Report: Tsarnaev Admits to Detonating Marathon Bombs
The Boston Marathon bombing suspect currently hospitalized admitted to FBI agents that he and his brother detonated the bombs planted near the finish line, the Boston Globe reports. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, made the reported admission on Sunday from his bed at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and had not yet been given a Miranda warning, the Globe reported. A “senior police official” told the Globe that authorities were not concerned about Tsarnaev not being read his Miranda rights, which means any statements he made would not be admissible in court, due to testimony of the Tsarnaev brother’s alleged carjacking victim. According to the criminal complaint filed against Tsarnaev, during the carjacking on Thursday night one of the brothers pointed a firearm at the victim and said, “Did you hear about the Boston explosion?” and “I did that.” U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz previously said that Tsarnaev was not read his Miranda rights when taken into custody due to a public safety exemption in cases of national security and acts of terrorism. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that Tsarnaev will be tried in civilian court and not treated as an Enemy Combatant. Carney noted that Tsarnaev is a naturalized American citizen and thus cannot be tried in front of a military tribunal, as an enemy combatant would. Tsarnaev is charged with unlawfully using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction (namely, an improvised explosive device) against persons and property within the United States. He is also charged with maliciously damaging and destroying, by means of explosive, real and personal property used in interstate and foreign commerce and actively affecting interstate and foreign commerce resulting in personal injury and death. His brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed when he was run over by his brother, suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a lengthy battle with law enforcement early Friday morning. Read the full Boston Globe report on boston.com. South End Patch