The man responsible for the 2013 Boston Bombings has issued his first statement after he was sentenced to death for his actions.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a Massachusetts university student, and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were convicted of planting and detonating bombs during the Boston Marathon on April 15th, 2013. His brother, Tamerlan, was killed during the resulting manhunt.
Earlier this year, Tsarnaev pled guilty to using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death and with malicious destruction of property resulting in death, and following the recent trial, has been sentenced to death after a lengthy hearing of testimonials and interviews.
In what was his first, and likely last, statement since the attack that killed four and injured 264, Tsarnaev used the time to apologise to both the victims and their families.
“I would like to now apologize to the victims, to the survivors,” said the 21-year-old, “I am sorry for the lives I have taken and suffering I have caused you and the damage. I have done irreparable damage.”
“In case there is any doubt, I am guilty of this attack, along with my brother,” confessed Tsarnaev, “I saw the victims. I learned their names, their faces, their age. And throughout this trial, more of those victims were given names, more of those victims had faces and they had very good souls.”
He thanked those families and victims who testified for their “dignity”, “strength” and “patience”.
Tsarnaev finished his statement by begging forgiveness of Allah for himself and healing for his victims, “I pray to Allah to bestow his mercy upon me. Allah says in the Quran that for every hardship there is relief, and I pray for your relief, for your healing, for your wellbeing and for your strength.”
Families arrive for the trial.
Yet Tsnarnaev wasn’t the only one to speak during the trial. The courtroom also heard the emotional accounts of both victims and their families.
“I will never have a complete family ever again,” said the sister of the MIT police officer killed in the bombings, “He is a coward and a liar. He is a leech abusing the privileges of American freedom.”
Another victim of the bombings, who escaped with substantial injuries, spoke out, condemning Tsarnaev as a coward.
“Whatever God that the defendant believes in is not going to welcome his actions,” she said. “The defendant’s God will condemn him to an eternity of suffering.”
But the most heartbreaking story heard at the trials belonged to the mother and father of eight-year-old, Martin, who was killed during the explosion.
“There’s nothing we can say that will change anything for us,” said a tearful Bill Richard, “He chose hate, he chose destruction, he chose death.”
As Tsarnaev was sentenced, he made a closing statement, asking mercy from Allah.
“And I ask Allah to have mercy on me, on my brother and on my family,” said Tsarnaev, “I ask Allah to bestow his mercy on those present here today, and Allah knows best those deserving of his mercy.”
Tsarnaev is the youngest person to ever be committed to the death row. However, under the laws of mandatory appeals, he is likely to face over a decade of appeals before the sentence is carried out.
