Murder Is Easy, So How Do We Stop Wanton Violence?

Clarifying what happened after a homicide provides some sense of closure and it makes each tragedy less powerful. A noble reason local news outlets don’t often go into depth (besides the fact that following a case through takes a lot of time) on murder investigations is the idea that publicizing murder inspires new violence. Combine this sensibility with the “if it bleeds it leads” click-bait mentality, and media inspired by murder becomes flippant and unhelpful.

It’s grim to give a death more time than (for example) a local basketball game or a food pantry. Good news is valuable, but these tragedies are not news. They are complex stories with clear beginnings and clear endings (preferably in court rooms). Dwelling on unsolved cases opens inquiry to the communities effected, and it also reminds killers that these crimes are not forgotten.

Posts on this site evolve with time. They start small, because the goal is to create as many public cold case files as possible. With the engagement of those directly effected, these files can grow to include vlogs and oral histories, memories about the victims and other details that might help to identify killers. The ambition is to map all of the murders that occurred in Boston between 1970 and now, but no case is too old or too odd to explore.

The first entry on this site, for Crispus Attucks and his compatriots, acknowledges the complexity of this task. Not every case is solved satisfactorily. Sometimes the official narrative can seem suspiciously convenient. Still, records matter, and often it is possible to parse out some semblance of historical truth. This will take time, years. The hope is that a public database of case files will discourage future murders, and generate public discourse on trauma recovery.

Trauma and Change, Motivational Video by CWill Inspire

Christian Williams, a media and lifestyles coach, goes by CWill Inspire online. He creates inspirational long form videos and discussions on various digital platforms about branding and building self-confidence. With this exclusive lesson on self-transformation, Christian discusses one of the life shaping traumas he shared with neighbors in Mattapan.

Propaganda from Boston Shooting Ignited the Revolution

Paul Revere’s engraving, depicting The Boston Massacre, was one of the most effective pieces of propaganda in opposition to British rule of the American colonies.

March 5, 1770, up to 500 protesters gathered in front of the Customs House on King (now State) Street. Dock workers and merchants chanted “Shoot and be damned” at nine British soldiers, the 29th Regiment stationed in Boston to enforce the Townshend Acts. Captain Preston, leading the regiment, ordered his solders not to shoot. But the assembling crowd grew increasingly hectic. They threw snowballs, and supposedly a stick hit one of the Privates. He shot his musket.

A volley of shots followed, killing Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, Patrick Carr, and Christopher Monk. This came to be known as The Boston Massacre.

The victims were tradesmen of different sorts. Attucks worked as a merchant seaman for more than 20 years, after having escaped from slavery. Gray worked as a rope maker, and he was known as a hearty street agitator and brawler. Maverick was just passing through the protest when the shooting began, and he apprenticed (it’s believed) for a carpenter. Caldwell was a sailor on the brig “The Hawk,” importing rum and molasses from the West Indies. Carr was an Irish immigrant and leather worker who reportedly said on his deathbed that he did not blame the soldiers because they were so brutally harassed. Monk died ten years after the incident from a shot above the groin that left him severely disabled.

Myths and legends about this event spread quickly in its aftermath, ignited in part by an engraving created by Paul Revere. The broadside print distributed widely, fomenting revolutionary ideas. It included this poem:

Unhappy Boston! See thy sons deplore,
Thy Hallow'd Walks, besmear'd with guiltless Gore:
While faithless — and his savage Bands,
With murd'rous Rancour stretch their bloody Hands;
Like fierce Barbarians grinning o'er their Prey,
Approve the Carnage, and enjoy the Day.

The British occupation of Boston began in 1768. Samuel Adams and other prominent locals agitated against the Crown. The Massacre was one of the major triggers that set off the Revolution.

Boston courts convicted two British soldiers for killing the protesters. By the end of March, a grand jury indicted eight British regular soldiers and Captain Thomas Preston for discharged weapons in downtown Boston. Nine months later they were tried. Two soldiers were convicted, Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Killroy. Their thumbs were branded, and they were discharged from the army.

John Adams defended the soldiers. He wrote on the third anniversary of the Boston Massacre: “Judgment of Death against those Soldiers would have been as foul a Stain upon this Country . . . As the Evidence was, the Verdict of the Jury was exactly right. But it is the strongest Proofs of the Danger of Standing Armies.”

The funeral for the protesters killed became an opportunity for further protest.

The information for this article was compiled from bostonmassacre.net, crispusattucksmuseum.org and thefreedomtrail.org/trail-sites/boston-massacre-site