New details are emerging now on the two Boston Marathon bombers — amid signs that the issue could soon morph into a partisan political issue. Developments on three fronts:
(1) CBS News reports that surviving bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was bleeding from the neck and leg and would likely have died if he had not been captured:
More details have emerged about the Friday night capture that brought the intensive manhunt for the Boston bombing suspects to an end. Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, had been hiding in a boat in Watertown, Mass. Authorities responded to a call from a local man late Friday, after he observed that a tarp covering his boat had been disturbed and there was blood in the boat.
The FBI hostage rescue teams (HRT) planned and executed their operation to clear the boat by lobbing “flash-bangs” into it, which forced the young man to climb out, according to CBS News senior correspondent John Miller. Later the agents observed that Dzhokhar had been shot in the neck and in the leg.
Based on “the amount of blood” the homeowner saw in the boat, it is likely Dzhokhar was shot as long as 20 hours before being discovered, Miller said, referring to the battle earlier Thursday that led to the death of the other bombing suspect, Dzhokhar’s 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan.
It was a “fierce gun battle with police after the carjacking and the car chase, at which point they were apparently exchanging gun fire, but also throwing homemade grenades and one large satchel bomb at police officers, so he had been bleeding for a long time,” Miller said.
In a photo of authorities apprehending Dzhokhar released Friday, a SWAT team medic can be seen administering an “ambu” resuscitation bag to assist him in his breathing.
Another photo [SEE BELOW] shows Dzhokhar climbing out of the boat under his own power, following the commands of the HRT (Hostage Rescue Team), and Miller said it is clear from the images that, “this is a guy who was very weak at this point and probably — had he not been discovered — he might not have lived.”
2) How was he discovered? Here’s how:
A brave Boston man who discovered 19-year-old marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev cowering, bloodied, in his beloved boat ‘didn’t try to be a hero,’ his stepson revealed today.
David Henneberry had stepped outside with his wife for some fresh air at around 5:45 p.m. yesterday afternoon when he noticed that a tarp had lifted off his boat and a strap had been cut. He climbed in for a closer look, which is when he saw a pool of blood and what he thought was a crumpled body.
‘He saw something hunched down toward the forward of the boat, and his mind instantly did the right thing,’ Robert Duffy said. ‘He didn’t try to be a hero, he didn’t yell.’
Instead, he dropped off his stepladder, ran inside his house and called 911, Duffy told the Today show.
Having followed the rolling news coverage of the manhunt, and with SWAT teams already in his street, Henneberry knew almost instantly what, or who, he had uncovered in the boat – and the danger that entailed, Duffy said.
3) The FBI had interviewed Dzhokhar’s older brother and killed-bombing suspect a year ago amid suggestions he could be a threat.
The FBI admitted Friday they interviewed the now-deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev two years ago and failed to find any incriminating information about him.
As first reported by CBS News correspondent Bob Orr, the FBI interviewed Tsarnaev, the elder brother of at-large bombing suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, at the request of a foreign government to see if he had any extremist ties, but failed to find any linkage.
Both Tsarnaev brothers were legal permanent residents of the U.S. There is no evidence so far that either brother received any tactical training.
CBS News correspondent John Miller reports it is likely Russia asked to have the elder Tsarnaev vetted because of suspected ties to Chechen extremists.
The FBI is likely to have run a background check, running his name through all the relevant databases, including those of other agencies, checking on his communications and all of his overseas travel. Miller reports that culminated in a sit-down interview where they probably asked him a lot of questions about his life, his contacts, his surroundings. All of this was then written in a report and sent it to the requesting government.
This is an issue they’ve had in the past. They interviewed Carlos Bledsoe in Little Rock, Ark., before he shot up an Army recruiting station in 2009. They were also looking into Major Hasan Nadal before the Fort Hood shootings.
However, the FBI has maintained in those incidents that they took all the steps they were asked to and were allowed to under the law.
Although the FBI initially denied contacting Tsarnaev, the brothers’ mother said they had in an interview with Russia Today.
