A Federal grand jury has indicted surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev. A press conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Boston to discuss the indictment, which charges Tsarnaev on 30 counts, including use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death, bombing of a place of public use resulting in death, malicious destruction of property resulting in death, and conspiracy. Seventeen of the charges are punishable by death.
The 74-page indictment contains additional details about the bombing plot and its aftermath. In it, Tsarnaev is accused of learning how to make the pressure cooker bombs used in the bombings from an Al-Qaeda magazine called “Inspire.’’ Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, who died during a shootout with police days after the bombing, obtained materials to make the bombs from a fireworks store in New Hampshire, where Tamerlan Tsarnaev purchased 48 mortars. Their two bombs killed three and injured more than 260.
The indictment alleges that Dzhokhar left a confession in the boat where he was captured in a Watertown back yard after a harrowing manhunt. In it, he allegedly wrote, "I don’t like killing innocent people... The US Government is killing our innocent civilians. I can’t stand to see such evil go unpunished. We Muslims are one body, you hurt one, you hurt us all. Stop killing our innocent people, we will stop."
And the indictment also confirms speculation that Dzhokhar was at least partly responsible for his brother's death:
On April 19, 2013, at approximately 12:50 a.m., after attempting to shoot, bomb, and kill or disable the law enforcement officers who were trying to apprehend them, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was tackled by three Watertown police officers — Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese, Sergeant John MacLellan, and Officer John Reynolds — and struggled with them as they tried to handcuff him. DZHOKHAR A. TSARNAEV reentered the Mercedes and drove it directly at the three police officers.
When DZHOKHAR A. TSARNAEV drove the Mercedes at the three police officers, he barely missed Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese, who was attempting to drag Tamerlan Tsarnaev to safety. Then DZHOKHAR A. TSARNAEV ran over Tamerlan Tsarnaev, seriously injuring him and contributing to his death.
You can read a full copy of the indictment and the criminal complaint here. The indictment hearing is expected to start at 3 p.m.; you can watch the livestream here.
