Report: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Confessed to the Boston Bombings in a Note
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the prime suspect in the Boston marathon bombings, reportedly wrote a note claiming responsibility and claiming that he and his brother's motive for the bombings was retribution for Muslims in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Tsarnaev allegedly penned the note on the interior of the boat where he was found after a day-long manhunt, and CBS reports that this note will now be used it court. CBS's John Miller has the scoop, and is the only one with a report on the note at the moment:
Sources tell Miller that Tsarnaev wrote the note in the boat he was hiding in as police pursued him, and as he bled from gunshot wounds sustained in an earlier shootout between police and his older brother.
The note, scrawled with a pen on the interior wall of the cabin, said the bombings were retribution for what the U.S. did to Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq, and called the Boston victims collateral damage in the way Muslims have been in the U.S.-driven wars. When you attack one Muslim, you attack all Muslims, the note added.
What it sounds like is that Tsarnaev may have thought he was going to die and then decided to scribble out a last confession. The note doesn't necessarily give us a solid answer to whether or not Tsarnaev was brainwashed by his brother and it doesn't exactly pinpoint how much agency Tsarnaev possessed when he allegedly planned the bombings—two big questions which may determine what kind of punishment Tsarnaev will face.
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However, it does give us the first clear picture of what motivated he and his brother, Tamerlan, to attack the Marathon. It could also give investigators more information than what they've been working with so far, since Tsarnaev has reportedly kept quiet after receiving his Miranda warning. CBS adds that the note will be used in any trial Tsarnaev faces:
The note, says Miller, will be a significant piece of evidence in any Dzhokar trial - it is clearly admissible, and paints the clearest picture authorities have of why the brothers did what the note says they did.