4) Expect bombing-related issues to be subject to serious inquiry — but also become a political footballs. Time notes:
The FBI and the Obama Administration will face hard questions in coming days over two interviews with the alleged perpetrators of the Boston Marathon bombings which killed three and injured more than 175 last Monday.
After a four day manhunt that ended with the death overnight Thursday of Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the capture Friday night of his younger brother, Dzhokhar , Boston’s relief had not even dissipated before Washington’s debates kicked in. “We remain under threat from radical Islam and we hope the Obama Administration will seriously consider the enemy combatant option,” said GOP Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain, referring to their preference that Dzhokhar, an American citizen, not be read Miranda rights or given the right to counsel.
Time’s Massimo Calabresi points out that the FBI background check is likely to become an issue. TIME also includes the full statement from the FBI, then writes:
There’s a lot of information there that will get sorted through, like the indication of databases kept by the government for the purposes of data-mining green card holders (and American citizens?). But the ultimate fight between the Hill and the FBI, or perhaps the GOP and the White House, will hinge on how and why the FBI decided to conclude from their searches that Tamerlan wasn’t connected to international terrorism.
Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Patriot Act, in order to unlock powerful surveillance and investigative tools the FBI must show probable cause that an individual is engaged in international terrorist acts on behalf of a terrorist group. The foreign government seemed to believe that Tamerlan was. Did they supply sufficient evidence for the FBI to meet a FISA court judge’s standard of probable cause? Was the FBI going the extra mile to meet the probable cause test?
Initially it doesn’t look good for the FBI….
AND:
Even as he enjoys the cheers of Bostonians for his successful apprehension of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, FBI special agent in charge, Richard DesLauriers, who took over the Boston office in 2010, may be preparing for tough questions about his past oversight of the Tsarnaev family.
Meanwhile, in comments and Tweets, there are increasing signs that no matter how successful the outcome, a partisan attack line will soon emerge (including an attempt to use this to slow or totally scuttle serious immigration reform).
Take your bets now on how many days it’ll be before Rush Limbaugh blames the FBI check on Barack Obama, Democrats, liberals, etc.
But if he decides to go that route, Rush will have to do some catch-up, though, since one popular talker isn’t wasting any time in stoking the flames of political paranoia and partisanship.
UPDATE: And then there’s this from Watertown’s police chief:
The police chief, Edward Deveau, describes how cops nearly apprehended the older suspect, and were placing handcuffs on him in the middle of the street Thursday night, when the younger suspect came at officers in a carjacked SUV. The cops were able “to dive out of the way,” and the younger suspect then continued to drive directly over his brother and dragging him through the street. That’s how the older suspect died, according to the police chief.
The younger suspect eventually dumped the SUV and ran into the darkness of the night, according to the police chief. It took nearly 18 hours and massive manhunt to find the younger suspect. He gave himself up after a 20-minute negotiation with the FBI, he said, but not before the suspect fired more rounds at the authorities.
The bombers were armed with “pipe bombs and explosives,” some of which appear to have been homemade hand-grenades. They had “at least 6 bombs, if you will,” says the chief. They also had a some guns.
The 19-year-old Chechen terror suspect partied with college friends on Wednesday night and was said to ‘look relaxed’.
Hours before the deadly shootout which claimed his brother’s life Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev was seen on a night out on campus.
A fellow University of Massachusetts student told the Boston Globe: ‘He was just relaxed’.
Tsarnaev’s nonchalant attitude – a possible attempt to cover his tracks – in the wake of Monday’s horrific terror attack was also witnessed on his Twitter page.
At 5pm on Monday – just hours after he and his older brother were caught on surveillance footage coolly walking away from the bomb site – he tweeted: ‘Ain’t no love in the heart of the city, stay safe people.’
The next day he replied to a tweet claiming one of the fatalities in the bombings was a woman whose fiance was proposing to her.
‘Fake story’ he wrote on the social media website.
The same day he added: ‘I’m a stress free kind of guy.’
According to the page, Tsarnaev was a 9/11 denier and in a chilling post in August wrote: ‘Boston marathon isn’t a good place to smoke tho’.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.