The attorney for the surviving <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/boston-bomber" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boston Marathon bomber</a> asked a federal court Tuesday to overturn his client’s death sentence because of juror misconduct during the trial.
The Boston bomber and his brother killed three people and injured hundreds more with two bombs planted near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013. The brother died after a shootout with police, but the surviving bomber was tracked down and taken into custody.
The Boston Marathon bomber’s attorney, Daniel Habib, is now asking a federal appeals court to intervene and throw out the death sentence first handed down by a federal jury in 2015 and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-reinstates-death-sentence-for-boston-marathon-bomber" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reimposed</a> by the Supreme Court last year. Habib told the First Circuit Court of Appeals that his client’s sentence should be lifted because of issues the Supreme Court did not consider in its March 2022 ruling, such as two jurors accused of lying during jury selection, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/massachusetts-state-government-legal-proceedings-crime-boston-f32276fbfccb77fca2a08ae831d7f4df" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a>.
Habib said that one juror claimed to not have posted on social media about the bomber, but had shared a post calling the defendant a “piece of garbage.” Another juror had claimed that none of his Facebook friends had posted about the trial, but one friend had pushed the juror to “play the part” to get on the jury and convict the defendant.
Justice Department attorney William Glaser admitted inaccurate statements by some jurors, but said no evidence suggests the jurors acted in bad faith.
“There is no indication in this record that the inaccuracies were the kind of knowing dishonesty that would lead to disqualification,” Glaser said, according to the AP.
The First Circuit judges appeared to entertain Habib’s argument. “Don’t we need to know why it was inaccurate before we know whether it was evidence of some bias or an innocent mistake?” Judge William Kayatta said, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/court-appears-open-boston-marathon-bombers-new-challenge-death-sentence-2023-01-10/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>.
The Boston Marathon bomber was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/us/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-verdict-boston-marathan-bombing-trial.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convicted</a> of 30 charges after a 2015 trial in which his legal team made a minimal effort to defend him. The defense attorney admitted his client’s guilt to some of the charges and called just four witnesses who together gave five hours of testimony. Prosecutors called 92 witnesses who testified over course of 15 days.
The First Circuit <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-court-overturns-death-sentence-for-boston-marathon-bomber-dzhokhar-tsarnaev" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overturned</a> the bomber’s death sentence in 2020. The defendant’s legal team had at the time pushed for the jury’s verdict to be overturned as well.
“This case should not have been tried in Boston. [The bomber] admitted heinous crimes, but even so — perhaps especially so — this trial demanded scrupulous adherence to the requirements of the Constitution and federal law. Again and again this trial fell short,” the bomber’s legal team said.

Boston Marathon bombing memorial

Federal Court Weighs Overturning Death Sentence For Boston Marathon Bomber

Boston

Boston Bomber

Boston Marathon

Terrorism

U.S.

On Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the death sentence for the surviving Boston Marathon bomber must be reimposed after a federal appeals court voided it.
NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-reimposes-death-sentence-boston-marathon-bomber-rcna18450">reported</a> that &#8220;the 6-3 decision rejected defense claims that the judge at [the bomber&#8217;s] 2015 trial improperly restricted the questioning of prospective jurors and was wrong to exclude evidence of a separate crime two years before the bombing.&#8221;
In 2013, two brothers — immigrants from Chechnya turned Islamic extremist radicals — detonated a homemade bomb at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts. The blast killed three and injured hundreds more.
The Boston Marathon occurs each year, typically on the state holiday Patriots&#8217; Day, and is attended by thousands of people, many from around the world. The attack shocked the state and the nation, and led to a manhunt throughout Boston&#8217;s suburbs.
During that search, one brother was struck by a bullet and pronounced dead at a local hospital. The surviving brother attempted to flee, hiding in a boat in a backyard in Watertown, Massachusetts, before authorities located and arrested him.
After being found guilty and sentenced to death, the bomber&#8217;s attorney argued that while he did act as an accomplice, &#8220;he was easily manipulated by his brother, who they called the mastermind,&#8221; NBC News reported. The bomber&#8217;s legal counsel also argued the judge in the original case acted improperly in several ways:
<blockquote>
A three-judge panel of the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-court-overturns-death-sentence-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-boston-marathon-bomber-n1235528" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit </a>ordered a new sentencing hearing, ruling unanimously that U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. failed to allow enough questioning of potential jurors about how closely they followed extensive news coverage of the bombings.
The appeals court also said the judge should have allowed [the bomber&#8217;s] lawyers to bring up a 2011 <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/father-slain-man-linked-boston-bombing-suspect-maintains-sons-innocence-flna6c10058914" target="_blank" rel="noopener">triple homicide </a>in the Boston suburb of Waltham that investigators suspected was committed by [the elder bomber]. The defense wanted to use the earlier crime to show that the younger [bomber] was dominated by his violent older brother and therefore was less responsible for the bombings, because of his influence. 
</blockquote>
Yet, the Justice Department under both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden argued that the death sentence was appropriate and that the earlier evidence purportedly showing a pattern of violent abuse from the older brother should be inadmissible.
&#8220;The Justice Department said the evidence of who committed the Waltham killings was unreliable,&#8221; NBC News reported. &#8220;[The older bomber] and another man suspected of having been at the crime scene were both dead by the time of the bombing trial, so there was no way to know for certain what happened.
Likewise, the DOJ &#8220;argued that holding a new sentencing hearing would further traumatize the Boston community,&#8221; according to NBC. Attorney General Merrick Garland has placed a moratorium on executions but did not apply that order in this case.
Now, [the bomber] will sit on death row at a Colorado maximum-security prison.

