LIVE UPDATES: Russians Warned FBI About Bombing Suspect 6 Months Ago?

by Breitbart News 

With the second of the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects in custody, Breitbart News will bring you constant updates about the latest in the case.

UPDATE (6:24 PM EDT):

EXCLUSIVE: Breitbart News has learned that the Saudi National questioned after the Boston Marathon Bombing had his deportation order records altered, rescinding his deportation order.

UPDATE (6:15 PM EDT):

The House Committee on Homeland Security sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, National Intelligence Director James Clapper and FBI Director Robert Mueller raising concerns about the efficacy of federal counter terrorism efforts.

According to Fox News, Committee Chairman Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), "says bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev appears to be the fifth person since 9/11 to participate in a terror attack, despite being under FBI investigation" and noted the incidents "“raise the most serious questions about the efficacy of the federal counter terrorism efforts.”

UPDATE (6:05 PM EDT):

Cambridge police commissioner Robert told the Associated Press that the Tsarnaev brothers did not have gun permits. It is also "unclear whether either ever applied and the applications aren't considered public records."

UPDATE (5:35 PM EDT):

NBC News is reporting that Tamerlan Tsarnaev "had been seen making six visits to a known Islamic militant in a mosque in the Russian republic of Dagestan" and the "visits came during a six month trip that Tamerlan made to the city of Makhachkala to see his family."

According to the Telegraph, a local police official said "a case file on Tsarnaev was then handed over to the FBI along with a request for further information. However, the FBI never replied."

UPDATE (5:28 PM EDT):

The Associated Press reports that the Boston transit police officer who was seriously wounded in a shootout with the Tsarnaev brothers "had lost nearly all his blood and his heart had stopped from a single gunshot wound that severed three major blood vessels in his right thigh."

Richard Donohue, the 33-year-old officer, is in "stable but critical condition," and he is "is sedated and on a breathing machine."

He was able to open his eyes, move his hands and feet, and squeeze his wife's hand on Sunday. 

UPDATE (5:08 PM EDT):

The New York Times reports Tamerlan Tsarnaev's application for American citizenship was rejected not because of a past domestic abuse charge, but because "a routine background check revealed that he had been interviewed in 2011 by the F.B.I.":

The record of the F.B.I. interview was enough to cause Homeland Security to hold up Mr. Tsarnaev’s application. He presented those papers several weeks after he returned from a six-month trip overseas, primarily to Russia, and only six days after his brother, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, had his own citizenship application approved. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is in custody and is in serious condition in a hospital.

UPDATE (4:53 PM EDT): NBC's Pete Williams reports there will no charges filed against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev today. There will also be no press conference in Boston.

UPDATE (4:32 PM EDT): CNN reports that Dzhokhar talked with a fellow student about the bombings the day after they happened. He said, "tragedies happen man, like these things happen around the world, it's crazy."

UPDATE (3:51 PM EDT): Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston warned that a "culture of death" had contributed to the Boston Marathon bombings, and said that the faithful should "build a civilization of love."

UPDATE (3:50 PM EDT): Thousands of New Yorkers took to Central Park to run in honor of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. 

UPDATE (3:48 PM EDT): The transit officer wounded in the shootout with the Tsarnaev brothers remains in critical condition. AP reports: "Surgeons at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge say 33-year-old Richard Donohue is in stable but critical condition. He is sedated and on a breathing machine but opened his eyes, moved his hands and feet and squeezed his wife's hand Sunday."

UPDATE (2:55 PM EDT): The Wall Street Journal reports Dzhokhar is drifting in and out of consciousness. They cite a "U.S. law enforcement official" and also report that "The federal High Value Detainee Interrogation Group" is on standby in case he is able to communicate.

UPDATE (2:54 PM EDT): A memorial has been set up on Boylston Street:

UPDATE (2:51 PM EDT): The Daily Mail reports that Russia asked the FBI to investigate Tamerlan Tsarnaev six months ago. The FBI never responded to Russia's request. Even more disturbingly, the Mail reports, "The 26-year-old Chechen, who was living in the U.S. after being granted refugee status in 2002, first caught the eye of authorities after he was spotted meeting with a person involved in the militant Islamic underground movement in Dagestan. They met at a mosque on six occasions, the source said. The source told NBC the militant and Tsarnaev disappeared before authorities could speak with them; they added that the FBI never responded. A senior law enforcement official said that the FBI's earlier investigation did not turn up anything and they did not have the legal authority to keep tabs on him."

UPDATE (2:34 PM EDT): The UK Daily Mail reports that Dzhokhar may have received a neck wound by shooting himself: "A new report says Dzhokhar Tsarnaev shoved his pistol in his own mouth and pulled the trigger as SWAT officers and federal agents closed in on the boat where he was hiding in Friday night. However, instead of killing him, the bullet simply passed through his neck." 

