earlier assertion about unequal enforcement. Video of police being present and witnessing such behavior from white fans, but ignoring it, would be good evidence. Video of members of the same police department that acted against the black group ignoring white intruders would be the best evidence. Video simply showing the group at issue after they'd been "boxed in," along with a tweet impliedly misstating the other side's claim, just ain't it. If you can find that proof, great! I'm a fan of evidence, I'm never inconvincible.