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The trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may turn out to be one of the strangest in history. The main story doesn’t make much sense, yet nearly all mainstream accounts suggest there is nothing more to be learned about the Boston Marathon bombing. Russ Baker ruminates on the “known unknowns” that await resolution.
Convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers filed a motion last month requesting a new trial, at a different venue. Media superficially covering the filing glossed over an important defense claim: evidence Tsarnaev’s team says shows at least some of the jurors were exposed to “inflammatory” information on their social media feeds.
It’s been five years since the Boston Marathon bombing. Nevertheless, the federal government continues to withhold most of its official records about the primary perpetrator of that heinous attack.
Tomorrow marks four years since the Boston bombing massacre. WhoWhatWhy has been at the forefront of this story and questioned the accepted narrative. We’ve compiled a selection of some of our most important articles on this important subject.
Several mainstream media reporters in Boston admitted that they don’t see the need to use the word “alleged” when talking about Boston Marathon Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The trial is merely a formality, and so are journalistic ethics, apparently. Lara Turner examines the shocking admission.
The evidence suggests the FBI went to extraordinary lengths to set up one of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s best friends, to ensure his help in convicting the accused Boston Marathon bomber. Stephen Silva, who testified against Tsarnaev, was released on December 22, 2015, and is now a free man after being sentenced to time served:17 months. Had he not agreed to testify for the prosecution, he would have faced a maximum of 40 years for selling heroin — something the FBI manipulated him into doing.
The narrative of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as a radicalized religious zealot isn’t necessarily in keeping with case evidence.
Viskhan Vakhabov received a phone call from the Tsarnaev brothers—one of whom is now dead, the other just sentenced to death—in a crucial moment in the immediate aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombings. Why did the government fail to speak with him about his involvement?
The federal government won a conviction against a third friend of the Tsarnaev brothers, the accused Boston Marathon bombers. The successful prosecution of Robel Phillipos for making false statements to the FBI demonstrated the agency’s most effective investigative weapon, and showed that cracks in the case are no impediment to a conviction.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals will hear Boston Marathon Bombing defendant Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s argument that he can’t get a fair trial in Boston. Don’t hold your breath for any revelations though: the appellate court has forbidden lawyers for either side to talk about the details at the heart of the argument.
Imagine if someone looked at a Christian cross on the wall, and took it to be representative of the cross-burning Ku Klux Klan? That’s the logic some reporters are applying to the black Muslim flag found on Boston Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s wall. They’re equating the flag, a common symbol of a Muslim’s faith, to a sign of affiliation with al Qaeda.
A friend of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to six years in prison—after cooperating with the FBI in its investigation. Other known Tsarnaev associates who did not cooperate were let off without so much as a questioning. What is going on here?