Emotional Families Address Boston Bomber: "You Chose Destruction and Hate"

Leah Marieann Klett : Jun 25, 2015
The Gospel Herald

"We honor those who were lost and wish continued strength for all those who were injured. We believe that now is the time to turn the page, end the anguish, and look toward a better future—for us, for Boston, and for the country." –Boston Globe editorial

(Boston, MA)—In this Dec. 18, 2014, courtroom sketch, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sits in federal court in Boston. (Dec. 18, 2014, courtroom sketch/via Gospel Herald)

The families of those killed in the Boston Marathon bombing spoke out at the hearing of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, asserting that the convicted killer willingly "chose destruction and hate."

Tsarnaev, now 21, was condemned to die by lethal injection by a federal jury in May for the attack he and his older brother Tamerlan carried out at the 2013 marathon. The Tsarnaev brothers detonated two pressure-cooker bombs near the Boston marathon finish line, killing three people and injuring 264.

According to a note Tsarnaev wrote inside the boat he was found hiding in following the attack, the bombing was intended to retaliate against the U.S. for its actions in Muslim countries.

On Wednesday, Tsarnaev appeared before U.S. District Court. Judge George O'Toole Jr., who is required to impose the jury's sentence under the federal death penalty law, and dozens of survivors and family members of his victims.

Bill Richard, the father of 8-year-old Martin, said Tsarnaev had the power to choose not to participate in the attack and could have stopped his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died following a gunfight with police, as well.

"He could have changed his mind the morning of April 15, 2013, walked away with a minimal sense of humanity and reported to authorities that his brother intended to hurt others," Richard said, the AP reports. "He chose hate. He chose destruction. He chose death. This is all on him."

Richard added that his family would have preferred that Tsarnaev receive a life sentence so that he could have had "a lifetime to reconcile with himself what he did that day."

However, he emphasized that his family has chosen love, kindness and peace, adding: "That is what makes us different than him."

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