The most disturbing thing about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is definitely the fact that no one who knows him can quite believe that he decided to set off a bomb at the Boston Marathon. Even in retrospect, his acquaintances don’t really see any signs that they might have missed. In the days after the bombing, he still seemed normal. The next morning he went to a friend’s house and played FIFA Soccer on a Playstation for hours. He went to class. He went to a college party. If not for surveillance cameras, he may never have given himself away.
It definitely looks like he was dragged into the plot by his older brother, Tamerlan, who commanded a lot of respect not only because he was effectively the parent, but also because he was a big man who was an excellent boxer. It probably was very difficult to say no to him.
It’s easy to blame the FBI for not keeping better tabs on Tamerlan, but it should be remembered that the concern was about him traveling to Russia and maybe joining Chechen rebels there who are fighting against Russia. Once he came home, he was of less interest to us than to the Russians. In general, the Chechens haven’t had a beef with America. The Tsarnaev family was granted asylum in America, which would normally preclude strong anti-Americanism.
Despite the terrible tragedy, this is a very interesting story. I’d be interested to hear Dzhokhar’s version of events. In particular, I’d like to know what they were hoping to accomplish. Maybe one day, after his trial is over and he is rotting for life in prison, he will talk to someone about why he and his brother chose this path.
