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Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was shot through the face, legs and left hand before his capture, according to newly unsealed court documents.
Despite his injuries, Dhozkhar Tsarnaev was able to “respond vocally” to questioning, Dr. Stephen Odom said several days after the bombings.
The twin bombs at the finishing line of the Boston Marathon on April 15 killed three and injured more than 260.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
He was found hiding inside a boat in a backyard garden after a two-day Boston-area manhunt.
The other suspect, his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed during a shootout with police the night before.
Dr. Stephen Odom, a trauma surgeon who treated Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after his capture by heavily armed police, testified at a hearing at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on April 22.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was shot through the face, legs and left hand before his capture, according to newly unsealed court documents
He told court officials that the worst of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s injuries was a gunshot wound from a bullet that entered through his mouth and exited the left side of his face.
“This was a high-powered injury that has resulted in skull-base fracture, with injuries to the middle ear, the skull base, the lateral portion of his C1 vertebrae, with a significant soft-tissue injury, as well as injury to the pharynx, the mouth, and a small vascular injury that’s been treated,” Dr. Stephen Odom explained, according to the transcript unsealed on Monday.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also had multiple gunshot wounds elsewhere, including his legs and his left hand.
By the time Dr. Stephen Odom testified, the 19-year-old had had multiple medical procedures.
The doctor said despite his injuries and ongoing treatment with the painkiller Dilaudid, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev knew where he was and that he was receiving medical treatment.
“He knows that he has had multiple procedures, but I’m not sure how aware he is of the specifics,” Dr. Stephen Odom told the court.
“He knows that he has an injury to the neck and to the hand.”
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared in court on July 10, with his face swollen and his arm in a cast.
Among the charges he faces are 30 counts of using a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors could press for the death penalty.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has also been charged over the death of a fourth person, a university police officer allegedly shot dead by Dzhokhar and his brother Tamerlan in the days after the attack.
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Seven-year-old Jane Richard showed off her new prosthetic leg four months after Boston Marathon tragedy.
Jane Richard, the little sister of 8-year-old Martin Richard and the youngest victim of the Boston bombings, today revealed her inspirational recovery as her family broke their silence to speak out about their loss.
Exactly four months since losing their son, Bill and Denise Richard, from Dorchester, Massachusetts, said that they still feel the agony of Martin’s death every hour of every day.
But they added that they are inspired by the bravery of little Jane Richard, who lost a leg and needed 12 surgeries after she was hit by the blast as she cheered on runners at the finish line with her family.
They released the heartwarming photograph showing Jane Richard smiling as she stands on her new leg, which she uses with the help of crutches.
When Jane Richard was discharged from hospital a few weeks ago, the family returned home for the first time since April 15; they had made a pact not to sleep there until the family could return together.
“As so many things have been, returning home without Martin certainly made that important milestone bittersweet, but we know he was with us, as he is every moment of every day,” the family said in a statement released on Thursday.
“An hour doesn’t go by that we don’t feel the agony of Martin’s death and the senseless way it came about. The pain is constant and even the sweetest moments can become heartbreaking when we are struck by the realization that <<Martin would have loved this…>>.”
“But it is not all heartbreak for our family, as we are making progress on this long, difficult and painful road forward… Jane continues to be an incredible source of inspiration – and exhaustion. The loss of her leg has not slowed her one bit, or deterred her in any way.”
They said that the brave little girl walked into the home with her crutches on her own .
While she is getting more comfortable with her prosthetic leg, she is unable to wear it all the time – but when she does “she struts around on it with great pride and a total sense of accomplishment”.
Jane Richard showed off her new prosthetic leg four months after Boston Marathon tragedy
“Watching her dance with her new leg, which has her weight primarily on the other leg, is absolutely priceless,” the statement said.
They also provided an update of Henry, the family’s eldest child who escaped harm when the family went to cheer on marathon runners near the finish line four months ago.
The youngster has “continued to be strong, attentive and protective of all of us”, the family said, and has enjoyed a busy summer of camp trips and spending time with friends.
Both of the children will return to school in a few weeks, while their parents, Bill and Denise Richard, said they will start using that time to explore how they can honor Martin’s memory.
“Throughout all that has happened, we have worked hard to maintain our bond as a family,” they added.
“With the love and support of family and friends, including those who were total strangers just four months ago, we feel like we are succeeding.”
