A brief reminder of where we’re at:
One of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings is dead this morning, the other the focus of a massive manhunt, after a wild night including a chase and a firefight that killed one police officer and injured another. The suspects have been identified as Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Chechen brothers who have lived in the U.S. for at least 12 years. (Via)
Here’s what we know so far about the Tsarnaev brothers.
-Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is 19, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was 26
-Tamerlan had a YouTube page, where he created playlists dedicated to “Terrorists” and “Islam”
-Mother Jones reports:
Among those videos is one dedicated to the prophecy of the Black Banners of Khurasan which is embraced by Islamic extremists—particularly Al Qaeda. The videos posted on what appears to be Tsarnaev’s YouTube page may shed light on the motivations for the attack on the Boston Marathon. The prophecy states that an invincible army will come from the region of “Khurasan,” a large portion of territory in central Asia. (Via)
-Tamerlan was a boxer, who, according to Gawker, “trained at the Wai Kru Mixed Martial Arts Center in Allston and studied at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston.” He was also the subject of a photo series:
-Tamerlan said “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.'”
-Deadspin also passed along this photo of Tamerlan.
-I was wondering who had this address:
-Dzhokhar maintained a VK page, a.k.a. Russian Facebook…
-…where he listed a favorite joke.
Translation: “A Dagestani, a Chechen, and an Ingush man are sitting in a car. Who is driving?” “The police.”
-Naturally, because everyone’s awful, people have been sending him gifts:
-Everyone should have known he was a monster, considering he uses ranch dressing.
-Dzhokhar was named Student Athlete of the Month in February 2011 for his wrestling prowess.
-His yearbook photo, courtesy of Brynn Gingras:
-Dzhokhar and Tamerlan’s mother, 45-year-old Zubeidat, was arrested last year for “allegedly stealing $1,600 worth of clothes from an upscale department store [Lord & Taylor in Natick, Mass].”
-As for the father, he still lives in Russia, says Now This News, and “described [Dzhokhar] as a smart and accomplished young man who had dreams of being a doctor. The family expected him home on holidays.”
We’ll update this post throughout the day as more information becomes available.
UPDATE: Dzhokhar went by @J_tsar on Twitter, and he apparently loves Breaking Bad:
