Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged Monday with
conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction.
A federal court spokesman said Tsarnaev, 19, made his first court appearance on
the charges stemming from last week's finish line bombing from his hospital bed
at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
The bombing killed three people and injured more than 170. Tsarnaev was injured
Friday during a shootout with police that left his brother, Tamerlan, 26, dead
in the early morning hours and again as police closed in on him later in the
day.
"Although our investigation is ongoing, today's charges bring a successful end
to a tragic week for the city of Boston and for our country," U.S. Attorney
General Eric Holder said. "We've once again shown that those who target innocent
Americans and attempt to terrorize our cities will not escape from justice. We
will hold those who are responsible for these heinous acts accountable to the
fullest extent of the law."
Prosecutors said in addition to the conspiracy charge, Tsarnaev also is accused
of malicious destruction of property by means of an explosive device resulting
in death, the Boston Globe reported.
An FBI affidavit said review of surveillance tapes, pictures and videos taken by
the public indicates the suspect stood next to one of the bombs for four minutes
with a cellphone in hand, apparently taking a picture of the device before
walking away.
"Approximately 30 seconds before the first explosion, he lifts his phone to his
ear as if he is speaking on his cell phone, and keeps it there for approximately
18 seconds. A few seconds after he finishes the call, the large crowd of people
around him can be seen reacting to the first explosion," the document said.
"Virtually every head turns to the east [towards the finish line] and stares in
that direction in apparent bewilderment and alarm. Bomber Two, virtually alone
among the individuals in front of the restaurant, appears calm. He glances to
the east and then calmly but rapidly begins moving west, away from the direction
of the finish line.
"He walks away without his knapsack, having left it on the ground where he had
been standing. Approximately, 10 seconds later, an explosion occurs in the
location where Bomber Two had placed his knapsack."
A second affidavit reveals "a large pyrotechnic, a black jacket and white hat of
the same general appearance as those worn by Bomber Two at the Boston Marathon"
were found in Tsarnaev's University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth dorm room, the
Globe said.
The charges came as Krystle Campbell, 29, one of the three killed in last
Monday's bombing, was buried. A moment of silence was to be observed at 2:50
p.m., the time the first bomb exploded.
The day's event will also include a memorial service at Boston University and a
funeral.
A memorial service is scheduled for Wednesday for Sean A. Collier, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer killed Thursday night in
his patrol car allegedly by the brothers,
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told CNN Monday evidence collected so far
indicates the brothers were planning more mayhem.
"The two suspects were armed with handguns at the scene of the shoot-out. And
there were multiple explosive devices, including a large one that was similar to
the pressure cooker device that was found on Boylston Street [at the finish
line]," Davis said.
"I saw that with my own eyes. I believe that the only reason that someone would
have those in their possession was to further attack people and cause more --
more death and destruction."
A wake for Krystle Campbell, 29, began the week of memorials. Campbell died from
wounds she received in the bombing. She was buried Monday.
Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, speaking at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in
Boston, noted many of the 170 wounded at the race had prayed at the church the
week before.
O'Malley called on those in attendance to "be a people of reconciliation, not
revenge."
About three dozen victims remained hospitalized Monday, with three in critical
condition.
Tsarnaev was in critical but stable condition with a gunshot wound to the neck,
Boston police said, but was responding to questions in writing.
The type of neck wound indicates he may have tried to kill himself, authorities
said.
It "had the appearance of a close-range, self-inflicted style," a senior U.S.
official told The New York Times.
Investigators are asking him about other possible cell members and other
unexploded bombs, sources told ABC. The sources didn't say what Tsarnaev wrote
in response.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Davis said they believed Tsarnaev and his brother
acted alone.
When the suspects seized a Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle and held the
driver hostage, they told him they planned to go to New York, the senior U.S.
official told the Times.
It was not immediately clear if they told the driver what they planned to do in
New York.
Davis also told The Boston Globe Tamerlan Tsarnaev appeared to have died because
his younger brother drove over him in the stolen SUV in a desperate getaway.
He said the older Tsarnaev was alive and struggling with police until Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev drove over him, dragging him on the pavement and apparently inflicting
the fatal injuries that killed him.
The younger Tsarnaev was captured Friday night, after hiding for hours in a boat
stored in a Watertown back yard.
The Globe reported Tamerlan Tsarnaev angrily disrupted talks at his mosque that
he though conflicted with Islamic teachings. One of those talks involved a
comparison between the Prophet Muhammad and civil rights leader the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr. In the second incident, Tsarnaev called the speaker a hypocrite
and accused him of contaminating people's minds.
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News Column
Marathon Bombing Suspect Charged
Apr 22 2013 12:37PM
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Source: Copyright UPI 2013
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