Report: Tsarnaev Called Victims 'Collateral Damage'

May 16, 2013
The bombing suspect reportedly scrawled on the boat he was hiding out in that the attack was payback.

The four killed and 260-plus people wounded in the Boston Marathon attacks and rampage days later were considered "collateral damage" by ruthless accused teen terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as he cowered in a boat, CBS news is reporting today.

The wounded 19-year-old reportedly scrawled in pen on the interior of the boat he was hiding out in that the twin bombings on Boylston Street April 15 were payback for America's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, CBS is reporting. Tsarnaev is also a suspect in the murder of MIT Officer Sean Collier at the start of a botched escape from the city the night of April 18-19.

CBS reports that sources tell them Tsarnaev wrote on the walls of the boat: "When you attack one Muslim, you attack all Muslims." He also penned, CBS says, that he was not mourning the death of his brother because he was a "martyr in paradise." That brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was gunned down and run over -- by Dzhokhar -- in the early morning hours of April 19 in a gunfight with police in Watertown.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev fled the gunfight trying to save his own life and hid out in a boat in Watertown, where CBS says he wrote all the victims of the murderous spree were "collateral damage."

The owner of the boat, David Henneberry, told the Herald today he has "no clue" about any writings on his boat, which has been towed away as evidence by the FBI. Henneberry was the one who found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding inside the boat. That discovery ended a manhunt that forced an unprecedented "shelter inside" order for Boston, Watertown, Cambridge and other surrounding communities for hours.

Peter Brown, the uncle of two marathon bombing victims, said the news of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's alleged rant has left him even more upset.

"It's even more insulting. He's hiding like a rat, yet would take the time to send that message," Brown told the Herald today. "It's cold-hearted. He didn't care about the victims."

Brown's two nephews, J.P., 33, and Paul Norden, 31, of Stoneham both lost their right legs in the blast on Boylston. Paul is set to go home today from Spaulding Rehabilitation Center in Charlestown.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's reported confession as he almost bled to death inside the shrink-wrapped boat adds to the mounting evidence against the former UMass Dartmouth sophomore who is now locked up at a Devens prison hospital.

Besides Collier, those killed were Martin Richard, 8, of Dorchester; Krystle Campbell, 29, of Arlington; and Boston University grad student Lingzi Lu, 23, of China. MBTA Officer Richard Donohue, 33, was also severely wounded in the gunfight and more than a dozen marathon race fans lost limbs in the blasts.

Copyright 2013 - Boston Herald

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

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