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Accused Boston Marathon Bomber Unable To Talk Due To Throat Injury
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 21, 2013
Modified Apr 21, 2013
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 21, 2013
Modified Apr 21, 2013
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Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick told reporters yesterday that officials have "a million questions" to ask suspected 19-year-old Boston marathon bomber Dzhokar Tsarnaev. But Tsarnaev, who is under heavy guard at the hospital, is currently "intubated and sedated" with an unspecified injury to his throat; Boston police commissioner Ed Davis said on Fox News Sunday that he is in "no condition to speak" but is "progressing."
More information has come out about what Tsarnaev was up to in the days after the bombing: according to CNN, he was on the campus of University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth every day after the attack until late Thursday, when police released his photo to media. Tsarnaev attended classes as well as a dorm party on Wednesday night: "He was just relaxed," said a fellow student, who asked the Boston Globe not to print her name.
Another classmate who lives in the same dorm as Tsarnaev said students were joking at first when they saw the FBI photos on TV: "We made a joke like, that could be Dzhokar," said Pamala Rolon. "But then we thought it just couldn't be him. Dzhokar? Never."
Fellow Dartmouth student Andrew Glasby, who lived one floor below Tsarnaev, told ABC he saw him the day after the attack: "I can't believe he had the balls to come back and act like nothing happened." Glasby said there was no indication anything was up with him: "I thought as it was just regular old Jahar. We had a typical conversation, he was not startled, he was not scared, he was not anything. He was just the same old Jahar," he said.
Once Tsarnaev is able to communicate again, the government has invoked the public safety exception, a designation that allows investigators to question the teen without reading him his Miranda rights and without a lawyer present. This has sparked a debate among advocates, lawyers and legislators over the possible precedent set by this move.
The public safety exception expires 48 hours after the arrest however. So some Republican lawmakers are calling on Obama to declare Tsarnaev a potential enemy combatant, which would then keep him from having a lawyer present and other legal rights under the “Law of War” so investigators can learn about other possible attacks.
Tagged
boston
boston marathon
boston marathon bombing
Dzhokar Tsarnaev
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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