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Russians Say They Warned FBI About Alleged Boston Bomber "Multiple" Times
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 24, 2013
Modified Apr 24, 2013
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 24, 2013
Modified Apr 24, 2013
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The FBI was quick to admit that they were warned about one of the men who allegedly bombed the Boston Marathon, announcing that Russian authorities had asked them to investigate suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev back in 2011. (Which they did, finding nothing.) But it gets worse: yesterday members of the Senate Intelligence Committee learned that Russia alerted the United States about Tsarnaev multiple times, not just once in 2011.
After emerging from the closed-door briefing, Republican Senator Susan Collins told reporters, "I’m very concerned that there still seem to be serious problems with the sharing of information, including critical investigative information. That is troubling to me, this many years after the attacks on our country in 2001, that we still seem to have stovepipes that prevent information from being shared effectively, not only among agencies but also with the same agency in one case."
After interviewing Tsarnaev—during the meeting he tried to convert an FBI agent to Islam—investigators found no indication that he had terrorist inclinations. But last year Tsarnaev spent six months in Makhachkala, Dagestan, which is known for Islamic fundamentalism and frequent terrorist bombings. The FBI says they were not aware of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's trip, but Homeland Security was!
US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano explained yesterday that his name was misspelled on an airliner passenger list (which is why the FBI missed it). But her department was aware of the trip, because "even with the misspelling under our current system, there are redundancies, and so the system did ping when he was leaving the United States." Lawmakers expressed concern about the poor coordination between FBI and Homeland Security, with Senator Charles "Captain Obvious" Grassley declaring, "It looks to me like there is a lack of communication.”
So far, investigators say they've found no link between the Tsarnaev brothers and any terrorist group or accomplice. (Yesterday, however, the AP reported that a mysterious Muslim convert had exerted enormous influence over Tamerlan in recent years.) "These are persons operating inside the United States without a nexus” to an overseas group, a U.S. intelligence official told the Washington Post.
Meanwhile, more details have emerged about the brothers' alleged murder of MIT security officer Sean Collier and the carjacking of the unidentified SUV driver. Officials tell the Washington Post that the brothers shot Collier possibly in an attempt to seize his firearm. (Tamerlan already had a gun, investigators say, but they were trying to get another.) However, they were unable to get the weapon because a mechanism kept it locked to Collier's holster.
And while we knew that the unidentified man who was briefly taken hostage in his Mercedes SUV said the brothers identified themselves as the Marathon bombers, now the Boston Globe is reporting detailed quotes. “We just killed a cop. We blew up the marathon. And now we’re going to New York. Don’t [expletive] with us.” Officials say the hostage, who was released without harm because the Tamerlan allegedly said they were only targeting Americans, will be a key witness for the prosecution.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority SWAT team released this infrared image of the boat where surviving suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found. His condition has been upgraded from serious to "fair."
Lastly, a New Hampshire fireworks store said Tamerlan Tsarnaev bought fireworks there in February—and it's the same company that sold the failed Times Square bomber fireworks in 2010. "We were just shocked,” Bill Weimer, vice president of Phantom Fireworks in Seabrook, N.H., told the Daily News. “After our Times Square experience, we said, ‘It can’t happen twice.' " Tsarnaev allegedly walked into a New Hampshire location of Phantom Fireworks and asked for the "biggest and loudest" fireworks kit.
The Boston Globe reports that he allegedly used $200 cash to purchase two “Lock and Load” kits, each with 24 shells. Weimer speculated that Tsarnaev extracted the powder from all 48 shells and put it to use to build the bombs, which killed three and injured over 170 people.
Tagged
boston marathon
tamerlan tsarnaev
terroism
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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