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Sunday Tsarnaev-Related News

The FBI is again searching the residence where Tamerlan Tsarnaev lived with his wife at 410 Norfolk St.

Ruslan Tsarnev (the uncle from Maryland) is at the funeral home where the director is still pleading for the Government to step in and find a place to bury Tamerlan, whose body is now being prepared for a proper Muslim burial.

Defendant Robel Phillipos is seeking bail. I have uploaded the bond motion, his mother's affidavit and Robel's resume. [More...]

The bond motion says:

The school record shows that Mr. Phillipos had taken a leave of absence for a semester and did not attend school in the spring. As a result, he had not had contact with the main suspect or the other two individuals for over two months. But by sheer coincidence and bad luck, he was invited to attend a seminar on campus on April 18. As such, he did not have much to offer the authorities regarding the investigation of the suspect.

The motion doesn't address the timeline and sequence of events in the Complaint that the FBI says was it provided by Robel and the other two defendants arrested last week.

I think Robel should get bail. The offense with which he is charged does not carry a presumption against bail. The Government has conceded he is not a danger to the community. It is proceeding on the risk of flight prong of the statute.

Robel has lived in Cambridge his entire life. He is a U.S. citizen, raised by a single mother, a refugee from Ethopia who while raising him, obtained a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. She is the Director of numerous prominent domestic violence programs and emergency shelters and also assists refugees in the community.

Robel was an honor student in high school. He is still in college – he had taken this semester off. The family has the strong support of their church, the Ethopian Orthodox Christian church. He has never been arrested. He has strong family and community ties and was active in civic youth programs in the city.

Interestingly, one of the affidavits filed on his behalf is by a woman who adopted an Ethopian child. She refers to the Judge castigating Robel for looking down instead of at her during his court appearance. She writes:

When I read in the paper that the judge had admonished him for looking down at the floor instead of into her eyes, I felt sad because that is a sign of respect for in Ethiopian culture– not to look into the eyes of someone older or in authority, and to speak softly.

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  • Display: Sort:
    They'll get rid of his body (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by Dadler on Mon May 06, 2013 at 08:17:14 AM EST
    It'll be on a flight out of the country fairly soon, IMHO. Either that, or our certifiably insane federal government will look for a sorcerer to adopt the corpse.

    No doubt, (none / 0) (#9)
    by Zorba on Mon May 06, 2013 at 08:50:14 AM EST
    A necromancer.

    Parent
    Maybe they Sent it to Gitmo... (5.00 / 2) (#15)
    by ScottW714 on Mon May 06, 2013 at 03:12:59 PM EST
    ..and the necromancer can figure out a way to water-board his spirit.  Should be as accurate as the other forms of torture and it would really freak all the other detainees out as an added benefit.

    It's not like we can infuriate Muslims anymore with the cockamaymme non-sense going down there.

    Parent

    A Plea From A Homeboy (5.00 / 4) (#10)
    by MO Blue on Mon May 06, 2013 at 09:07:37 AM EST
    ... grew up in Shrewsbury but, in more ways than not, Worcester was my hometown. I have never been anything less than proud of that. So, it is as a native that I, respectifully, make this request.

    Stop making jackasses of yourself in front of the entire nation.

    Stop harassing an elderly undertaker who's just trying to do a very hard job. Stop hassling admittedly camera-ready Uncle Ruslan every time he shows up. Stop giving ridiculous soundbites to the Boston television stations, and to the network drones who come parachuting in. Stop yelling on the sidewalk. Get yourselves together, get yourselves over to the Banner, order a cold beer from my pal Tom Cummins, and just chill the fk out. You're embarrassing yourselves.

    Tamerlan Tsarnaev is dead. He is not going to be any more dead if you wave some more signs. He is not going to be any more dead the louder you yell. Your made-for-TV outrage is not going to make him any more dead. Please, I'm begging you. Stop auditioning for yet another national television passion play. Stop demonstrating your willingness to be part of an ongoing freak show. No matter how much fealty you pledge on camera to The Victims or Their Families, he's not going to be any deader. Let his family bury him. Let them bury him wherever they want.

    Charles P. Pierce



    I could not agree more... (5.00 / 3) (#11)
    by Anne on Mon May 06, 2013 at 09:40:37 AM EST
    part of the problem, of course, is that when the "haircuts with cameras" sense a lull in the story, they scurry out to try to get it all going again,  in this case, creating a controversy about the disposition of Tamerlan's body.

    As reprehensible as Tamerlan's alleged actions were, and as reviled and hated as he is, it doesn't change the fact that he had parents, a wife, a child, extended family, who loved him.  If he had been my child, I can't imagine the pain in my heart that his loss, compounded by his actions, would engender.  

