Survivors of last year’s Boston Marathon bombing commemorated Tuesday’s anniversary of the deadly blast with solemn ceremonies and a shared determination to keep moving forward.
Gathering at the now-sacred site where two homemade pressure-cooker bombs ripped through a dense crowd near the race’s finish line, runners, spectators and supporters paused to reflect on the moment their lives changed forever.
“Last year, I was on the ground at the finish line,” said Kevin White, who was injured by shrapnel that ripped through his legs. “This year I’ll be running across it. It kind of proves to people that evil isn’t going to win.”
White’s 71-year-old father, Bill, lost a leg in the bombing.
The ceremony was attended by the families of the three bombing fatalities — 8-year-old Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell, 29, and Lu Lingzi, 23 — as well as relatives of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Officer Sean Collier, who was killed by the suspects three days after the bombings.
The families placed flowers at the finish line and exchanged hugs in the hallways of the city’s convention center, where dignitaries saluted the survivors, many who were maimed by the blast, for their bravery and inspiration.
Late Tuesday, however, the somber day was marred but what appeared to a deranged hoaxster.
Boston Police detained a barefoot man who barged toward the finish line at around 7 p.m. wearing a black dress and a backpack carrying a rice cooker filled with confetti, according to CBS Boston.
Kayvon Edson, 25, was shouting “Boston Strong” when he approached the finish line in the dress and long black veil, the CBS web site said. One witness said that Edson told the officers he was an art student and the rice cooker was “a prop.”
The area around Boylston Street was evacuated until police could detonate the bag with the rice cooker and a second bag that contained photo equipment, CBS Boston said.
The suspect was in custody Tuesday night, according to Boston Police.
Earlier in the day, mourners on Boylston Street remembered the victims with an emotional tribute.
“We would never wish the devastation and pain we have experienced on any of you,” survivor Patrick Downes told the thousands of people who filled the Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center.
“However, we do wish that all of you, at some point in your lives, feel as loved as we have felt this last year. It has been the most humbling experience of our lives. We hope you feel all the emotion we feel when we say thank you.”
Downes was a newlywed at the time of the attack. He and his wife, Jessica Kensky, both lost a leg.
Not even a steady rain that soaked the city for much of the day Tuesday could dampen the spirit of survivors who endured months of grueling rehabilitation.
Their prosthetics helped them climb stairs at the convention center and stand for the national anthem, but they also stood out as badges of courage and honor in the face of evil terror.
Dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis, who lost a leg to the blast, said she hoped future anniversaries would become days of action instead of days of remembrance.
“The city has stood by us, supported us, and helped us heal,” Haslet-Davis said. “It is up to us to make sure that every single second after counts because, believe me, they do. “Look around. People in your community need your support, they need your patience, and they need your time.”
More than 260 people were injured in the blasts. Three days after the terror attack, Officer Collier was killed in a confrontation with the alleged bombers, brothers ¬Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
But the sentiments of the anniversary, with its musical tributes, its moments of silence and its tolling church bells are not expected to match the emotions that will be on display next Monday when Boston stages its first marathon since the deadly bombings.
President Obama said this year’s race will “show the world the meaning of Boston Strong as a city chooses to run again.”
“This day will always be hard, but this place will always be strong,” former Mayor Thomas Menino told the audience of 2,500 people at the convention center.
Additional reporting by Marcia Scott Harrison