The parents did not mention their own recoveries; Bill Richard sustained a shrapnel wound and hearing loss, while Denise needed surgeries for a head injury, which left her missing sight in one eye.
Jane Richard is believed to have been standing on the marathon fence next to the big brother she idolized when the first of two bombs detonated near to the finish line.
Images from before the blast appear to show Bill Richard, a community organizer, holding his youngest children up on the railings as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev allegedly plants his backpack bomb just behind them.
Jane Richard’s eldest brother Henry, 12, managed to escape from the bomb attack uninjured.
It isn’t clear whether any of the women in the photograph is the children’s mother, school librarian Denise Richard, who sustained head injuries and had to undergo brain surgery following the attack.
After her injuries, local reports noted that Jane Richard is an enthusiastic Irish dancer who has attended classes at the Clifden Academy of Irish Dance in Milton since the age of three.
Neighbors said Jane Richard looked up to her older brother and they both attended the Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester, where their mother served as the school librarian.
The bombs, described by experts as makeshift anti-personnel devices, were made from pressure cookers packed with shrapnel and ball bearings to cause the maximum injuries to bystanders.
Police believe they were planted by brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26. After their images were released by the FBI, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in an ensuing gunfight with police.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found hiding in a boat outside a home hours later and was treated in hospital for an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the neck. He remains in federal prison in Massachusetts and is charged with 30 counts, including 17 that carry the death penalty.
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Boston bombings suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was in possession of right-wing American literature in the run-up to the attack, it was emerged today.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev subscribed to publications espousing white supremacy and government conspiracy theories.
He also had reading material on mass killings.
Until now Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother Dzhokhar were widely perceived as just self-styled radical jihadists.
It was reported that Tamerlan Tsarnaev possessed articles which argued that both 9/11 and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing were government conspiracies.
Another in his possession was about “the rape of our gun rights”.
Reading material he had about white supremacy commented that “Hitler had a point”.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev also had literature which explored what motivated mass killings and noted how the perpetrators murdered and maimed calmly.
There was also material about US drones killing civilians, and about the plight of those still imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay.
Boston bombings suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was in possession of right-wing American literature in the run-up to the attack
The Tsarnaev brothers, ethnic Chechens, spent their early years moving around a troubled region of Russia torn by a violent Islamic insurgency.
But for the last decade they lived in Cambridge, near Boston.
It appears Tamerlan Tsarnaev turned against the country and became passionate about Islam after becoming frustrated when his boxing career faltered because he did not have American citizenship.
A spokesperson for Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s mosque in Cambridge, Nicole Mossalam, said Tamerlan only prayed there occasionally. She portrayed him as an angry young man who latched onto Islam.
“As far connecting with the Islamic community here, to actually praying, being involved, doing acts of charity….all of those were pretty much lacking.
“I would say he was just a Muslim of convenience,” she said.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Tamerlan’s younger brother who has been charged with the bombings, scrawled a note shortly before his capture stating: “We Muslims are one body. You hurt one you hurt us all.”
The brothers had been reading militant Islamic websites before the bombings.
The FBI has been investigating the brothers, and possible connections Tamerlan Tsarnaev might have had in the troubled Russian republic of Dagestan which he visited last year.
The House Intelligence Committee in Washington is being briefed on his connections.
The committee chairman, Mike Rogers said he believes the brothers’ mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, was involved in Tamerlan’s radicalization.
“He had family members encouraging, we know that for sure,” he said.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva denies the allegations.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in April following a gun fight with police which ended when his younger brother ran him over while trying to escape.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, recently brought to court, denied all charges.
If convicted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev faces life imprisonment or the death penalty.
Ibragim Todashev, friend of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, implicated himself and Tamerlan in a 2011 triple slaying just before he was killed by an FBI agent early Wednesday, NBC and CBS News are reporting.
Authorities were pressuring Chechan immigrant Ibragim Todashev, 27, to make a full confession to the murders when he suddenly turned violent, according to CBS. An FBI agent responded by firing his weapon and killing Ibragim Todashev.
The incident happened at Ibragim Todashev’s Orlando apartment, not far from Universal Studios. Initially, authorities claimed that Ibragim Todashev had lunged at the agent with a knife, but they later backtracked, saying it was no longer clear whether he was armed.
