Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: We Were Motivated By Religion But Acted Alone

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has revealed to investigators that the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings were motivated by religious fervor.

However, the 19-year-old has denied he and his deceased brother, Tamerlan, had been in contact with foreign terrorist organizations. The attacks, claimed Tsarnaev, were the result of the brothers working alone.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s admission was disclosed by a senior government official to NBC.

Tsarnaev is currently in a serious but stable condition at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The suspect suffered gunshot wounds to his throat and tongue in addition to his leg and hand.

He was reportedly cooperative with authorities, providing written responses or answering questions by nodding or shaking his head.

Since Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s capture, several outlets have reported how older brother Tamerlan had become increasingly devout and confrontational about his Islamic beliefs since 2010.

Business Insiderreports Tamerlan Tsarnaev has had two “public outbursts” in November 2012 and January 2013, confronting speakers at public events who compared the Prophet Mohammed to Martin Luther King, Jr. and another who said celebrating American holidays was acceptable.

According to a separate CNN report, Tsarnaev said his older brother planned the Boston Marathon bombing and that the pair discovered how to make pressure cooker bombs on the Internet.

While 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev died during a gunfight with police on April 18, the younger Tsarnaev escaped authorities before being found, wounded and heavily bleeding, on April 19.

A Wall Street Journal report notes that Tamerlan Tsarnaev had a “domineering” influence over his younger brother:

“Gilberto Junior, owner of Junior Auto Body in Somerville, Mass., who regularly worked on the brothers’ cars, said Dzhokhar was sociable when he came in by himself but silent with his brother.”

Are you surprised the Boston Marathon bombings were motivated by religion?