April 22, 2013, 8:21 p.m. ET
In the months before he was charged with carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared to be a young man pushed and pulled between normal life as an American college student, and the traditions and religion of his family and native country.
Just a few months ago, Mr. Tsarnaev gushed about a trip to New York City, where he went to a hookah bar and "loved it," said Britney Smith, 23 years old, of Miami, who is a close friend of Mr. Tsarnaev's sisters.
As a sophomore at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Mr. Tsarnaev, 19, smoked Marlboro Lights, drove a Honda Civic littered with junk and was frequently seen at parties, said college friend Ahmad Nassri, 20, who played indoor soccer with him.
But Mr. Tsarnaev's family loomed large in his life. His father, a Chechen, and mother, an Avar, who both now live in the republic of Dagestan in Russia, wanted him to come see them in May so they could help him find a wife, Ms. Smith said.
source:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323551004578439352051612188.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories
3 comments:
Crazy story. The parents of the suspects believe their children are innocent and it was some sort of set up or conspiracy. Link with more info below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/world/europe/parents-say-boston-bombing-suspects-are-innocent.html
This is such a sad story. It reminds me of a book I read called Picking Cotton. It is a true story about an African American man who is given a life in prison for raping a white woman. There was evidence to show that he did not do it yet the police still created a story around him committing the crime. It wasn't until DNA testing proved that he did not do it that he was finally given a fair trail. It would be awful if Tsarnev was found innocent in the end.
Given the continuing developments in this case, I see how the media, the authorities, and the public are struggling to put together a story. Just recently, I read that it was his mother that supposedly converted him to radical Islam and this was the reason his parents separated. I think this speaks volumes about the power of religion, whichever one that might be.
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