Friends recall indications of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s growing radicalization

Friends recall indications of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s growing radicalization

Published 1 May 2015

 

In the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, FBI agents interviewed two friends of Tamerlan Tsarnaev who, with his brother Dzhokhar, planted bombs at the marathon on 15 April. A paralegal on the defense team read aloud portions of notes from the interviews at the sentencing phase of Dzhokhar’s trial on Tuesday. Both friends — Viskhan Vakhabov, who was born in Chechnya and who lived in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan before moving to Chelsea in 2004, and Russian-born Magomed Dolakov – said they noticed Tamerlan’s growing radicalization.

In the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, FBI agents interviewed two friends of Tamerlan Tsarnaev who, with his brother Dzhokhar, planted bombs at the marathon on 15 April. A paralegal on the defense team read aloud portions of notes from the interviews at the sentencing phase of Dzhokhar’s trial on Tuesday.

According to the Boston Globe, Viskhan Vakhabov, who was born in Chechnya and who lived in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan before moving to Chelsea in 2004 with his family as part of a United Nations program, was interviewed by the FBI two weeks after the bombing. He told investigators that he and Tamerlan hung out together socially and that he was aware of Tamerlan’s 2012 trip to Dagestan. He saw Tamerlan between four and seven times after he returned from that trip. At one point, Tamerlan gave him a copy of the Quran.
Vakhabov’s younger brother attended the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth with Dzhokhar. In early April 2013, Vakhabov gave his younger brother and Dzhokhar a ride home from college. Upon their arrival, Tamerlan asked Vakhabov to come inside, but he was reluctant, knowing that doing so would mean a discussion of Tamerlan’s radical beliefs. Shortly after that event, Vakhabov deleted Tamerlan’s phone number from his phone.
Another friend, Russian-born Magomed Dolakov, said he accompanied the Tsarnaev brothers to the Wai Kru gym in Allston just days before the attack. Dolakov moved to Cambridge in July 2012 after earning a physics degree at a Russian university. He told FBI investigators that he met Tamerlan at the Prospect Street mosque in Cambridge in August 2012, and soon after they began to discuss Islam. Tamerlan’s radical beliefs were apparent early on at their first meeting, Dolakov said.
That same month, Dolakov went to a Quincy mosque with Tamerlan, after which they relaxed on a nearby beach with a third friend and discussed a recent suicide bombing. Tamerlan called the victims of the bombings “non-believers,” and in a follow up conversation said the mujahideen were “brave” and that he wanted to join the movement. Tamerlan also told Dolakov that “there’s a lot of knowledge on the Internet,” and suggested sites Dolakov could visit. Dolakov recalled asking Tamerlan if he worked, to which Tamerlan replied “Allah” sent him money.
Dolakov said the last time he encountered the Tsarnaevs was at the Prospect Street mosque three days before the bombing. Dolakov traveled with the Tsarnaev brothers to the Wai Kru gym where they worked out for two hours. On that trip, Dolakov recalled seeing a “medium-sized cardboard box” in the Tsarnaevs’ vehicle, which, Tamerlan told him, was full of clothes to be sent to his mother. A white sheet covered items in the vehicle’s trunk, Dolakov told investigators.