Supreme Court Reinstates Death Sentence For Boston Marathon Bomber

Death Penalty

Death Row

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

In March 2021, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) tweeted that the Senate, controlled by Democrats,  “voted on an amendment to exclude prisoners—like the Boston Bomber—from getting stimulus checks. Every Democrat voted to send checks to prisoners, and every Republican voted to stop prisoners from getting checks.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The left recognizes that this was a bad idea and that they&#39;re going to pay a price at the polls. 
Get ready for campaign ads. 
So liberals and their media allies are trying to spin it for damage control.
&mdash; Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomCottonAR/status/1368933169337090055?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He added, “The left recognizes that this was a bad idea and that they&#8217;re going to pay a price at the polls.   Get ready for campaign ads.  So liberals and their media allies are trying to spin it for damage control.”
In response to Cotton’s tweet two days earlier saying that the mass-murderer behind the 2015 Charleston church shooting would receive a stimulus check and also responding to Republicans’ actions in the Senate, Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler wrote in an article titled, “Murderers, undocumented immigrants: Hyped-up claims about who’s getting stimulus checks,” “Every Senate bill that proceeds on a fast-track process known as reconciliation features a strange ritual called ‘vote-a-rama,’ as lawmakers race through a number of votes on amendments. If you are in the minority, as Republicans are now, it’s a moment when you can offer finely tuned amendments that are destined to fail but will serve up red meat for voters in later elections.”
Kessler continued, “These quotes are an example of this process in action, with Cotton tweeting a talking point just hours after the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/?itid=lk_inline_manual_11">coronavirus</a> stimulus bill was approved. Cotton isn’t shy about his intentions either. On March 8, he <a href="https://twitter.com/TomCottonAR/status/1368933169337090055">tweeted</a> that [name withheld], the Boston bomber, would also get benefits and declared, “Get ready for campaign ads.”
Kessler called Cotton’s rhetoric “scaremongering” and gave Cotton “two Pinocchios.”
But on Thursday, after news broke that one of the Boston bomber&#8217;s would indeed receive a stimulus check, Kessler <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/09/murderers-undocumented-immigrants-hyped-claims-about-whos-getting-stimulus-checks/">backtracked</a> in a way, acknowledging the fact but still defending himself, and printing a heads-up he had received from Cotton’s press secretary, James Arnold, who wrote:
<blockquote>You portrayed Senator Cotton’s amendment as pure political theater—&#8221;not serious legislation&#8221;—warning of an outcome that, according to your article, was very unlikely to happen&#8230;.Now that it has in fact happened, we’re asking that you update your story to include that Senator Cotton’s concerns did come true and that his amendment would have prevented it. &#8230; we also disagree with your claims that Senator Cotton’s efforts were solely political, designed only for campaign ads etc., instead of based on legitimate policy disagreements.</blockquote>
Kessler defended himself, writing, “Cotton primarily received the Two-Pinocchio rating because his comments lacked context. He suggested this problem was the result of something Democrats did, when he had previously voted for legislation with the same language that allowed for checks to be issued to prisoners. He also made it clear that he intended weaponize this debate for campaign ads.”
He concluded, “&#8230; in retrospect, the use of the phrase of ‘scaremongering’ was inappropriate. Cotton had raised a legitimate issue of concern, even if he framed it in a political way. The term ‘hyped up’ in the headline went too far as well. Thus, we will reduce the rating on this claim to One Pinocchio — our version of ‘mostly true.’”
&#8220;Wait until you hear what he predicted about the origins of COVID-19,&#8221; one commentator <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1479242257068740609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1479242257068740609%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.dailywire.com%2F%3Fp%3D326902preview_id%3D326902preview_nonce%3D357f615f62_thumbnail_id%3D310479preview%3Dtrue">tweeted</a>.

18AB2C6A-1A38-4F3E-8162-83186B680859_1_201_a

Cotton Said Boston Bomber Would Get Stimulus Check. WaPo Called It ‘Scaremongering,’ Two Pinocchios.  Now Look What They’re Saying.

