In the aftermath of Boston Marathon bombings, the death of 26-year-old suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and capture of his younger brother has officials scrambling to connect a motive to their alleged actions.
A new development occurred this weekend, after it was revealed that the FBI was warned about the elder Tsarnaev brother well before the tragic events last week.
The New York Times reported that federal authorities are reviewing details of a visit that Tamerlan Tsarnaev made to Russia in 2011.
From The New York Times:
Federal investigators are hurrying to review a visit that one of the suspected bombers made to Chechnya and Dagestan, predominantly Muslim republics in the north Caucasus region of Russia. Both have active militant separatist movements.
The significance of the trip was magnified late Friday when the F.B.I. disclosed in a statement that in 2011 “a foreign government” — now acknowledged by officials to be Russia — asked for information about Tamerlan.
The senior law enforcement official said the Russians feared he could be a risk, and “they had something on him and were concerned about him, and him traveling to their region.”
The FBI never ramped up their investigation of Tsarnaev regarding his trip to his native land, after an initial review of the matter did not reveal any wrongdoing or the like. That stance has undoubtedly changed with officials combing through the details of the trip to hopefully find other missed connections.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev died early Friday (April 19) morning after trying to escape from police; 19-year-old Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev was captured later that evening hiding on a boat after the entire Boston region was locked down. Check out photos of the brothers, including the thermal imaging vide of Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev hiding in the boat authorities found him in, in the gallery.
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Photo: Julia Malakie/AP, FBI, Facebook