UPDATE (2:33 PM EDT): Prince Harry, speaking at the London Marathon, said it was "never an option" not to show up at the race. "It was never an option not to be here no one has changed any plans it has been really well run as it always is," Harry said. "It's fantastic, it's typically British. People have been saying they haven't seen crowds like this for eight years.

Harry also said, "the way Boston has dealt with it is remarkable and the great thing about the marathon is that no matter what colour, religion or nationality you are, everyone comes together to run and raise money for amazing causes.

"You can never take that away from people," he added. 

UPDATE (2:31 PM EDT): A #FreeJahar hashtag in honor of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hits Twitter.

UPDATE (2:25 PM EDT): Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told CNN's Candy Crowley that Dzhokhar should face the death penalty: "The federal law allows the death penalty .... This is just the kind of case that it should be app[lied to. In fact, the only other time it's been used since '94 is on Timothy McVeigh. And given what I've seen, it would be appropriate to use the death penalty in this case, and I would hope they would apply it in federal court." Massachusetts state does not apply the death penalty.

UPDATE (2:22 PM EDT): Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) told CBS' "Face the Nation" he has no idea why the Tsarnaev brothers would target "innocent men, women and children in the way that these two fellows did."

UPDATE (2:19 PM EDT): Marathoners in London hold a moment of silence for the victims of the Boston Marathon terror bombings:

UPDATE (2:18 PM EDT): Two of Dzhokhar's friends at UMass-Amherst leased or owned a car that had a novelty "Terrorista #1" license plate. They were arrested on Satuday for potential immigration violations and now face deportation.

UPDATE (2:17 PM EDT): The Washington Post reports that the FBI released the photos of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev on Thursday in part to "limit the damage" social media sites like Reddit had been causing by wrongly identifying innocent people as possible perpetrators.

UPDATE (2:16 PM EDT): The Los Angeles Times reports that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was thrown out of a mosque three months ago after he got enraged when the imam held up a picture of Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights icon known for advocating nonviolence. Tamerlan was reportedly livid the imam held up a picture of someone who was not a Muslim. One worshipper told the Times that Tamerlan was enraged, and he stood up and began shouting at the imam.

"You cannot mention this guy because he’s not a Muslim!” the worshipper recalled Tamerlan yelling, "shocking others in attendance."

Tamerlan eventually returned the prayer service after his outburst and there were no more incidents. 

UPDATE (1:58 PM EDT): CBS's national security reporter John Miller reports that Dzhokhar is unable to speak at the hospital because of a throat wound that he may have been sustained after an attempted suicide attempt. Miller reports the exit wound was in the back of his neck.



Based on a "source familiar with the case," the Los Angeles Times reports that Dzhokhar's "neck wound apparently did not initially silence" Tsarnaev, "who was swearing profusely in the ambulance ride after his final confrontation with the FBI, according to a source familiar with the case."



UPDATE (1:56 PM EDT): Boston Red Sox baseball player Will Middlebrooks tweeted a photo of the bat teammate Jonny Gomes will be using today to honor the Boston Marathon victims":




UPDATE (1:54 PM EDT): Contradicting the Daily Mirror report, Boston.com reports that “the Tsarnaev brothers were prepared to launch more violent attacks before their odyssey of terror was disrupted last week – given the large quantity of explosives and ammunition they possessed – but that all evidence thus far indicates they were acting alone and were not part of a broader conspiracy.”


Boston police Commissioner Ed Davis, on CBS's "Face The Nation," said it was his personal belief that the Tsarnaev brothers "were going to attack other individuals."

 "We have reason to believe, based upon the evidence that was found at that scene - the explosions, the explosive ordinance that was unexploded and the firepower that they had - that they were going to attack other individuals," he said. "That's my personal belief at this time."

UPDATE (1:52 PM EDT): According to a source cited by the UK’s Daily Mirror, “We have no doubt the brothers were not acting alone. The devices used to detonate the two bombs were highly sophisticated and not the kind of thing people learn from Google.” The Daily Mirror also reports that “The FBI was last night hunting a 12-strong terrorist ‘sleeper cell’ linked to the Boston marathon bomb brothers. Police believe Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were specially trained to carry out the devastating attack.”

UPDATE (1:45 PM EDT): Debate has broken out over the legal treatment of Boston terror suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) told Fox News Sunday that Tsarnaev should be interrogated as an enemy combatant but tried as a domestic criminal. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) said that he should be designated an enemy combatant on CNN. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said he should be tried as a domestic criminal, and accused King of “disdain and hatred” for his remark that “the threat is coming from within the Muslim community in these cases.”