Mon Jan 1, 0001

Boston Marathon Bombing: Shelter-in-Place and Warrantless Searches (2013)

Reference thread: https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/Continued-The-Boston-bombing-and-how-martial-law-was-enacted/5-2841380/ (Arfcom thread documenting events; fetched 403 — review manually for firsthand accounts and photos)

Timeline

  • April 15, 2013: Boston Marathon bombing (Tsarnaev brothers). 3 killed, 264 injured.
  • April 18-19, 2013: MIT officer killed. Shootout in Watertown, MA. Tamerlan Tsarnaev killed. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev fled on foot.

The Lockdown

Governor Deval Patrick ordered nearly one million people to “shelter in place.” Businesses, schools, courthouses shut down. Public transportation halted. Roads closed in and out of Watertown.

Media described it as a “lockdown order.” Governor’s office maintained it was a “request.” ACLU was told the order was voluntary and non-compliance would not result in arrest.

Door-to-Door Searches in Watertown

Law enforcement defined 20-block perimeter. Conducted door-to-door warrantless searches of every residence within the perimeter.

What Residents Experienced

  • SWAT teams in military equipment with assault rifles stormed from armored vehicles into homes
  • Families held at gunpoint
  • Residents ordered to exit homes with hands behind heads
  • Blackhawk helicopters overhead
  • Armored vehicles with mounted weapons in residential streets

One homeowner: police “asked” permission but had guns pointed at his face. He did not feel he had a choice. Questions raised about whether consent is meaningful at gunpoint.

ACLU received reports from Watertown residents that rights were violated during manhunt. Began verifying claims.

Exigent Circumstances Doctrine

Authorities justified warrantless searches under exigent circumstances: permits warrantless searches to prevent imminent danger. The Atlantic and some legal analysts argued searches were legal under this doctrine.

Fourth Amendment Concerns

Critics noted:

  • Police had NOT pursued suspect into a specific house (weakening hot pursuit argument)
  • Searching every house in a 20-block radius is a general search, not a targeted one
  • The “voluntary” shelter-in-place was enforced by overwhelming armed presence
  • No judicial review or warrant process for any of the searches
  • Precedent concerns: if a single fugitive justifies warrantless search of every home in a 20-block area, what doesn’t?

No court case resulted because no one was charged based on evidence found during the searches. Without a prosecution using tainted evidence, there was no standing to challenge the searches.

Outcome

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was ultimately found by a Watertown resident (David Henneberry) in a boat in his backyard AFTER the shelter-in-place was lifted — not during the door-to-door searches.

Sources