Why do I feel sympathetic towards the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I saw that man in the wheelchair with the flesh blown from his legs. That one spindly leg bone hanging down with no meat on it, and that gray shocked look on his face. I think of that sweet little boy who wanted peace, blown to bits and his sister's leg blown off. His momma with brain damage. Should I go on? The person who did this, chose to. And he look into the eyes of his victim as he dropped the bomb at their feet. He walked off knowing that they would be killed. He deserves no sympathy.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP It is people like you that let killers go free. There is evil in the world. He killed a number of people. He drove over his brother while his brother lay dying. Save your sympathy for those who deserve it. How about the parents of the boy? The crippled guy? The young and dead police officer? Every evil person has a "story" many of them sound good. That does not make a killer good. I do hope you are disqualified for jury duty.

No one is suggesting he should go free. He will not, nor should he. But juries are not only the realm of the vengeful, those who are able to examine the complexities of this human world are at LEAST as valuable as those who believe an eye for an eye would be a better way to live.

[Anonymous]

How does everyone feel about the Menendez brothers - Lyle and Eric shotgunned their parents in cold blood to get their hands on their parents' money? Think Eric was 19 and Lyle 21 at the time. They look whitish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I saw that man in the wheelchair with the flesh blown from his legs. That one spindly leg bone hanging down with no meat on it, and that gray shocked look on his face. I think of that sweet little boy who wanted peace, blown to bits and his sister's leg blown off. His momma with brain damage. Should I go on? The person who did this, chose to. And he look into the eyes of his victim as he dropped the bomb at their feet. He walked off knowing that they would be killed. He deserves no sympathy.

Can we politely agree that we have a slight difference of opinion and that's okay? As an echo of the teamwork we saw demonstrated in Boston, it'd be nice if this thread didn't dissolve into vitriol but a place for people to respectfully state their opinions. There is enough room here for all of our perspectives.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I understand some of what you're feeling. I see a 19 year old who may have been damaged in some way we don't yet know about, or under the influence of an older brother or family/trusted friend in an unhealthy way, etc... We just don't know. But I too feel some concern for him - and especially his family. I am glad that the police were able to bring him in alive - I think it speaks very well for everyone involved that he was brought in with a chance to shed some light on what happened and for his family to perhaps have a chance to see him again.

It's tremendously sad all the way around. To the posters who think it's a racial thing to feel sympathy towards one person rather than another - that isn't necessarily the case. I had many similar (even stronger/more clear) feelings of sympathy for Lee Boyd Malvo. To me age plays a larger role than anything else.

Either way, I think the ability of people to see the complexities of a situation, and feel empathy for all parties, is reflection on the basic goodness of humanity and the mature, thoughtful abilities of grown ups.

I agree with this.

I think it's more convenient to think there is something extraordinary about this boy. It helps us think that our 19 year old boys won't do this type of thing because they are 'smarter/more loved/more kind' than the suspect.

I get what you're saying OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I saw that man in the wheelchair with the flesh blown from his legs. That one spindly leg bone hanging down with no meat on it, and that gray shocked look on his face. I think of that sweet little boy who wanted peace, blown to bits and his sister's leg blown off. His momma with brain damage. Should I go on? The person who did this, chose to. And he look into the eyes of his victim as he dropped the bomb at their feet. He walked off knowing that they would be killed. He deserves no sympathy.

Where did you see she has suffered brain damage? What kind of damages are we talking here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is such an odd story. A kid who was smart (skipped a grade), popular, athletic, social and had a bright future. No sign of involvement with any radical organization or activities. No antisocial behavior. Just a typical teen.

The only thing I saw was that he had started failing courses in the last year. And that one girl said he acted oddly at her house (spread string cheese all over her couch). So something was going on. What I feel sympathy for is that when things started going wrong, that there wasn't someone ( a positive influence) there to step in and help him. I am guessing it was his brother he turned too and it sounds like his brother was possibly involved in radical organizations.

He also carried on after the bombing as though life was fine - went to class, to the gym, went to a party, posted on twitter. Almost like he completely compartmentalized or disassociated himself from what he did just a day or two before.

I too hold him fully responsible for his actions, he knew what he was doing but I am very interested in how he got caught up in this.

He grew up in a war torn country and is from a culture of ethnic hate. How is this odd?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because he's white and good looking, basically. People are literally that dumb.

Yup. I've noticed that people have a lot more sympathy for the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and James Holmes than they did for Lee Boyd Malvo or Seung Cho. Many people react to the former two as tragic characters who had something that "turned" them wrong. And far more people react to the latter two as "they are evil". I heard so many people say that the black Malvo was destined to be a criminal because he's black and that Cho was a terrorist and that because of him we need to improve our border security because you can't trust "them."