Law enforcement sources tell NBC that Ibragim Todashev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev carried out the 2011 killings when a drug deal that turned violent. The suspects didn’t want the three victims to be able to identify them, so they slit their throats, according to the network.
Authorities had gone to Ibragim Todashev’s home late Tuesday with evidence suggesting that Todashev, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and Tsarnaev’s younger brother, Dzhokhar, were involved in the 2011 killings.
No suspects had been arrested in that case, in which three men were found in an apartment in Waltham, Massachusetts on the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks with their throats cut and marijuana covering their bodies.
Massachusetts investigators had reported earlier this month that they were uncovering “mounting evidence” that Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, were involved in the slaying. One of the victims, Brendan Mess, was a close friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s.
Authorities said they have no reason to believe that Ibragim Todashev had any involvement in the marathon bombings.
Friends and family members of the 2011 murder victims reacted to news of the alleged confession on social media.
On a Facebook page dedicated to victim Raphael Teken, someone wrote: “Whether we ever know exactly what happened, there is one thing we surely know and that is that Rafi deserved a much better fate.”
Ibragim Todashev implicated himself and Tamerlan Tsaranaev in a 2011 triple slaying just before he was killed by an FBI
“He was funny, kind, joyful and generous,” the message continued.
“All of us that knew him knew [his death] couldn’t have been about anything he did, but are now horrified by what it may have been about.”
Facebook user Tony Porter wrote: “I’m disappointed that we will never really get to experience true justice for our friend or know the reasons for what happened despite the fact that both alleged suspects are now deceased.
“I don’t know how you are supposed to feel when your friend’s killer gets killed, but I don’t feel <<relieved>> like I thought I would.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, confirmed to the New York Times on Wednesday that her older son knew Ibragim Todashev.
In a telephone interview from Dagestan, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva said Ibragim Todashev moved from Boston to Florida about two years ago. She said she is devastated to learn that he has been killed.
“Now another boy has left this life,” she told the newspaper.
“Why are they killing these children without any trial or investigation?”
The FBI has been investigating Ibragim Todashev for the last month, questioning him several times regarding his ties to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed by police in a shootout following the deadly April 15 marathon bombings. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, has been charged in connection with the bombings and is being held at a prison medical center outside Boston.
Khusen Taramov, a friend of Ibragim Todashev’s, confirmed that Todashev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev knew each other. He said they had been in contact via phone or Skype about a week before the bombings.
In an interview with Orlando television station WESH, Khusen Taramov said that the two met while Ibragim Todashev was living in Boston because they were both involved in mixed martial arts and boxing.
Ibragim Todashev “wasn’t like real close friends [with Tamerlan Tsarnaev], but he just happened to know him”, Khusen Taramov said.
“But he had no idea that they were up to something like that, like bombings and everything, you know what I mean?”
Khusen Taramov says the FBI has been following him and Ibragim Todashev since the bombings. He said that they were both being interviewed by agents late Tuesday before Ibragim Todashev was killed.
Ibragim Todashev was arrested in an unrelated incident on May 4 for aggravated battery after he left a man unconscious in the parking lot of a shopping mall.
According to the arrest affidavit, Ibragim Todashev had gotten into an altercation with a man and his son over parking space.
Ibragim Todashev told police that the man “got into his face” so he pushed him and then the man’s son “got involved” and Todashev began fighting him.
“Todashev said he was only fighting to protect his knee because he had surgery in March,” the affidavit states.
A mall security officer arrived on scene to find the son unconscious and lying in a pool of blood on the ground just as Ibragim Todashev was pulling away in a white Mercedes.
The officer chased down the Mercedes, ordered Ibragim Todashev out at gunpoint and arrested him.
The son was later treated at a hospital with a split upper lip, several teeth knocked out and head injuries.
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A photo of dead Boston bombings suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev at the morgue emerged on the Internet via the popular social sharing site Reddit just hours after he passed away on April 19.
The extremely graphic image was posted by user nfieldflyer on Friday, under the title “Suspect #1 … in the morgue. NSFW.”
The user claims the photo was obtained by a “friend” who works downtown. Typical for images posted to Reddit, the photo itself is being hosted on Imgur.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police in Watertown, Massachusetts on April 19
As far as the photo’s authenticity, law enforcement sources have confirmed to TMZ that the image is real. One source told the website that authorities are investigating to determine who leaked the photo.