Tom Cotton

Washington Post

One of the terrorists responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing received a $1,400 COVID relief check last summer that federal prosecutors are now seeking to take in order to make restitution to the victims of the attack, a report says.
The terrorist, who The Daily Wire is not naming due to company policy about not giving notoriety to mass murderers, was ordered to pay more than $100 million to the victims of the attack.
&#8220;Prisoners were largely eligible to receive $1,400 payments included in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that President Joe Biden signed into law last March,&#8221; Newsweek <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/boston-marathon-bomber-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-got-1400-covid-relief-that-feds-seek-claim-1666167">reported</a>. &#8220;Republicans unsuccessfully rallied against allowing inmates to receive the checks at the time, although prisoners were also not excluded from stimulus checks included in the GOP-backed Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act that former President Donald Trump had signed the previous year.&#8221;
Prosecutors are seeking the money from the terrorist&#8217;s inmate trust account which, as of December 21, 2021, had $3,885.06 in it.
Boston 25 News <a href="https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/boston-marathon-bomber-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-got-1400-covid-relief-payment/BVKRJUHHHVEIFBVS5IM3INNDNI/">noted</a> that deposits to the defendant&#8217;s account became more frequent after he was sentenced, including:
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>The Defendant received a $1,400 COVID relief payment on June 22, 2021.</li>
<li>Between May 2016 and June 2021, the Defendant received multiple deposits from the Office of Federal Defenders of New York. The amounts varied between $40 and $250, totaling approximately $11,230.</li>
<li>Between August 2015 and August 2021, an individual residing in Indianapolis, Indiana, made monthly deposits between $30 and $60, totaling approximately $2,555.</li>
<li>Between August 2015 and December 2017, an individual residing in Bloomfield, New Jersey, made monthly deposits of $50, totaling approximately $1,450.</li>
<li>Between September 2013 and December 2018, an individual residing in Frederick, Maryland, made periodic deposits between $50 to $200, totaling approximately $950.</li>
<li>$3,486.60 from 32 other individuals.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
“In light of the Defendant’s payment history and incarceration status, the United States requests that this Court enter an Order authorizing the BOP to turn over all funds, held in the Defendant’s inmate trust account, including any funds subject to an administrative hold by BOP, to the Clerk of Court as payment toward the outstanding criminal monetary penalties imposed against the Defendant,” prosecutors said. “The United States submits that the requested relief is reasonable and appropriate in this instance, especially in light of the Defendant prioritizing payments to his siblings over the victims of his crimes.”
The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-court-overturns-death-sentence-for-boston-marathon-bomber-dzhokhar-tsarnaev">reported</a> that the terrorist petitioned the First U.S. Court of Appeals in December 2019 to overturn his death sentence, arguing that his trial never should have taken place in Boston. The terrorist pleaded guilty to setting off a bomb that killed three and injured hundreds of others at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013.
The terrorist carried out the attack in April 2013 with his brother. The two &#8220;used two homemade pressure cooker bombs near the finish line of the race, killing three people and injuring several hundred others. 16 people lost limbs as a result of the bombings,&#8221; The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-court-overturns-death-sentence-for-boston-marathon-bomber-dzhokhar-tsarnaev">reported</a>. &#8220;During the manhunt for the brothers, the brothers killed MIT policeman Sean A. Collier, kidnapped a man in his car, and had a shootout with the police in Watertown, where they shot and severely wounded two officers, one of whom, Boston Police Department officer Dennis Simmonds, was injured by a hand grenade and died in April 2014.&#8221;
Related:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-court-overturns-death-sentence-for-boston-marathon-bomber-dzhokhar-tsarnaev">Federal Court Overturns Death Sentence For Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/boston-marathon-bomber-suing-federal-government-for-alleged-prison-mistreatment-after-his-hat-is-taken-away">Boston Marathon Bomber Suing Federal Government For Alleged Prison Mistreatment After His Hat Is Taken Away</a></li>
</ul>

Explosions At 117th Boston Marathon

Boston Marathon Bomber Received $1,400 COVID Relief Check From Biden’s Stimulus Bill: Reports

Joe Biden

Stimulus

Watertown Police Sergeant Jeff Pugliese, the officer known for tackling the Boston marathon bomber to the ground, retired from the force after 41 years. 
Pugliese discussed the important role of police work and how much he loved his job. His retirement is a mandatory one, as Massachusetts requires police officers to retire at the end of the month in which they reach 65 years of age.
“I look forward to going to work,” he told <a href="https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/05/31/watertown-police-sergeant-jeff-pugliese-retires-41-years-boston-marathon-tamerlan-tsarnaev/">WBZ-TV</a>. “It’s exciting and you get to help a lot of people…It’s incredible.” 
He said policing is “the finest profession in the world to have.” 
“He can’t work anymore as a police officer. It’s mandatory retirement. So it is what it is,” his wife, Connie, said. “It will be great to have him home more often. It’s important that he’s happy.”
Pugliese grew up in Watertown where his father was a Watertown Police detective. He said, “I knew I wanted to do this when I was about 16 years old. I decided I wanted to be a police officer.”
Pugliese enlisted in the United States Army at age 17, entering the service when he was 18 years old. He served as a military police officer and was stationed in Germany where he met his wife. They later moved to Massachusetts together.
Pugliese says that the day he got the call that he would be appointed as a police officer was the most exciting day of his career, per the <a href="https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/05/31/watertown-police-sergeant-jeff-pugliese-retires-41-years-boston-marathon-tamerlan-tsarnaev/">local outlet.</a> It would be almost 34 years later that he’d become a national hero when he assisted in taking down two terrorists.
The outlet reported that soon after the suspects of the Boston Marathon Bombing &#8220;sped into Watertown in a stolen SUV (and after killing MIT Police Officer Sean Collier), Pugliese found himself face-to-face with [one of the brothers].” 
“We were just six feet, maybe seven feet apart. The only thing separating us was a four-foot chain link fence. We were exchanging gun fire and his gun, now we know it ran out of ammunition but, at the time we didn’t know if it jammed,” he said. “He stopped. He literally took the gun, looked at me, we made eye contact, and then he threw the gun at me and hit me in the shoulder with it. I holstered up and chased after him and tackled him.”
One of the brothers then raced toward Pugliese and two other law enforcement officers in an SUV. Pugliese pulled the other suspect to save him from getting hit by the car.
“I felt the breeze of that car go by my face. It missed my face by inches,” he said.
The brother in the car ran over his older brother, who was later pronounced dead at the hospital. 
“It does have an affect on you,” Pugliese said. “You think how lucky you were to survive it. It’s just very difficult to put into words.” 
WBZ-TV reported:
<blockquote>He says policing has changed dramatically over the course of his career. More social work on the job, more domestic violence situations (physical and verbal) and a smaller Watertown PD staff.
But what has not changed is Pugliese’s sense of duty, his pride and his sense of connection to the community. He says he will miss driving around and talking with people and the camaraderie at Watertown PD.</blockquote>
&#8220;He received a Congressional Badge of Bravery for his heroic work during the Marathon bombing,&#8221; <a href="https://www.wcvb.com/article/best-tv-brands/34534070">said</a> Watertown police Chief Michael Lawn. &#8220;He also received the Trooper George Hanna Medal of Honor, which is the highest honor you can receive in Massachusetts in the police field.” 
On <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/realitycheck/the-press-office/2015/02/11/vice-president-biden-host-medal-valor-ceremony-attorney-general-holder">February 11, 2015</a>, then-Vice President Joe Biden hosted a Medal of Valor ceremony with then-Attorney General Eric Holder to honor several members of law enforcement, including Pugliese. 
Pugliese <a href="https://www.wcvb.com/article/watertown-police-sgt-jeffrey-pugliese-standoff-hero-retires/36587588">told</a> WCVB, “The best part of being a police officer is getting out there and helping people, saving lives,” adding, “It’s because of all these police officers – not just in Watertown, but everywhere in the world – people sleep soundly in their beds at night because there are police officers willing to sacrifice their lives for them.&#8221;
The retirement celebration included a video message from Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons, who portrayed Pugliese in the 2016 film “Patriots Day.”
“I’m the only guy in Hollywood good looking enough to portray you on screen,” Simmons <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ri-state-wire-boston-eedca3b5e88eaaf0fe581ba944bf93f9">said</a> in the video. “Thank you for teaching me how to shoot a gun and teaching me all kinds of things about the ropes of police work.”
Pugliese was asked what advice he would give to younger law enforcement officers. Without hesitating, he answered, “Be proud of the profession. Don’t dishonor the uniform. You’re there to help people, not hurt people.”
“I love this profession. I really do,” he said.

