The Huffington Post confirmed that a court magistrate arraigned Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokar Tsarnaev, at his hospital bedside today, formally charging him with using weapons of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property, resulting in a death. If convicted of the federal charges, Tsaernav could face the death penalty or life in prison.
Tsarnaev had regained consciousness and began sporadically responding to questions from federal investigators at his bedside in the intensive care unit at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino reported over the weekend that a gunshot wound to the throat may prevent Tsarnaev from ever speaking again. Earlier reports suggested that Tsarnaev was communicating to investigators through writing, but it has yet to be confirmed.
During an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” yesterday, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis reported that the gunshot Tsarnaev sustained entered through his mouth and exited through the back of his neck. The location and angle of the gunshot wound suggests that the 19-year-old suspect inflicted the wound to himself. A senior law enforcement official told the New York Times that the wound “had the appearance of a close range, inflicted style.”
According to the Cambridge Police Department, new information presented this morning confirms that both Dzhokar and his brother, Tamerlan, who died early Friday morning during a violent car chase with authorities, did not have gun licenses to purchase firearms. Yet, it was discovered that the brothers had handguns, a rifle, and over 250 rounds of ammunition in their possession. This discovery comes just days after the Senate shot down a bill that would have expanded background checks for firearm purchasers.
It is still unclear what Tsarnaev has told investigators so far, and citizens across the nation are anxiously waiting to hear what the bombing suspect has to say about his and his brother’s involvement in the terrible Boston Marathon bombing.
Update: 1 Bombing Suspect Dead, Another on the Run
Update: At Least One Boston Bomb Was Made From Pressure Cooker
Krysta Loera is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire.