At one point, the image even managed to break through and reach the front page of Reddit, but apparently was pushed off.
For those who want details, but do not want to view the image, the picture shows the corpse of the 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev lying on what appears to be a morgue table.
Multiple bullet wounds can be seen, as well as a large gash along the left side of his chest in the area of his rib cage. According to specialists, the large wound is a thoracotomy, an evidence of an emergency procedure to restart his heart. Iodine traces being evident around the wound’s perimeter .
The body is covered in blood, particularly on his face. His mouth and both eyes are wide open.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police in Watertown, Massachusetts on April 19.
Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, the widow of Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has stopped co-operating with authorities as it emerged female DNA found on one of the detonated bombs does not belong to her.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was later killed in a gunfight with authorities, called his wife in the hours after the FBI released surveillance images of him and his younger brother, Dzhokhar.
But only Katherine Russell, 24, knows what was said in the conversation, as she has stopped cooperating with authorities over recent days, the New York Times reported.
Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, the widow of Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has stopped co-operating with authorities as it emerged female DNA found on one of the detonated bombs does not belong to her
Authorities are skeptical of Katherine Russell’s insistence that she played no role in the Boston attack or in helping the Tsarnaev brothers escape the authorities following the release of the photographs, the Times reported.
A source told CNN that the bombs were built in the apartment that Tamerlan Tsarnaev shared with Katherine Russell and their 3-year-old daughter, Zahara. Residue samples were found on the kitchen table, the kitchen sink, and the bathtub, the source said.
Katherine Russell’s silence comes as sources told the newspaper that the fingerprints and female DNA found on at least one of the bombs did not belong to her. Authorities had taken a sample from her this week.
Spokesman Jason Pack confirmed that agents investigating the Boston bombings visited the North Kingstown home of Katherine Russell’s parents, where Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s widow has been staying since the Boston Marathon attacks.
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The FBI is now focusing on Katherine Russell Tsarnaev after federal officials investigating the Boston bombings have discovered radical Islamist materials on a computer belonging to the widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, 24, has repeatedly claimed through her attorney that she knew nothing about the deadly April 15 bombings allegedly set off by her late husband, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and his younger brother, Dzhokhar.
The FBI is now focusing on Katherine Russell Tsarnaev after agents have discovered radical Islamist materials on her computer
However, the discovery of al-Qaeda’s Inspire magazine on Katherine Russell’s computer, along with the presence of explosive residue throughout their home, have raised new questions about her possible involvement in the act of terror.
According to a government document obtained by NBC News, an analysis of the bombs used at the Boston Marathon and pipe bombs that the Tsarnaevs had allegedly thrown at police may have been built following instructions that appeared in an Inspire article titled: Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.
Officials have yet to determine whether the Islamist files found in Katherine Russell’s possession belonged to the 24-year-old mother, her late 26-year-old husband or a third party, a source told The Washington Post.
Tamerlan Tsranaev was shot dead in a gun battle with police four days after the marathon bombings when he and his brother allegedly carjacked a vehicle in a Boston suburb.
His younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, had fled, setting off a massive manhunt that ended when he was discovered gravely wounded hiding in a boat.
Katherine Russell’s attorney, Amato DeLuca, had previously said his client was kept in the dark about the deadly plot, and she was shocked to learn that her husband and brother-in-law were allegedly responsible for the attacks.
Meanwhile, CNN reported that investigators inspecting Katherine Russell and Tamerlan Tsranaev’s home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, found traces of explosive residue in the kitchen sink, the bathtub and on a table.
Following his arrest, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told police that he and his older brother built the pressure cooker bombs in the basement of the Cambridge residence.
However, it was established earlier this week that female DNA found one a piece of an explosive device used in the attacks did not match Katherine Russell’s, but rather belonged to a department store clerk where the Tsarnaev brothers had purchased the pressure cookers.
In another development in the case, federal and state law enforcement officials accompanied by bomb-sniffing dogs scoured a wooded area near Dartmouth, Massachusetts, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev attended college, in search of new evidence possibly related to the attacks.
According to witness accounts, the brothers may have tested explosives in the woods two weeks before the bombings.
It was revealed earlier this week that Tamerlan Tsarnaev called his wife in the hours after the FBI released surveillance images of him and his younger brother.
But only Katherine Russell knows what was said in the conversation, as she has stopped cooperating with authorities over recent days, the New York Times reported.