&lt;&gt; on February 11, 2015 in Washington, DC.

Heroic Sergeant Who Tackled Boston Marathon Bomber Retires, Gives Advice To Young Officers

Law Enforcement

The Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/032221zor_l5gm.pdf">said</a> Monday that it will decide whether to reinstate the death penalty for the Boston Marathon bomber, who was convicted in 2015 for killing three people and injuring hundreds with bombs at the 2012 Boston Marathon. 
According to NBC News, the Supreme Court will likely hear the case this fall, and then issue a ruling by mid-2022, nearly a decade after the bomber and his since-deceased older brother planted bombs near the finish line of the race.
Although the bomber, whose name has been withheld per Daily Wire policy, was given multiple death sentences in 2015, a panel of appeals judges tossed them after finding that the sitting jurors had not been properly screened for bias, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/us/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-boston-marathon-bomber.html">reports</a> the New York Times. Lawyers for the bomber had pointed to the existence of tweets against the bomber, including old posts from the jury forewoman. On the day the bomber was sentenced to death, another juror tweeted that the bomber should be sent to a &#8220;dungeon where he will be forgotten about until his time comes,&#8221; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/us/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-boston-marathon-bomber.html">reports</a> the news agency. 
The panel of judges also agreed that jurors should have been informed that the older brother was connected with a 2011 triple murder, a disclosure that the bomber&#8217;s lawyers believed could show that the older brother had a more influential role in the attack, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-boston-marathon-bomber/2021/03/22/cc42f3be-8b11-11eb-a730-1b4ed9656258_story.html">reports</a> The Washington Post.
The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/court-could-reimpose-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-death-sentence-719087dcbe7145514094fe3c7da8d9bf">notes</a> that the Supreme Court won&#8217;t decide whether to reimpose the death penalty for the bomber until the fall. And even if the bomber&#8217;s sentence was reinstated, many inmates on federal death row spend years waiting for their execution date to arrive.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, asked for the Biden administration&#8217;s stance on the bomber&#8217;s case and federal executions going forward, said on Monday: &#8220;President Biden has made clear, as he did on the campaign trail, that he has grave concerns about whether capital punishment, as currently implemented, is consistent with the values that are fundamental to our sense of justice and fairness. He&#8217;s also expressed his horror at the events of that day, and his actions, [the bomber&#8217;s] actions I should say. He spoke to the people of Boston on the first anniversary of the horrible crime, as he said then, ‘We are Boston. We are America. We own the finish line.'&#8221;
According to the Department of Justice, the bomber and his older brother, who died following a police shoot-out, planted “two pressure cooked bombs filled with shrapnel among the crowds of spectators” gathered to watch the marathon and then fled from the scene. The subsequent blast killed three people, including an 8-year-old boy, maimed seventeen others, and injured hundreds more. From the DOJ:
<blockquote>Three days later, on April 18, [the bomber] and his brother, armed with five IEDs and a Ruger semiautomatic pistol that [the bomber] had borrowed from a friend, drove to the MIT campus where they shot and killed MIT Police Officer Sean Collier and attempted to steal his service weapon.  Approximately 20 minutes later, they carjacked a Mercedes SUV, kidnapped the driver, and forced him to drive to a gas station, robbing him of $800 along the way.  After the driver managed to escape, the brothers drove to Laurel Street and Dexter Avenue in Watertown, where they exploded additional IEDs and engaged in a firefight with Watertown police officers.  During the stand-off, [the bomber] drove the carjacked vehicle at three officers, attempting to kill them, and ran over his brother as he escaped.  [The bomber] hid in a winterized boat in a Watertown backyard until his apprehension and arrest the following night.  </blockquote>

