Tsarnaev Guilty

By: Connor Lenahan

Just minutes ago the jury in the case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the men behind the Boston Marathon Bombing of 2013, announced their verdict.

Guilty on all counts.

This now means that Tsarnaev will move to the sentencing phase of his trial and will almost assuredly be facing wither life in prison or the death penalty as multiple of the thirty counts he faced carried such a possible punishment. As it stands now there is not a time table for this next phase in the trial.

What is true now is that one of the most devastating stories that I have faced in my life as a resident of Boston, which pales in comparison to the feelings of the city as a whole in the face of the attacks, is that justice has at least begun to be served. Now the trial and the memory of the Marathon Bombing can move towards some sort of closure.

I cannot speak for the families of those that were directly effected by the bombings. I cannot speak for those that lost their lives on Boylston Street two years ago. I cannot speak for those that had to run in terror from one of the darkest days in Boston History. I can only speak as someone who has now lived in this amazing city for two years. I can only speak of this place as my adopted home. But it still feels like home to me. Boston, in a relatively short amount of time, has changed my life beyond words. My friends and fellow classmates of Boston University, and certainly the fellow students of the city’s numerous universities would agree with this sentiment. From that standpoint I can say this: Today is a great day for the City of Boston.

We can only hope that today helps bring closure to the families that lost members on that day. We can look forward to April 20th, the day of this year’s marathon, and hope that it will once again be the best day in Boston. Over anything else the key is this: Nothing stops Boston. Tsarnaev may have tried, but he failed. How he will pay for his crimes and we will once again take to the streets to celebrate the best day Boston has.