Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Jewish Groups Cheer Boston Marathon Guilty Verdict

Jewish groups praised the guilty verdict in the Boston Marathon bombing case.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, was convicted on all 30 charges Wednesday in a federal courtroom in Boston. The explosions at the April 15, 2013 Boston Marathon set by Tsarnaev and his brother killed three, including an 8-year-old boy, and also injured more than 240, including 17 who lost limbs.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 24, was killed four days after the bombing in a shootout with police. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer also was gunned down in the aftermath of the attack.

At least 17 of the charges on which Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty can carry a death sentence. The sentencing phase could begin as early as next week.

“The jury’s guilty verdict against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sends a resounding message that those who engage in such acts of terrorism will be held accountable and pay a hefty price,” Robert Trestan, the Anti-Defamation League’s New England regional director, said in a statement. “It is clear the jury agreed with the prosecution’s assessment that Tsarnaev and his brother worked together in plotting a coldblooded, intentional, calculated terrorist act and he therefore should be held to account for his actions.”

Trestan also said that the brothers were radicalized in part by “online terrorist propaganda geared toward young American audiences,” which shows “the seriousness of the threat from Islamic extremists.”

The American Jewish Committee in a statement hailed the jury for convicting Tsarnaev.

“The horror carried out by the Tsarnaev brothers was a wake-up call that Americans must be vigilant and united in confronting the ongoing threat of jihadist terrorism that continues to challenge our country and the larger world,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris.

“While the guilty verdict is very important in bringing some justice, we will forever remember the victims — Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell, and Lu Lingzi who perished in the bombings, as well as Sean Collier, the MIT campus officer shot dead, and the more than 240 who were wounded, many with significant injuries.”

The verdict came after 11 hours of deliberations over two days.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.