An American flag flies outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

Supreme Court To Review Boston Bomber Case, Might Reinstate Death Sentence

Supreme Court

The man who killed three people using an explosive device at the 2013 Boston Marathon is suing the federal government, claiming he is being mistreated in prison because his hat was confiscated and he’s only allowed three showers a week.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was on death row until his death sentenced was overturned last July in an appeal, is suing the federal government for $250,000, alleging he is being mistreated in prison, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/boston-lawsuits-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-6291406e4d86d029ae5b4d28d8cde16c?utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow">reported</a>. Tsarnaev filed a handwritten lawsuit on Monday calling his treatment at the prison where he is kept in Colorado “unlawful, unreasonable and discriminatory.”
Tsarnaev, now 26, specifically cited guards confiscating a white baseball hat and bandana, which he purchased at the prison commissary, and his limited showers per week, which he claims is resulting in “mental and physical decline.” He claimed the hat and bandana were taken “because, by wearing it, I was ‘disrespecting’ the FBI and the victims” who were killed as part of the bombing he carried out with his brother on April 15, 2013.
The hat Tsarnaev chose to wear was white, reminiscent of the hat he was photographed wearing while placing the bombs at the Boston Marathon. As the AP noted, law enforcement referred to him as “White Hat” during their investigation before learning his name.
The AP reported that the lawsuit was assigned to a judge, who immediately found it deficient because it lacked the $402 filing fee and a “certified copy of prisoner’s trust fund statement.”
The bombs set by Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring more than 260 others. The attack prompted a massive manhunt that eventually identified the two brothers. When police approached them, they began shooting, and Tamerlan was killed. Dzhokhar fled in a nearby vehicle, running over his brother as he lay in the street. The younger Tsarnaev brother hid in a Massachusetts neighborhood for hours until a homeowner called police about suspicious noises coming from his boat, which was parked in his yard. Dzhokhar was discovered hiding in the boat and was taken into police custody.
He was convicted and sentenced to death, but that sentence was reduced to life in prison upon appeal, with a federal appeals court ruling that the jury for the trial had not been properly screened for potential biases.
The case sparked other lawsuits as well. The New York Post settled a lawsuit after it posted a picture of two men alleged to be the bombers. The two men were innocent, but their photos were spread as potential murderers. Conservative host Glenn Beck was also sued for defamation and slander after suggesting one of the victims was involved in the attack. The FBI was also sued by the family of a man – a friend of Tamerlan’s – who was killed during the investigation. The friend was killed after allegedly attacking an FBI agent during an interrogation.
In addition to the lawsuits, the case became a black eye for Rolling Stone Magazine when it featured Dzhokhar on its cover, appearing to glorify the bomber.

Boston Marathon Bomber Suing Federal Government For Alleged Prison Mistreatment After His Hat Is Taken Away

