Boston police saved the city, unlike at Hillsborough
The Boston Marathon bombing hit home for a great deal of Elon University students. With such a strong representation of Bostonians and other New Englanders, it didn’t feel like we were 700 miles from the attack. Being exactly one year removed from the bombing has left many still with heavy hearts. But, there was at least some sense of closure when the Tsarnaev brothers were caught and the surviving one was arrested. The Boston Marathon bombing occurred exactly 24 years, to the day, after arguably the worst tragedy in sports history, yet nobody is exactly certain as to what happened. On April 15, 1989 soccer fans packed Sheffield’s Hillsborough Stadium for an FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forrest. An overpacked Leppings Lane grandstand created a human crush, like a stampede, that killed 96 and injured 766. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUuSHrhPQyk The incident was horrifying, but the aftermath may have been even worse. In the immediate aftermath, the Liverpool fans were blamed. It was thought that drunken Hooligans had forced their way into the stadium without a ticket. But, after two lengthy investigations of the incident, rowdy fans were considered secondary problems. In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing, policemen were rightfully praised for their role in the manhunt. It was their bravery and courage that provided a silver lining in what was a truly horrific incident. At Hillsborough 24 years earlier, spectators were left in the hands of what turned out to be incompetent law enforcement. In an investigation carried out by Lord Justice Taylor, police failed to regulate entry of fans into the stadium. Taylor believed, “policing on April 15 broke down,” and “the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control.” There were not adequate entrances for the fans to enter the Leppings Lane End of the stadium. Police poorly herded fans into the ground, and even failed to block off sections of the stands that were already full.