Authorities are skeptical of her insistence that she played no role in the attack or in helping the Tsarnaev brothers escape the authorities following the release of the photographs, the Times reported.
A source told CNN that the bombs were built in the apartment that Tamerlan Tsarnaev shared with Katherine Russell and their 3-year-old daughter, Zahara. Residue samples were found on the kitchen table, the kitchen sink, and the bathtub, the source said.
Katherine Russell’s silence comes as sources told the newspaper that the fingerprints and female DNA found on at least one of the bombs did not belong to her. Authorities had taken a sample from her this week.
Spokesman Jason Pack confirmed that agents investigating the Boston bombings visited the North Kingstown home of Katherine Russell’s parents, where Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s widow has been staying since the attacks.
An official had revealed that female DNA was found on at least one of the bombs, although investigators haven’t determined whose it is or whether it means a woman helped the two suspects.
Her lawyer says Katherine Russell denies any involvement in the bombings, but authorities are still working to establish what exactly she knew – if anything – before or after the April 15 attacks.
On Wednesday, attorney Amato DeLuca insisted Katherine Russell “will continue to meet with law enforcement, as she has done for many hours over the past week, and provide as much assistance to the investigation as she can”.
Katherine Russell met Tamerlan Tamerlan while she was a student at Suffolk University, according to her lawyer. She converted to Islam and they married in 2010 before having a daughter.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev died on April 19 following a shoot out with police in Watertown. Investigators say his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, hit him with a car as he fled the scene.
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The Rhode Island home of Katherine Russell Tsarnaev’s parents have been visited by FBI agents reportedly to take a sample of her DNA after traces of a woman were found on one of the bombs used in the Boston Marathon attacks.
Spokesman Jason Pack confirmed that agents investigating the Boston bombings visited the North Kingstown home of Katherine Russell’s parents, where Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s widow has been staying since the attacks.
According to The Wall Street Journal, FBI agents went to the house today to collect a DNA sample from Katherine Russell in a bid to rule out her involvement in the bombings.
An official close to the case told the newspaper that female DNA has been found on at least one of the bombs used in the Boston Marathon attacks. Though investigators haven’t determined whose DNA it is or whether the DNA means a woman helped the two suspects carry out the bombings.
FBI agents investigating the Boston bombings visited the North Kingstown home of Katherine Russell’s parents, where Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s widow has been staying since the attacks
Jason Pack said the FBI visited the house as part of its investigation into the April 15 blasts, which killed three people and injured hundreds more.
“The FBI is there as part of our ongoing investigation, but we aren’t permitted to discuss specific aspects of our case,” the agency said in a statement.
After agents finished their job, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, 24, left with her attorneys through a separate door. She was later photographed smiling as she left a Providence law center with her attorney.
Katherine Russell’s attorneys have previously said she and her family were in shock when they learned of the allegations against her husband Tamerlan and brother-in-law, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a gun battle with police while surviving suspect 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction.
No one has yet come to claim Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body, which is in the custody of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, said Department of Public Safety spokesman Terrel Harris.
The medical officer has determined Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s cause of death, but won’t release the information until the body has been claimed, Terrel Harris told The Boston Globe.
Katherine Russell converted to Islam before marrying Tamerlan Tsarnaev and having his child, 3-year-old daughter, Zahara.
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Reddit has issued a public apology for its coverage of the Boston bombings.
Reddit’s Find Boston Bombers thread – known as a subreddit – named specific people standing near the scene as suspects.
The social news site included innocent people such as 17-year-old Salah Barhoun and missing 22-year-old Sunil Tripathi.
Reddit has admitted that it helped to fuel “online witch hunts”. The debacle has fuelled debate about how far such speculation should go in future.
“We all need to look at what happened and make sure that in the future we do everything we can to help and not hinder crisis situations,” the apology read.
“Though started with noble intentions, some of the activity on Reddit fuelled online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiraled into very negative consequences for innocent parties.”
It went on to apologize to the family of Sunil Tripathi.
Reddit has issued a public apology for its coverage of the Boston bombings
The family had to suspend the Facebook page they had created to find him because of the amount of negative comments they received. Sunil Tripathi’s name trended on Twitter and numerous news sites.
“We were very worried about Sunil and about each other because of how fast completely unsubstantiated claims were spreading,” said Sunil’s sister Sangeeta Tripathi.