On Thursday, attorneys for 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston that their client’s death sentence should be overturned because his trial two years after the bombing should not have taken place in Boston.
In their legal brief, the lawyers wrote, “This case should not have been tried in Boston. Tsarnaev admitted heinous crimes, but even so — perhaps especially so — this trial demanded scrupulous adherence to the requirements of the Constitution and federal law. Again and again this trial fell short.” CNN reported, that in their motion, the lawyers write, &#8220;Fresh proceedings — in an unaffected community, before honest and unbiased jurors, who know that the bombings were [Dzhokar&#8217;s] first violent crimes but not Tamerlan&#8217;s — present a real prospect of a different outcome. This verdict is unworthy of confidence and this Court should reverse.&#8221;
In the bombings, which occurred April 15, 2013, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan used two homemade pressure cooker bombs near the finish line of the race, killing three people and injuring several hundred others. 16 people lost limbs as a result of the bombings. During the manhunt for the brothers, the brothers killed MIT policeman Sean A. Collier, kidnapped a man in his car, and had a shootout with the police in Watertown, where they shot and severely wounded two officers, one of whom, Boston Police Department officer Dennis Simmonds, was injured by a hand grenade and died in April 2014.
As <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/us/boston-marathon-bombing-developments.html?hp&amp;pagewanted=all">The New York Times</a> reported, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said he and his brother were motivated by radical Islamic beliefs. He added that the brothers learned to build explosive devices from the online magazine of Al Qaeada and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/authorities-tsarnaev-brothers-planned-attack-on-new-yorks-times-square/2013/04/25/5efc342c-add5-11e2-8bf6-e70cb6ae066e_story.html">admitted</a> they had plans to bomb Times Square.
Tsarnaev´s lawyers cited the foreman for the jury, who retweeted a post after Tsarnaev’s arrest reading, “Congratulations to all of the law enforcement professionals who worked so hard and went through hell to bring in that piece of garbage.” The foreman had also tweeted about her family´s experience as they tried to find a safe during the hunt for the bombers, according to the attorneys. Another juror was urged in social media posts by others to “play the part” so he could get on the jury, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7785757/Boston-Marathon-bomber-wants-death-sentence-overturned-says-tried-soon-jurors-lied.html">The Daily Mail</a> reported.
The attorneys for Tsarnaev wanted to portray Tsarnaev as being manipulated by Tamerlan, who was killed in a gun battle with police soon after the bombings. Prosecutors pointed out that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had no qualms about placing his bomb behind children: one of the people murdered was 8-year-old Martin Richard.
As <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/15/reactions-tsarnaev-verdict/27410321/">USA Today</a> reported, after the verdict was announced, Edward Deveau, chief of police in Watertown, MA, whose officers engaged with the Tsarnaevs, who used gunfire and hurled homemade bombs, asserted, &#8220;There&#8217;s been a lot of criticism of police officers around the country lately, but your local police department is out there fighting for you every day,” adding Watertown &#8220;officers put their lives on the line to protect that community and make sure these terrorists didn&#8217;t go down to New York City and kill more people.&#8221; He added that it was the survivors who needed attention, concluding, &#8220;Those two brothers: we won&#8217;t think about them anymore.&#8221;
Other statements after the verdict was announced included Michael Ward, an off-duty firefighter who helped victims on the day of the attacks. Ward stated, “I remember when those bombs went off; I remember when the vile disgusting thing that this person did and his brother. They destroyed countless innocent lives, destroyed bodies and parts. Very vivid memories for many people and many families … This is nothing to celebrate; this is a matter of justice. His premeditated actions, to stand behind children, wait four-and-a-half minutes with a fully loaded bomb and then to call his brother and tell him when to explode his bomb moments earlier … His justice now. He wanted to go to hell and he’s gonna get there early.”
Karen Brassard, a victim in the bombing, said, “I want to thank the jury for an unbelievably difficult thing that they’ve gone through; for weeks they’ve had to endure photographs, and testimony, and things that have been beyond anything anyone should have to see, and not only did they have to endure that but they had to do that silently, not being able to lean on any of their family members or even each other.
Liz Norden, the mother of two victims, added, “I have to watch my two sons put a leg on every day so I mean, I don’t know, closure? I can tell you it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, so I think there is some form of good feeling.”
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Boston Marathon Bomber Wants Death Sentence Overturned Because Trial Was Held In Boston

