I think the more amazing part (if the reports I read are correct) is that "white hat" didn't even have a gun! The thing I think about after this incident is there are supposedly over 700,000 individuals on various government agency "watch lists". That's about 1/4 of 1% of the population of the country spread over who knows how many communities. We also now see how much facial recognition video technology "big brother" has set up to watch us. Especially now with the rise of drones, and given the need for much more coordination between homeland security and state and local police departments has George Orwell's 1984 become reality? I suspect there will be a big push to shred the bill of rights in the name of security. Who needs a warrant if we've got you on hundreds of cameras and spy on you from the sky?

One one hand I think it's a necessary part of our modern more dangerous world, on the other hand I think my children will grow up in a world where the concepts of liberty and freedom are only discussed in the history books.

The police are engaged in an orgy of self congratulation, but I don't know....

If you saw the trail of blood, would you have looked into the boat?

This is why it is extremely important to differentiate between American citizens and people who are not citizens. Even though these guys were immigrants, if I'm not mistaken, the younger one had just received his citizenship fairly recently. Once a person has been made an American citizen, their "American" rights have to be protected. There is a public safety clause for a reason, and that is important. However, I was and am a staunch supporter of the war on terrorism, and the people who are complaining about him being read his miranda rights are wrong. We can't let how we view, protect and implement our human and civil rights fluctuate by our political beliefs. I remember liberals complaining when President Bush was president about how the Republicans were "tearing up the Constitution." Now I hear the same thing from the right about the Obama administration. We have to be more committed to right and wrong than we are to our political preferences...and most people in this country right now are not.

I don't believe the pressure on the police was political, but rather social. Shutting down a city, as far as I know, had never been done before in America. It was appreciated on a Friday, but for it to extend longer would have been incredibly debilitating to people. To be honest, I think the local police did a fantastic job. I am concerned that our immigration policy can allow people from countries with a huge terrorist presence to be in this country on visas after they have received multiple warnings from Russia about their activities. If we don't have the resources to let these people visit as our guests, then they should not be allowed in. Immigration policy needs to begin with the federal government's number one responsibility, public safety.

The police and public were damn lucky. My first thought after the call to shelter was do they think white hat has a nuke strapped to his back? They must have known that he was bleeding. Two dumb terrorists can cause so much chaos, too easily, in a world of cheap bomb making. I worry about the copy cats anxious to get their name and faces in the spotlight.
Certainly, I think the police were too quick to puff out their chests and talk of ferocious gun battles--against one gun and no gun.
Odey Raviv

Thoughtful blog and comments today. And belatedly NYC is told we were next. I agree with Don Bernstein - I would've been tempted, but would not have looked into the boat lest my head get blown off. What were the gunshots that the TV audience was told about - if he was unarmed, was that the police - I thought they wanted to take him alive. And, what a relief it was when the dogs were finally allowed to be walked.

I'm with Don and Dana. I never would have looked in that boat.

The world is becoming scarier and scarier. Our system of Immigration, does indeed, need a serious overhaul. It is technology that saved the City of Boston. How is it possible that we allow people to enter our country, apply and receive citizenship, get an education, welfare benefits, be on watch lists where it is totally improbable that we have enough manpower to "watch" all the people on the list, aliases and false dates of birth are used. Are these terrorist smarter than we are? Are the home made bombs and illegal firearms able to escape detection?

it's all too weird - i don't know what i would have done.......

Many good outcomes include healthy doses of chance. Good decisions often "influence" such outcomes. Here we see how good decisions and chance coincide.

I think we need to be more discerning about taking in immigrants from countries with populations and ideologies that are antithetical to our own American values. And we should also be encouraging foreign students with higher degrees in math and science to stay here once they've graduated. That will help grow our economy enormously.