Tsarnaev’s Lingering Message to America

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sat emotionless as all 30 counts that included conspiracy and the use of a weapon of mass destruction were read as “guilty” of the April 15, 2013 attack when twin pressure-cooker bombs detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

His conviction was all but foreshadowed as his defense attorney Judy Clark admitted in her opening statements that “He did it”. In an effort to save Tsarnaev from a death sentence, his attorney proposed a theory that the younger Dzhokhar fell under the influence of his deceased brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, however, was a willing participant in the Boston Marathon bombing and had an operational strategy in line with Al-Qaeda’s self-indoctrinating individual jihad. The blood-filled text on the boat that Tsarnaev was arrested on illustrates the classic Islamic references about the ummah, jihad, and martyrdom.

The FBI came to the conclusion that Tsarnaev’s use of “Al-Qaeda inspired rhetoric” indicates that “others might have radicalized both him and his brother.”

The Boston Marathon bombers attended a mosque that is associated with the Islamic Society of Boston. According to the organization Americans for Peace and Tolerance, a Tarbiya guide associated with the Islamic Society of Boston revealed a required readings including books written by the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood Hassan Al-Banna, the indoctrinator of modern jihadist thought Sayyid Qutb, and the current spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Yusuf Al Qaradawi.

This is not particularly surprising considering that the Islamic Society of Boston was founded by Abdurrahman Almoudi, a Muslim Brother operative and Al Qaeda financier, convicted of attempted murder of the Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdullah in 2004. The Muslim American Society, which is associated with the Islamic Society of Boston’s Cultural Center, is recognized as the “overt arm” of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States. Yusuf Al Qaradawi himself was one of the Mosque’s original trustees.

Tsarnaev’s bloody message to America documents that indeed young Muslims are falling “under the influence” of Brothers, but not Tamerlan. Whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev personally received tarbiya instruction such as the one linked to Islamic Society of Boston or not, the evidence is clear that the Brotherhood’s is spreading their message that Muslims are authorized to wage war on non-believers to establish the supremacy of their ideology. And while, as the jury ruled such influence does not absolve the participants of the responsibility for their terrorism, it does suggest that such terrorist acts cannot end, until those who do the indoctrination are addressed.