Boston Marathon bombing trial: Footage of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev showing middle finger to jail surveillance camera released
Jurors are deciding on whether Tsarnaev should be executed or serve a life in prison without parole for his crimes
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Your support makes all the difference.A video showing Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sticking his middle finger up at a jail surveillance camera following the fatal bombing in 2013 has been released, as jurors decide whether the Chechen-American should be executed for his part in the attack.
Prosecutors said at court that the images released to the public by the US Department of Justice on Wednesday showed 21-year-old Tsarnaev’s callous nature and proved that he “was determined and destined to be America’s worst nightmare.”
Tsarnaev’s defence argued that it showed nothing more than a 19-year-old looking at his reflection.
Prosecutors at court said that the hand gesture was Tsarnaev's message to America and proved that Tsarnaev was “untouched by the grief he had caused” and that he deserved to be put to death.
Assistant US Attorney Nadine Pellegrino said to jurors: "This is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, unconcerned, unrepentant, and unchanged. Without remorse, he remains untouched by the grief and the loss that he caused."
Nevertheless, Tsarnaev’s defence argued that the footage shows a 19-year-old “merely looking at himself in the mirror.”
In April 2013, Tsarnaev, along with his older brother Tamerlan, exploded two pressure cooker bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon,killing three and injuring 264.
On 8 April, Tsarnaev was convicted on 30 different counts including conspiracy to bomb a public place, use of weapon for mass destruction that resulted in death and possession of a firearm that resulted in death.
Now the same jury must decide whether Tsarnaev should be executed or serve a life in prison without parole for his crimes.
Prosecutors are pushing for the death penalty.
Tsarnaev’s lawyers however, say that Dzokhar Tsarnaev does not deserve the death penalty because it was his older brother Tamerlan who was the mastermind behind the attack and that he had recruited his younger brother.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed following a shootout with the police as the two brothers tried to flee US authorities.
Also present at sentencing on Wednesday were the relatives of Sean Collier, the police officer that was killed by the brothers following the Boston bombing.
In a harrowing statement Collier’s step father recounted the moment that they had been told of the 27-year-old’s death and “the terrible two years” his family had experienced since.