Tamerlan Tsarnaev FBI: Deceased Boston Bombing Suspect Was On the Fed's Radar For Years

Impact

In an interview Zubeidat Tsarnaeva gave from Makhachkala, in the southern Russian region of Dagestan, the mother of the two suspected Boston Bombers said that she was "100% sure that this was a setup" because the FBI was surveilling her family very closely in the past few years. She wonders how it could be possible for the FBI to be unaware of their terrorist plot if they did indeed have one.

According to the mother, the FBI had already labeled her eldest son Tamerlan as an "extremist leader."  She recounts being interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation because they wanted more information about him. "He was controlled by the FBI for three to five years, they knew what my son was doing, they knew what actions, on what sites on the Internet he was going," the mother said. "“So how could this happen? They were controlling every step of his,” the mother said.

Bloomberg reports that an FBI's investigation conducted two years ago didn't lead to any suspicious conclusions.

"Two years ago, the FBI interviewed the older brother at the request of an unnamed foreign government '“based on information that he was a follower of radical Islam'” and preparing to join underground groups in that country, according to an agency statement. The interview and reviews of U.S. databases turned up no evidence of terror activity, the FBI said."

An unnamed source from the U.S. Intelligence Agencies told Bloomberg that the information they possess on the Tsarnaeva boys does not indicate that they were part of a terrorism group. "U.S. intelligence agencies reviewing international communications and other terrorism intelligence found no signs that the suspected bombers were members of, or inspired by, any foreign terror group, said a U.S. official who asked not to be identified because those matters are classified."

Alyssa Lindley Kilzer, a writer who claims to have spent time with most of the Tsarnaeva family members has divulged important information about them (although it hasn't been verified by any other source).  She says that she started getting spa treatments from the mother at Spa Belmont but after the mother was fired, she continued to get treatments inside the Tsarnaeva home. Lindley Kilzer explains that she got increasingly uncomfortable with the family's stance on certain issues. "During [one] facial session she started quoting conspiracy theories, telling me that she thought 9/-11 was purposefully created by the American government to make America hate Muslims. "It’s real,"” she said, "My son knows all about it. You can read on the Internet."” I have to say I felt kind of scared and vulnerable when she said this, as I am distinctly American, and was lying practically naked in her living room," said Kilzer.

Lindley Kilzer says that she wouldn't be surprised if the mother knew that the attacks were planned. "When I read online that she had left for Russia a few months ago, my first reaction was to think that she might have known about the attacks her sons were planning. Articles online suggest that she is in Russia because of her husband's poor health. I know that her husband often went to Russia without her, and for extended periods of time. She was also very close with her sons and showed many signs of strong political leanings herself."

As the manhunt has finally come to an end last night and the only living suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaeva has been put into custody, there are still too many questions left to answer. What could have motivated such senseless acts? Could they have been stopped? Could the FBI have known? It may take a lot of time, but hopefully we get some answers soon.

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