‘Boston bombing suspects were going to attack others’
APRIL 23, 2013
Federal prosecutors were reviewing evidence Sunday against the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings to determine charges, authorities said, even as word emerged that the 19-year-old and his brother were allegedly preparing to carry out more attacks.
Because Dzhokar Tsarnaev remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition with a wound to his throat, a federal law enforcement source told CNN that a judge and prosecutor will likely have to go to the hospital to inform him of the charges. An arraignment would follow at a later date.
“He’s not in a condition to be interrogated at this time,” Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told reporters at a news conference on Sunday afternoon.
Authorities have not said publicly what charges will be filed against Tsarnaev, but a Justice Department official, who has been briefed on the case, told CNN he will face federal terrorism charges and possibly state murder charges.
Massachusetts does not have the death penalty, but prosecutors could seek capital punishment at the federal level, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Even as prosecutors work to put together a case against Tsarnaev, Davis said he believes the brothers were planning another attack before a shootout disrupted their plans.
“We have reason to believe, based upon the evidence that was found at the scene — the explosions, the explosive ordinance that was unexploded and the fire power — that they were going to attack other individuals,” Davis said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
Tsarnaev was captured Friday night, days after he and his brother allegedly planted two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The blasts killed three people and wounded more than 170 others.
Authorities virtually shut down Boston and some of its suburbs as part of a manhunt after authorities say the brothers went on a rampage late Thursday and early Friday, allegedly hurling explosives at police, after killing Massachusetts Institute of Technology police Officer Sean Collier and hijacking a car.
Tsarnaev initially escaped a shootout with police that left his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev — the other man wanted in the bombings — dead.
Lawmaker believes slain suspect trained in Russia
New details emerged Sunday as investigators tried to determine more about the brothers they believe were behind attacks last week.
House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that slain suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev received training while he was in Russia for six months in 2012.
The Texas Republican also questioned why the FBI did not take further action against Tamerlan Tsarnaev when he was investigated before his trip.
“There were concerns about this individual. And yet when he travels abroad and gets to a very dangerous part of the world, nothing seems to be done,” he told CNN.
McCaul said after his final Sunday talk show appearance that he thought Tamerlan Tsarnaev may have made other trips to the region. The congressman said Tsarnaev was “starting to radicalize” several years before the six-month trip.
“It’s unconfirmed at this point. … My judgment is we’ll probably see there were other trips to the region,” McCaul said.
Tsarnaev, 26, may have traveled under an alias when he went to Russia in 2012, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers said Sunday.
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