AP and NBC reported that Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev came to the U.S. from or near Chechnya, but both have apparently spent several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
Later he said they were brothers, and added, “They were legal permanent residents. They were in this country legally, at least a year. They appear to be from Turkey, possibly Chechens from Turkey. That seems to be the nationality here.”
Just before 7 a.m. Friday morning, the Associated Press confirmed Williams’ reporting and naming Tsarnaev.
Born July 22, 1993, according to Williams, Tsarnaev attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, has a Massachusetts driver’s license, and has been in the country for around a decade.
The brother, although NBC initially reported he was 20, was 26 and named Tamerlan Tsarnaev. He became a legal permanent resident, according to NBC, in 2007. He maintained a YouTube page that focused on Sunni Islam and included a playlist named “terrorist.”
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s online profile is more secular, though his “World view” on Vkontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, is listed as “Islam” and his “Personal priority” is “career and money.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev died overnight in the firefight with police, suffering from “blast and potentially gunshot wounds … probably a blast injury [and] possibly shrapnel” throughout his trunk.
In 2011, Dzhokar Tsarnaev was recognized as a Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Greater Boston League Winter All Star:
He later graduated from the school:
My beloved nephew on right, djohar tsarnaev on left, happy cambridge Rindge and Latin grads.heartbreaking pic.twitter.com/wCuNo8aApQ
Robin Young@hereandnowrobin
Former Classmates Shocked By Boston Bomber’s Crimes
rosiegray
The City of Cambridge appears to have given him a $2,500 scholarship in 2011:
He appears to have been involved in Cambridge life as early as 2010:
Nexis also shows he was a registered voter.
His Page on Vkontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, has been overrun with people asking him how he could have committed the bombing, and wishing him dead.
A favorite joke.
Translation:
A Dagestani, a Chechen, and an Ingush man are sitting in a car.
Question: Who is driving?
Answer: The police.
Nexis also shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev as a registered voter.
A photo series sheds some insight into Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s views.
“Tamerlan Tsarnaev practices boxing at the Wai Kru Mixed Martial Arts center.”
“Originally from Chechnya, but living in the United States since five years, Tamerlan says: ‘I don’t have a single American friend, I don’t understand them.'”
“Tamerlan says he doesn’t drink or smoke anymore: ‘God said no alcohol.’ A Muslim, he says: ‘There are no values anymore,’ and worries that ‘people can’t control themselves.'”
Zubeidat K. Tsarnaeva, 45, who shares an address with the two men and could be their mother, was arrested last summer for shoplifting.
Natick Patch reported last June:
Loss prevention from Lord & Taylor called to report they had detained a shoplifter. Zubeidat K. Tsarnaeva, 45, of 410 Norfolk St., Apt. 3, Cambridge, was arrested and charged with larceny over $250 (women’s clothing valued at $1,624), and two counts of malicious/wanton damage/defacement to property.