A newly released <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/4096.pdf">affidavit</a> provides significant new details about an unsolved 2011 murder connected to Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev. And it offers incriminating new information about Tsarnaev’s friend, a man killed after attacking an FBI agent during a 2013 interrogation, whose case has been championed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
CAIR continues to represent the estate of Ibragim Todashev, claiming law enforcement conspired to violate his civil rights and that his shooting death was unlawful. A federal judge in Florida tossed the case out last year, but an appeal is pending.
Before he was killed by an FBI agent’s bullet in 2013, and affidavit asserts that <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/4096.pdf#page=15">Todashev admitted</a> he and Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev were responsible for the grisly 2011 murder of three men in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Tsarnaev died in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/us/autopsy-says-boston-bombing-suspect-died-of-gunshot-wounds-and-blunt-trauma.html">shootout with police</a> early on April 19, 2013, four days after two pressure cooker bombs blew up near the Boston Marathon’s finish line, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/03/us/boston-marathon-terror-attack-fast-facts/index.html">killing</a> three people and injuring 264. His brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, also was wounded, but was arrested days later. He was <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/boston-bombing-trial/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-sentencing-boston-victims-address-bomber-directly-n380906">sentenced to death</a> in 2015 after being <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/jury-weighs-verdict-for-second-day-in-boston-marathon-bombing-trial/2015/04/08/11755a56-ddf0-11e4-a500-1c5bb1d8ff6a_story.html">convicted</a> on 30 counts, including use of a weapon of mass destruction related to the bombings.
Investigators quickly were drawn to Orlando after the bombings, where Todashev was living. Federal agents wanted to know about his friendship with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, while local police wanted to talk to him about an unsolved murder.
After several earlier contacts, they spent four hours interviewing Todashev inside his apartment the night of May 22, 2013. According to an affidavit unsealed last week, <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/4096.pdf#page=15">Todashev said</a> he and Tsarnaev originally planned to rob the three men, whom they believed had money because they sold pot. But Tsarnaev, who was armed with a gun, changed plans, saying “they should eliminate any witnesses to the crime,” the affidavit said. The two tied up Raphael Teken, 37, Erik Weissman, 31, and Brendan Mess, 25, before slashing their throats.
“In addition, the victims were covered with marijuana,” the affidavit said. Tsarnaev and Todashev split “several thousand dollars” they took from inside. Todashev said that he and Tsarnaev then <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/4096.pdf#page=16">spent about an hour</a> trying “to clean the crime scene in order to remove traces of their fingerprints and other identifying details,” the affidavit said.
The disclosure was one of few passages not redacted in a 27-page search warrant affidavit from 2013 used to search a Honda CR-V the two rode in that night. It was unsealed in connection with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s <a href="https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/11/15/affidavit-pins-grisly-2011-triple-murder-on-tamerlan-tsarnaev/">appeal</a> of his death sentence.
Todashev’s confession was known before, but the unsealed affidavit adds significant details about what he admitted.
The new information also sheds light on the FBI shooting that killed Todashev. Investigators say, and <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/4328/cair-criticizes-independent-investigation-it">two investigations confirmed</a>, that an FBI agent fired only after Todashev threw a coffee table at him, cutting the agent’s head, and then continued to attack.
“Todashev acknowledged his involvement in the Waltham murders and agreed to write a statement,” U.S. District Court Judge Carlos Mendoza <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/1079.pdf#page=16">wrote</a> in an August 2018 order, dismissing a lawsuit by Todashev’s estate against the government.
The law enforcement agents present thought his behavior was becoming increasingly erratic. One sent a text to his colleagues, <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/1079.pdf#page=17">warning</a>, “Be on guard. He is in [a] vulnerable position to do something bad. Be on guard now. I see him looking around at times.”
Moments later, Todashev attacked. The FBI agent later needed nine staples in his head to close the wound from the coffee table. He said Todashev ignored repeated warnings to back off and show his hands. The investigators’ fear for their safety was reasonable, Mendoza <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/1079.pdf#page=25">ruled</a>, and the FBI agent “was not required to wait and see what Todashev might do next.”
CAIR-Florida Executive Director Hassan Shibly, who filed the civil suit as “as the personal representative for the Estate of Ibragim Todashev and Todashev’s survivors,” has made no public comment about the new disclosure about Todashev. In 2014, after separate state and federal investigations also cleared the FBI agent, Shibly <a href="https://twitter.com/HassanShibly/status/447052578397126656">wrote</a> that the FBI’s credibility was being damaged.
An appeal on Mendoza’s order granting summary judgment to the defendants is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
But if the original lawsuit record is any indication, the appeal won’t go far.
The federal district court repeatedly found that CAIR attorneys <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/1079.pdf#page=8">failed to state a claim</a> to support the various counts in the civil suit. Other claims were called “threadbare” and “<a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/1079.pdf#page=13">woefully deficient</a>.&#8221;
At one point, CAIR attorneys even moved to disqualify Mendoza, claiming he could not be partial because he worked on a terrorism task force as a prosecutor before being appointed to the bench. In fact, it was the magistrate judge who acknowledged that work. In a separate motion to disqualify U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel C. Irick, CAIR attorney Tark Aouadi wrote that Irick’s experience “is disturbing to the [p]laintiff as it appears to evidences [sic] bias and partiality which leads the [p]laintiff to seek disqualification.”
Irick <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/1078.pdf#page=4">called</a> the “generalized argument” “so entirely without merit that it defies logic. Indeed, the bald assertion that the undersigned’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned because this case involves allegations of ‘terrorism’ and the undersigned, as an [a]ssistant United States [a]ttorney, worked with a joint terrorism task force is meritless. The fact that the undersigned worked with a joint terrorism task force is not evidence of bias against any person, and no reasonable person would question the impartiality of the undersigned, or anyone else, on that basis.”
Irick did recuse himself “in an abundance of caution,” however, <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/1078.pdf#page=5">noting</a> that he had worked with one of the defendants during his days as a prosecutor. He did this even though “this was not a basis for recusal argued in [p]laintiff’s motion.”
A lawyer for the Todashev estate also claimed the law enforcement officials “were being deceitful,” prosecutors <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/1083.pdf#page=16">wrote</a>, “though he offered no evidence to support this claim.”
Steven Emerson is Executive Director of The investigative Project on Terrorism (<a href="http://www.investigativeproject.org/">www.investigativeproject.org</a>) and the author of six books on national security and Islamic terrorism. On Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveEmersonIPT">@SteveEmersonIPT</a>.

Boston Marathon 2014

Boston Marathon Bomber’s Friend Confessed To 2011 Triple Murder Before Being Killed, Affidavit States

