Tsarnaev Family Besieged by Media, Angry Bostonians

Maret Tsarnaeva, Dzhokar’s aunt who now lives in Russia, is among family members who were angered at the defense’s strategy to admit guilt and who still believes in her nephew’s innocence. Photo credit:CTV

Because of threats, complaints and an increasingly bizarre media circus, family members of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were moved to an undisclosed location outside of the city—an ironic twist given that Tsarnaev’s trial, itself, was never given that same consideration.

Relatives tell WhoWhatWhy that members of Tsarnaev’s family traveled to Boston on April 24, but that group only included extended family from Zubeidat Tsarnaeva (Dzhokhar’s mother’s) side of the family. The Revere, MA Hampton Inn Hotelwhere they were staying was besieged with cancellations and complaints for hosting the family even though his parents weren’t among them.

The Boston press probably has spent more time hounding these family members than asking questions about the glaring discrepancies in the case. They are trotting out their experts to opine about what they might testify to during the sentencing phase—rather than actually asking them what they know about the Tsarnaev brothers, their opinions, their activities, or anything else that might explain why they feel they are innocent of any involvement in the bombings.

But Tsarnaev’s aunt, Maret, in an email, said it is not in the current defense plan for the relatives to even testify—though that is subject to change as defense attorneys lay out their case. She said defense team members told her that “when jurors look at these relatives, they might find that some of them would remind them of their own uncle, or aunt, or a cousin, or… and that way, there can be a personal connection attached to it, and with that connection, the jurors might (go) easy on choosing the punishment for Dzhokhar.”

That’s optimistic thinking, at least if the jurors are anything like those commenting on various Boston media sites who liken the family members—many of whom have not seen Tsarnaev since he was a little boy—to monsters and moochers. One Twitter denizen even Tweeted out a map to the hotel and advocated for a “Punch-A-Tsarnaev-Day.” (This despite the reality that most people, faced with a relative accused of a crime of any sort, are inclined to give the relative the benefit of the doubt—and that we expect them to do that.)