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| On a Field at M.I.T., 10,000 Remember an Officer Who Was Killed | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — More than 10,000 people, many of them uniformed police or military officers, gathered Wednesday on a tightly secured athletic field at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to remember Sean A. Collier, the campus police officer who the authorities say was gunned down by the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings. | CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — More than 10,000 people, many of them uniformed police or military officers, gathered Wednesday on a tightly secured athletic field at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to remember Sean A. Collier, the campus police officer who the authorities say was gunned down by the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings. |
| Officer Collier’s brother, Rob Rogers, looked over the crowd, which included Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, and took a breath. | Officer Collier’s brother, Rob Rogers, looked over the crowd, which included Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, and took a breath. |
| “People ask me, if Sean were here, what would he think? Are you kidding me? He would love this,” Mr. Rogers said. “You’ve got sirens, flashing lights, formations, people saluting, bagpipes, taps, the American flag. He would have loved it.” | “People ask me, if Sean were here, what would he think? Are you kidding me? He would love this,” Mr. Rogers said. “You’ve got sirens, flashing lights, formations, people saluting, bagpipes, taps, the American flag. He would have loved it.” |
| Officer Collier, 27, was remembered as a curious and charismatic officer who had wanted to be a policeman since he was 7 years old. He took an active role in campus life, said M.I.T.’s president, L. Rafael Reif, asking students about their studies and joining the outdoors club, whose conditioning workouts — climbing 21 flights of stairs — he performed in full uniform. | Officer Collier, 27, was remembered as a curious and charismatic officer who had wanted to be a policeman since he was 7 years old. He took an active role in campus life, said M.I.T.’s president, L. Rafael Reif, asking students about their studies and joining the outdoors club, whose conditioning workouts — climbing 21 flights of stairs — he performed in full uniform. |
| “In just 15 months, he built a life with us that was rich in friendship and shared adventure,” Dr. Reif said. “And he touched people across our community with his deep kindness and openhearted willingness to help, his humor and enthusiasm, his playful charm.” | “In just 15 months, he built a life with us that was rich in friendship and shared adventure,” Dr. Reif said. “And he touched people across our community with his deep kindness and openhearted willingness to help, his humor and enthusiasm, his playful charm.” |
| The memorial’s speakers, who included Mr. Biden and Senator Warren, struggled to comprehend the circumstances around Officer Collier’s death. He is thought to have been sitting in his cruiser when the Tsarnaev brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar, approached his car from behind and shot him, the authorities believe. | The memorial’s speakers, who included Mr. Biden and Senator Warren, struggled to comprehend the circumstances around Officer Collier’s death. He is thought to have been sitting in his cruiser when the Tsarnaev brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar, approached his car from behind and shot him, the authorities believe. |
| “It is so difficult to understand why such a senseless, brutal act was perpetrated on such a gentle, caring young man,” said the M.I.T. police chief, John DiFava. | “It is so difficult to understand why such a senseless, brutal act was perpetrated on such a gentle, caring young man,” said the M.I.T. police chief, John DiFava. |
| During an emotional address, Mr. Biden drew on his own experience of losing a child, and reflected broadly — and colorfully — on what had motivated the bombers to commit their terrorism. | During an emotional address, Mr. Biden drew on his own experience of losing a child, and reflected broadly — and colorfully — on what had motivated the bombers to commit their terrorism. |
| “Why, whether it’s Al Qaeda,” asked Mr. Biden, “or two twisted, perverted, cowardly knockoff jihadis here in Boston, why do they do what they do?” | “Why, whether it’s Al Qaeda,” asked Mr. Biden, “or two twisted, perverted, cowardly knockoff jihadis here in Boston, why do they do what they do?” |
| “They do it to instill fear,” Mr. Biden said. He later said, “We have suffered, we are grieving, but we are not bending.” | “They do it to instill fear,” Mr. Biden said. He later said, “We have suffered, we are grieving, but we are not bending.” |
| Addressing the students present, Mr. Biden cited the diversity of M.I.T., as well as its intellectual firepower. | Addressing the students present, Mr. Biden cited the diversity of M.I.T., as well as its intellectual firepower. |
| “You are their worst nightmare,” Mr. Biden said. “All the things these perverted jihadis — self-made or organized — all the things they fear.” | “You are their worst nightmare,” Mr. Biden said. “All the things these perverted jihadis — self-made or organized — all the things they fear.” |
| Sitting on an adjacent field after the service, David Cohen-Tanugi, 26, a graduate student in the materials science department, said the service had given the university a rare, communal chance to process the fact that it, too, was involved in the events that unfolded in Boston last week. “M.I.T. has a reputation as a very functional place, where people don’t spend much time thinking about pomp and circumstance, and fuzzy feelings,” Mr. Cohen-Tanugi said. “This has struck a chord in the M.I.T. community that’s a very hard chord to strike.” | Sitting on an adjacent field after the service, David Cohen-Tanugi, 26, a graduate student in the materials science department, said the service had given the university a rare, communal chance to process the fact that it, too, was involved in the events that unfolded in Boston last week. “M.I.T. has a reputation as a very functional place, where people don’t spend much time thinking about pomp and circumstance, and fuzzy feelings,” Mr. Cohen-Tanugi said. “This has struck a chord in the M.I.T. community that’s a very hard chord to strike.” |
| Leaving the service, Mariah Murray, 21, a senior studying mechanical engineering, said Officer Collier’s death had led many students to reflect differently on campus security officers — a group with whom this playful campus is sometimes at odds. “We do things like hacks, pranks, exploring parts of campus that we’re not meant to be on, almost like it’s a game,” Ms. Murray said. “I don’t think we realized how much they protect us.” | Leaving the service, Mariah Murray, 21, a senior studying mechanical engineering, said Officer Collier’s death had led many students to reflect differently on campus security officers — a group with whom this playful campus is sometimes at odds. “We do things like hacks, pranks, exploring parts of campus that we’re not meant to be on, almost like it’s a game,” Ms. Murray said. “I don’t think we realized how much they protect us.” |
| The service offered thousands of police officers — from Canada, from neighboring states and from communities all over New England — a chance to say goodbye to one of their own. | The service offered thousands of police officers — from Canada, from neighboring states and from communities all over New England — a chance to say goodbye to one of their own. |
| “Boston was under attack, and this poor kid was a victim of it,” said Detective Rick Corazzini, 59, of the Police Department in Lexington, Mass. “Everybody sort of did take this personally.” | “Boston was under attack, and this poor kid was a victim of it,” said Detective Rick Corazzini, 59, of the Police Department in Lexington, Mass. “Everybody sort of did take this personally.” |
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: |
| Correction: April 24, 2013 | Correction: April 24, 2013 |
An earlier version of this article, using information supplied by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, misstated the age of the slain campus officer, Sean Collier. He was 27, not 26. | An earlier version of this article, using information supplied by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, misstated the age of the slain campus officer, Sean Collier. He was 27, not 26. |