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Touchline • Issue 16 • 37
director of the Homeland Security Police Institute said that “In
terms of both scale and scope, the shelter-in-place that was
enforced was extraordinary, perhaps even unprecedented, but
so too were the circumstances. . .I think what you saw here was
a prudent number and series of steps that were taken that very
well could have saved lives.”
But Cilluffo’s opinion is not shared by many other Americans.
They see the lock-down as evidence of the slow shedding of
freedom that began with the Patriot Act after 9/11. They say it
is a form of martial law.
Perhaps most vocal in his opposition to future lock-downs
is former Republican and current libertarian Ron Paul. The
outspoken politician is known for his extremist views, but he
speaks for many Americans who believe in freedom above
all else. “The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for
the government to turn what should have been a police
investigation into a military-style occupation of an American
city. This unprecedented move should frighten us as much or
more than the attack itself,” he said.
But it is not only the extreme right that is worried by the
lock-down precedent. Comedian and political commentator
Bill Maher warned of a police state on his show, claiming it as
evidence of a creeping “police state”.
Firing back, the Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick said
that “There was a firefight out here last night [with] some
200 rounds and explosives, so we were very justified, I believe,
based on what we understood about the investigation, in
taking what we knew was a big step.”
Champion Red Sox baseballer is unbowed by the effect of the
lock-down. “We won’t be giving up any civil liberties to keep
ourselves safe because of this,” he said soon after the attacks.
There is, however, a further complication that comes with
a global lock-down, beyond the limiting of liberties. Terror
is enhanced through exposure: hence the vulnerability of
sporting events. But they also benefit from causing disruption
and havoc. Should lock-downs become a normal response to
terror, it may just encourage the terrorists.
“The payoff to the would-be terrorists is the most disruption
you can get,” says Stephen Flynn, who directs Northeastern
University’s George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland
Security. “So on the one hand, you’re trying to obviously
safeguard life and property. On the other, you want to make
sure that you’re not creating, essentially, future motivation for
follow-on attacks to take place because [of] the possibility
[that] if you carry out one of these horrific acts, you can shut
down a major city.”
The Boston Bombings were a horrible, senseless tragedy.
But the way the authorities reacted should give everyone,
particularly those involved in sporting events, pause for
thought.
© RUSSAVIA