Tsarnaev Found Guilty, Faces Death Penalty

A federal jury found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty Wednesday on all 30 charges related to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three and injured more than 250 others.

The counts against the now-21-year-old ranged from conspiracy to deadly use of a weapon of mass destruction. 17 of the 30 counts make Tsarnaev eligible for the death penalty; the same jury will decide his sentencing next week.

Tsarnaev, along with his older brother Tamerlan, were accused of placing two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Tamerlan died days later during a getaway attempt.

In addition to the three Marathon deaths, Dzhokhar was also charged with killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer.

Both Tsarnaev brothers were born in different republics of the old Soviet Union, and emigrated to the United States over a decade ago. Tamerlan was an aspiring boxer, while Dzhokhar was a student at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. The younger Tsarnaev became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2012.

Boston received nationwide support in the weeks following the incident, and the city itself vowed to stay strong, with the Red Sox’s David Ortiz giving a powerful speech before their game against the Royals on April 20. (Ortiz’s profanity has been censored in the video linked above.)

Last year’s Boston Marathon went ahead as planned, with extra security measures in place. The 2015 Marathon will be on Patriots’ Day, April 20.

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