CAIR

Crime

Lawsuit

Murder

Radical Islam

Radical Islamic Terror

On Friday’s episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher” on HBO, Maher delivered a monologue criticizing the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates for their most extreme progressive positions.
<blockquote>MAHER: New rule. Someone must explain to Democrats what “binary” means. In America, we&#8217;ve got dozens of flavors of pretty much everything – Doritos and Gatorade, Oreos, Pepsi, Triscuits, Pop-Tarts – but we only have two political parties. Most democracies have a parliamentary system with many parties; we don&#8217;t. We don&#8217;t. With us, it&#8217;s always plain or peanut, cream or suppository. That is what “binary” means. Trump gets it.</blockquote>
Maher then played two clips from Trump rallies where the President says: “If you really like Donald Trump, that&#8217;s great, but if you don&#8217;t, you have to vote for me anyway,” and “Whether you love me or hate me, you gotta vote for me.”
Maher continued:
<blockquote>The question Democrats must ask themselves is, “What would make a voter say, ‘Trump&#8217;s right. I don&#8217;t like him, but I have no choice?’” Well, let&#8217;s go down the list. Bernie Sanders says we should let the Boston Marathon bomber vote. Why? Is there a great clamoring to give deranged serial killers more of a voice in civil society? Is Hannibal Lecter thinking, “I love Trump for his narcissistic personality disorder, but Sanders really gets voters like me.” Now, I&#8217;m sure you can make an argument for this, but we&#8217;re trying to win an election here, and this just feeds into what Trump is selling.</blockquote>
Maher then played multiple clips in which the president call Democrats “crazy.”
During a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bernie-sanders-let-terrorists-sex-predators-ryan-saavedra">CNN town hall</a> in April, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was asked: “Would [you] support enfranchising people like the Boston Marathon bomber, a convicted terrorist and murderer?”
He replied: “If somebody commits a serious crime – sexual assault, murder – they’re going to be punished. They may be in jail 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, their whole lives. That’s what happens when you commit a serious crime. But I think the right to vote is inherent to our democracy. Yes, even for terrible people, because once you start chipping away … you’re running down a slippery slope … I do believe that even if they are in jail, they’re paying their price to society, that should not take away their inherent American right to participate in our democracy.”
Maher continued:
<blockquote>Hey Democrats, don&#8217;t make him [Trump] believable on that, and you win. Elizabeth Warren has not come out in favor of imprisoned serial killers voting, but she does want taxpayers to cover their sex change operations in prison, which brings up the question, “If you tried, could you come up with a policy with more third-rail buzzwords in it?”
&#8230;where are the votes in this? You know how many transgender people there are in federal prison in America? 473 – and they can&#8217;t vote. So, we&#8217;re taking this position because it makes a great campaign slogan? “Commit a crime [and] get a free d***!” “Commit a crime and your new vagina is free!” So, let&#8217;s imagine a slightly different scenario. You’re a progressive voter who likes Elizabeth Warren, you drive a Prius, hate guns, and buy kale in bulk, but you find out that Warren does not support taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgery for convicts, so that&#8217;s it? Deal-breaker? You’re voting for Trump now? Of course not! This is the binary thing Democrats don&#8217;t get because apparently they never saw the movie “An Officer and a Gentleman,” where a drill sergeant forces Richard Gere to admit the same truth the Democratic voters need to face.</blockquote>
“I got nowhere else to go!” screams Gear in a clip from the film.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s “LGBTQ+ Rights and Equality” plan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/warren-inmates-are-entitled-to-taxpayer-funded-transgender-surgery">reads in part</a>: “I will direct the Bureau of Prisons to end the Trump Administration’s dangerous policy of imprisoning transgender people in facilities based on their sex assigned at birth.”
During a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/warren-inmates-are-entitled-to-taxpayer-funded-transgender-surgery">recent town hall</a>, Warren was questioned by CNN’s Chris Cuomo about her previous position that taxpayers shouldn’t have to fund transition surgery for trans inmates. The senator apologized for her prior stance and walked it back.
Maher continued:
<blockquote>You hear that, Bernie and Elizabeth and Beto and the rest of them? They got nowhere else to go. So, you can stop wearing your most divisive issues on your sleeve. Target sells condoms and lube, but they don&#8217;t call it “the condom and lube store,” they hide that s*** in the back in a locked case and they call themselves Target&#8230;
Point is, instead of trying to make the people on the far-left double-dog like you, make some good people in the middle not hate you. People talk a lot in this country about identity politics. Here’s some identity for you. Only 46% of Democrats identify as liberals. Yeah. Life doesn&#8217;t end east of La Brea.
Beto O’Rourke wants to tax churches. So do I, but I&#8217;m not running for president. Beto wants to take away the tax-exempt status of any church that opposes gay marriage, a position I doubt goes down well among black churchgoers – and try winning as a Democrat without them. I&#8217;m sure Tyler Perry would vote for Beto. I&#8217;m not so sure about Madea.</blockquote>
During a recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/robert-francis-orourke-punish-churches-that-do-not-support-gay-marriage">LGBTQ town hall</a> on CNN, candidate Beto O’Rourke was asked if “religious institutions like colleges, churches, [and] charities should &#8230; lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage,” and he replied in the affirmative.
“There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution, any organization in America, that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us,” O’Rourke stated. “So as president, we’re going to make that a priority, and we are going to stop those who are infringing upon the human rights of our fellow Americans.”
Maher continued:
<blockquote>I&#8217;m not sure why Kamala Harris felt the need to start off a recent town hall by saying, “My pronouns are she, her, and hers” &#8230; for some, I guess that makes her the Rosa Parks of pronouns, but there&#8217;s a much larger group thinking, “Why is this important?” Why in the first debate did Julián Castro feel the need to take a brave stand in favor of trans-female abortion rights. Trans-females can&#8217;t even get pregnant; they don&#8217;t have a uterus – unless they&#8217;re in prison and Elizabeth Warren buys them one.</blockquote>
During the first Democratic primary debate in June, Julian Castro was asked if his health care plan would cover “abortion.”
Castro infamously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pc-insanity-julian-castros-transgender-abortion-hank-berrien">replied</a>: “Yes, it would. I don’t believe only in reproductive freedom, I believe in reproductive justice. And, you know, what that means is that just because a woman – or let’s also not forget someone in the trans community, a trans female – is poor, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the right to exercise that right to choose. And so I absolutely would cover the right to have an abortion.”
Maher concluded:
<blockquote>This should be easy. Just be less crazy than Donald Trump. Are you guys seriously struggling with this? 69% of voters say they dislike Trump personally, and there&#8217;s no sign anything can change their minds, but Democrats reaction to that is, “Okay, but let&#8217;s try.” Let me help you. You don&#8217;t need to be 100% Twitter approved on every issue. Twitter is not America. Most of America, all they want is to vote for someone who&#8217;s not weird. Play to them, and stop worrying that you&#8217;re gonna lose social justice warriors to Donald Trump.</blockquote>
[Warning: Strong Language]
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