“Our entire neighborhood and our house were surrounded by media trucks. On my personal cellphone I got 72 phone calls between 3 a.m. and 4.30 in the morning.
“We just really hope that something like what happened to our family – and it’s happened to a few other people in the same media frenzy
around Boston – doesn’t keep happening and that we are conscious of how powerful some of our platforms are.”
The tragedy in Boston created a huge amount of traffic on Reddit, peaking at about 272,000 users according to Google Analytics.
As well as attempting to solve the mystery of who the suspects were, Redditors – as contributors to the site are known – also organized housing for people stranded in Boston, sent pizza deliveries to police and hospitals, and organized “dog therapy” in local parks for traumatized residents.
The apology concludes: “After this week, which showed the best and worst of Reddit’s potential, we hope that Boston will also be where Reddit learns to be sensitive of its own power.”
Thousands of well-wishers witnessed an honor guard of firefighters standing to attention to salute pallbearers carrying Boston Marathon attack victim Krystle Campbell’s casket into church today.
The line outside St. Joseph Church on Monday for the 11 a.m. funeral of 29-year-old Krystle Campbell stretched down the block as 23 officers on motorbikes joined the procession.
Krystle Campbell was one of three people killed near the Boston marathon finish line on April 15. The restaurant manager had gone to watch a friend finish the race.
In addition to the mourners, union members and a local motorcycle club showed up to stop a church group from disrupting the funeral.
Teamsters Local 25 President Sean O’Brien says the union members planned to stand in front of protesters to block them from the Campbell family’s view.
The Westboro Baptist Church, whose members are known for protesting outside soldiers’ funerals with anti-gay messages, issued a statement on Saturday vowing to protest Krystle Campbell’s funeral.
Mourners made up a quarter-mile long parade to say goodbye to Krystle Campbell – who was killed as a result of the deadly Boston bombings.
Different pictures of Krystle Campbell, some of her wearing a Red Sox shirt, some of her at her high school graduation and some as a child at her communion were pleaded on a slide-show loop.
The Lumineers’ hit Ho Hey was played as mourners, family and friends walked past her open brown casket.
Firefighters honor guard salute as pallbearers carry the casket of Boston Marathon bomb victim Krystle Campbell into St Joseph’s Church for her funeral in Medford
Krystal Campbell’s heartbroken mother Patty Campbell, who memorably declared: “It doesn’t make sense” after learning of her daughter’s death, bravely attended the service today.
Speaking to and hugging as many mourners as she could meet, Patty Campbell drove away from the church in tears.
Krystle Campbell’s parents were too upset to speak at any point during the funeral, so pastor Chip Hines spoke for them during the service, saying: “Krystle was always there for people.”
Cardinal O’Malley said the final prayer, said parishoner Phyllis Patten.
The hour long funeral service ended with a choir singing a proud version of God Bless America.
Some in the crowd outside St. Joseph’s Church in Medford said they had driven as far as 100 miles to attend the funeral, where officials including Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick were in attendance.
As she waited for the funeral, Renee Arsenault, a 28-year-old hairdresser, said she had gone to middle school with Krystle Campbell.
“I am so happy this many people showed up in her honor,” Renee Arsenault said.
The hearse carrying Krystle Campbell’s red-tinted casket was escorted by about 20 police motorcycles and an honor guard of uniformed law enforcement officers stood in front of the church as pallbearers carried the casket in.
A wake for Krystle Campbell was held on Sunday at a funeral home in Medford, where the 29-year-old restaurant manager was raised and graduated from high school in 2001.
After the funeral Mass in St Joseph’s Church on Monday, Krystle Campbell was then buried in Medford’s Oak Grove Cemetery.
Krystle Campbell’s funeral was the first of the memorial events planned for the day. Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino had called for the public to observe a moment of silence at 2:50 p.m., to mark one week since the bombing. Boston University scheduled a 7 p.m. memorial service for graduate student Lu Lingzi, who also died in the blast.
The governors of nearby states including Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine also said they would observe the moment of silence.
No public funeral has yet been scheduled for the bombing’s youngest victim, Martin Richard, or for Sean Collier, a member of the MIT police who the two suspected bombers gunned down on Thursday night.
Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was in custody at a Boston hospital on Monday after being apprehended on Friday night. He was badly injured in a gun battle with police that led to the death of his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26.
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