    For all the stories of heroics and selfless aid and comfort - and there were many, and those involved are deserving of gratitude and praise - it is in how we treat those who have hurt us that can end up defining who we are.

    I have to say, though, that it wouldn't be my choice to have my child buried among people who hate him.

    Parent

    Well said (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by sj on Mon May 06, 2013 at 12:56:35 PM EST
    ... it is in how we treat those who have hurt us that can end up defining who we are.
    As for burying my child among people who hate him -- well, that's just tragic in so many ways.  For starters, the people who would actually surround him are beyond caring.  But more than that, it is my worst nightmare to be the one burying my child.  To have that pain compounded because of the "haircuts with cameras", or because someone thinks so little of us as a species that the rallying cry of "vandalism" becomes more important than compassion towards the "also suffering": the family. It hurts just to contemplate it.

    Parent
    Information re preferred (none / 0) (#1)
    by oculus on Sun May 05, 2013 at 04:23:22 PM EST
    Muslim burial practices:

    link

    The deceased should have been buried as soon as possible after he died. When King Hussein of Jordsn was on life support in Amman, people there told us he would most likely recover, as he had before. But the hotel was packed w/international media people and equipment. The reporters told us the family was waiting to cut off life support until Bill Clinton could arrive as the funeral would then take place before sundown of the following day. No females present, even Queen Noir.

    My husband says that at times when (none / 0) (#2)
    by Militarytracy on Sun May 05, 2013 at 05:04:54 PM EST
    The body cannot be released, the rule of burial before sunset starts when the body has been ritually washed.  I suspect that the family has found an adequate burial solution.

    My husband also said that burial at sea is considered respectful if there is any suspicion that the body of the deceased would be exhumed or mutilated or disrespected by others.

    Parent

    Nope, no burial solution this morning (none / 0) (#7)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 06, 2013 at 08:03:22 AM EST
    I thought we would wake up to his being buried.

    Parent
    please keep comments (none / 0) (#3)
    by Jeralyn on Sun May 05, 2013 at 07:51:21 PM EST
    on this thread related to the Boston bombing case and defendants and burial issues. You can post comments on other topics in an open thread. Thanks.


    If you'd read the post, Counselor, (5.00 / 2) (#12)
    by Mr Natural on Mon May 06, 2013 at 09:48:34 AM EST
    you would have noticed that it revolved around the admission on CNN by an ex-FBI CounterTerrorism agent that phone conversations between Tamarlan and Tamarlan Tsarnaev's wife would be listened to by the Feds.  Not only conversations transpiring after he became a suspect, which FISA "legalizes," but conversations which had occured before he was a suspect and even before the incident itself.  Not because Tamarlan was under surveillance but because every phone conversation in this country is being recorded, in the agents words, "whether we know it or like it or not."

    Parent
    I think that's the bigger story, myself, (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by Anne on Mon May 06, 2013 at 10:00:35 AM EST
    but was waiting for an open thread to post it.

    Parent
    Cambridge says no (none / 0) (#4)
    by MO Blue on Sun May 05, 2013 at 10:01:57 PM EST
    WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- A Cambridge city official is urging the family of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev (TAM'-ehr-lun tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) and the funeral director who has Tsarnaev's body not to request a burial permit in the city.

    Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy says in a statement Sunday there has been no formal application for a burial permit or purchase of a cemetery plot.

    Healy says it would not be in the best interest of the city to execute a deed for a plot at Cambridge Cemetery for Tsarnaev's body. He said the city would be "adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests and wide spread media presence at such an interment." He said the families who have loved ones interred there also deserve to have their deceased family members rest in peace. link



    It's great ... (none / 0) (#5)
    by heidelja on Sun May 05, 2013 at 10:16:15 PM EST
    ...that a third party would point out to one who would think of themselves to be "without prejudice" to have significant prejudice because of their ignorance for one's ethnicity. Espcially in this matter where the fervor of the local masses is one for immense ethnic/racial prejudice.

    As for MSNBC.... (none / 0) (#6)
    by heidelja on Sun May 05, 2013 at 10:55:23 PM EST
    ...it reported some curious variances reflecting the continued wobbly media converage.

    Officials said the agents were looking for residue of bomb explosives and other evidence.

    The FBI is trying to figure out if the brothers assembled the bombs at the Cambridge apartment.

    Most notably it was reported on the air this afternoon that Katherine Russell's computer was obtained "this morning" which contradicts yesterday's (Saturday) CBS Evening News reporting that left viewers with the impression of specific incriminating evidence for bomb making found on her computer. CBS reporting did suggest that husband Tamerlan might have used it to obtain the information found accessed.