So many people do react so subconsciously just seeing the non-white killers.

I don't know what planet you are living on, but I have never heard anyone express any kind of sympathy for James Holmes. Zero. The only responses ever expressed about. Him is that he is a scary, crazed monster.

This is not a race issue. The puzzle pieces don't appear to fit together on this kid. With the others, including the Columbine and Sandy Hook shooters, there were things about the kids that on face value provided some logic and with this terrorist there is nothing at first glance.

[Anonymous]

In some ways I do too. Like I did with lee malvo. While there is no excuse for what he did,perhaps his home life which we do not know could be a contributing factor. It is all so terribly sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I saw that man in the wheelchair with the flesh blown from his legs. That one spindly leg bone hanging down with no meat on it, and that gray shocked look on his face. I think of that sweet little boy who wanted peace, blown to bits and his sister's leg blown off. His momma with brain damage. Should I go on? The person who did this, chose to. And he look into the eyes of his victim as he dropped the bomb at their feet. He walked off knowing that they would be killed. He deserves no sympathy.

+1

That same victim is the one who gave the FBI the description they needed to identify the bombers. There is a fundraiser for him in case you are interested. Please consider giving and share with others.


http://www.gofundme.com/BucksforBauman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because he's white and good looking, basically. People are literally that dumb.

Yup. I've noticed that people have a lot more sympathy for the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and James Holmes than they did for Lee Boyd Malvo or Seung Cho. Many people react to the former two as tragic characters who had something that "turned" them wrong. And far more people react to the latter two as "they are evil". I heard so many people say that the black Malvo was destined to be a criminal because he's black and that Cho was a terrorist and that because of him we need to improve our border security because you can't trust "them."

So many people do react so subconsciously just seeing the non-white killers.

I don't know what planet you are living on, but I have never heard anyone express any kind of sympathy for James Holmes. Zero. The only responses ever expressed about. Him is that he is a scary, crazed monster.

This is not a race issue. The puzzle pieces don't appear to fit together on this kid. With the others, including the Columbine and Sandy Hook shooters, there were things about the kids that on face value provided some logic and with this terrorist there is nothing at first glance.

There are websites dedicated to Holmes where woman who find him attractive go chat. It's not uncommon for people to have fantasies about killers, especially attractive ones. See: Manson, Bundy, BTK, etc.

[Anonymous]

http://jezebel.com/5927828/disturbing-james-holmes-twitter-groupies-think-hes-hot-sexy-cute

Holmsies - it is very disturbing

http://thejamesholmes.tumblr.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because he's white and good looking, basically. People are literally that dumb.

Yup. I've noticed that people have a lot more sympathy for the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and James Holmes than they did for Lee Boyd Malvo or Seung Cho. Many people react to the former two as tragic characters who had something that "turned" them wrong. And far more people react to the latter two as "they are evil". I heard so many people say that the black Malvo was destined to be a criminal because he's black and that Cho was a terrorist and that because of him we need to improve our border security because you can't trust "them."
So many people do react so subconsciously just seeing the non-white killers.

I don't know what planet you are living on, but I have never heard anyone express any kind of sympathy for James Holmes. Zero. The only responses ever expressed about. Him is that he is a scary, crazed monster.

This is not a race issue. The puzzle pieces don't appear to fit together on this kid. With the others, including the Columbine and Sandy Hook shooters, there were things about the kids that on face value provided some logic and with this terrorist there is nothing at first glance.

There are websites dedicated to Holmes where woman who find him attractive go chat. It's not uncommon for people to have fantasies about killers, especially attractive ones. See: Manson, Bundy, BTK, etc.

If so, that is not a race thing. That is a bunch of messed up crazy women.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I saw that man in the wheelchair with the flesh blown from his legs. That one spindly leg bone hanging down with no meat on it, and that gray shocked look on his face. I think of that sweet little boy who wanted peace, blown to bits and his sister's leg blown off. His momma with brain damage. Should I go on? The person who did this, chose to. And he look into the eyes of his victim as he dropped the bomb at their feet. He walked off knowing that they would be killed. He deserves no sympathy.

Where did you see she has suffered brain damage? What kind of damages are we talking here?

Not PP but think I read that she has a brain injury and they don't know the long term prognosis.

[Anonymous]

For Martin Richard's family:
http://richardfamilyfund.org/


Please post if anyone sees anything for these brothers:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/15/mother-nightmare-two-sons-two-lost-limbs/67hOUjic1trR7AkX6kZZsI/story.html

They were recently laid off from their jobs as roofers. Each lost a leg.