FBI: Boston suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev followed 'radical Islam'
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A sign outlining "obligatory
prayers" hangs on the sanctuary at the Islamic Society of Boston
Cultural Center in Cambridge, Mass., where the Tsarnaev brothers had
attended.
(Allen Breed / Associated Press / April 19, 2013)
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Deceased Boston Marathon bombing
suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was identified by a foreign government as a
"follower of radical Islam and a strong believer" whose personality had
changed drastically in just a year, according to the FBI.
As investigators considered possible motives for Monday's
fatal bombings, U.S. authorities acknowledged that an unnamed government
had contacted the FBI to say the 26-year-old ethnic Chechen “had
changed drastically” since 2010 and was preparing to leave the United
States “to join unspecified underground groups,” according to an
official statement from the FBI.
U.S. officials have not named the foreign nation, but it is presumed to be Russia. Tsarnaev traveled there in 2012 and stayed for six months.
PHOTOS: Manhunt for bombing suspects
Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, came to the U.S. from Russia about a decade ago as ethnic Chechen refugees and were granted asylum, law enforcement sources have said. Tamerlan, who was killed in a gun battle with police early Friday morning Boston time, was a legal permanent U.S. resident. Dzhokhar, who became a citizen Sept. 11, 2012, was captured after a Friday night shootout with police and remains hospitalized in serious condition. He has not yet been charged.
According to the FBI, the foreign government had requested information on the older brother, and the agency responded by checking U.S. government databases for information on “derogatory” telephone communications, online promotion of radical activity, associations with other persons of interest, travel history and plans, and education history. The FBI also interviewed the suspect and family members and found no terrorism activity, the agency said.
“The FBI requested but did not receive more specific or additional information from the foreign government,” the statement read.
The disclosure comes as some U.S. lawmakers are urging that the surviving suspect be treated as a foreign combatant, and not simply a criminal suspect.
Family members and acquaintances have painted starkly contrasting portraits of the suspects. Classmates and others have described the younger brother as pleasant, but the older brother as intense and given to occasional outbursts.
At the Cambridge mosque near where the bombing suspects lived, two worshipers who showed up for Saturday’s prayer service recalled seeing both men.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was thrown out of the mosque -- the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center -- about three months ago, after he stood up and shouted at the imam during a Friday prayer service, they said. The imam had held up slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as an example of a man to emulate, recalled one worshiper who would give his name only as Muhammad.
Enraged, Tamerlan stood up and began shouting, Muhammad said.
“You cannot mention this guy because he’s not a Muslim!” Muhammad recalled Tamerlan shouting, shocking others in attendance.
“He’s crazy to me,” Muhammad said. “He had an anger inside.… I can’t explain what was in his mind.”
Tamerlan was then kicked out of the prayer service for his outburst, Muhammad recalled. “You can’t do that,” Muhammad said of shouting at the imam.
Still, Tamerlan returned to Friday prayer services and had no further outbursts, Muhammad said.
The other mosque attendee, who identified himself only as Haithen, described Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as nice, friendly and “really laid back.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was different though. “His persona was not really so nice,” this worshiper said.
An official statement released by the Islamic Society on Saturday said that while the suspects were known to mosque members, no one was able to predict or prevent the acts the brothers have been accused of.
Grief for the victims and their families and prayers for the recovery of the injured will be the continued focus of the center, the statement said. The center also pledged to leave “no stone uncovered in finding any other suspects connected to the bombs.”
U.S. officials have not named the foreign nation, but it is presumed to be Russia. Tsarnaev traveled there in 2012 and stayed for six months.
PHOTOS: Manhunt for bombing suspects
Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, came to the U.S. from Russia about a decade ago as ethnic Chechen refugees and were granted asylum, law enforcement sources have said. Tamerlan, who was killed in a gun battle with police early Friday morning Boston time, was a legal permanent U.S. resident. Dzhokhar, who became a citizen Sept. 11, 2012, was captured after a Friday night shootout with police and remains hospitalized in serious condition. He has not yet been charged.
According to the FBI, the foreign government had requested information on the older brother, and the agency responded by checking U.S. government databases for information on “derogatory” telephone communications, online promotion of radical activity, associations with other persons of interest, travel history and plans, and education history. The FBI also interviewed the suspect and family members and found no terrorism activity, the agency said.
“The FBI requested but did not receive more specific or additional information from the foreign government,” the statement read.
The disclosure comes as some U.S. lawmakers are urging that the surviving suspect be treated as a foreign combatant, and not simply a criminal suspect.
Family members and acquaintances have painted starkly contrasting portraits of the suspects. Classmates and others have described the younger brother as pleasant, but the older brother as intense and given to occasional outbursts.
At the Cambridge mosque near where the bombing suspects lived, two worshipers who showed up for Saturday’s prayer service recalled seeing both men.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was thrown out of the mosque -- the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center -- about three months ago, after he stood up and shouted at the imam during a Friday prayer service, they said. The imam had held up slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as an example of a man to emulate, recalled one worshiper who would give his name only as Muhammad.
Enraged, Tamerlan stood up and began shouting, Muhammad said.
“You cannot mention this guy because he’s not a Muslim!” Muhammad recalled Tamerlan shouting, shocking others in attendance.
“He’s crazy to me,” Muhammad said. “He had an anger inside.… I can’t explain what was in his mind.”
Tamerlan was then kicked out of the prayer service for his outburst, Muhammad recalled. “You can’t do that,” Muhammad said of shouting at the imam.
Still, Tamerlan returned to Friday prayer services and had no further outbursts, Muhammad said.
The other mosque attendee, who identified himself only as Haithen, described Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as nice, friendly and “really laid back.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was different though. “His persona was not really so nice,” this worshiper said.
An official statement released by the Islamic Society on Saturday said that while the suspects were known to mosque members, no one was able to predict or prevent the acts the brothers have been accused of.
Grief for the victims and their families and prayers for the recovery of the injured will be the continued focus of the center, the statement said. The center also pledged to leave “no stone uncovered in finding any other suspects connected to the bombs.”
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