As the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev entered the penalty phase yesterday, jurors were shown a photo of the Boston Marathon bomber giving the finger to a jail security camera after his arrest.
The Boston Globe reported:
Jurors view footage of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev making obscene gestureJurors in the death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Wednesday were shown video of him making an obscene gesture as well as holding his fingers in the shape of “V” to a surveillance camera in a courthouse holding cell three months after he was arrested in the terror attack.A prosecutor had shown a picture of Tsarnaev making the obscene gesture to the jury in US District Court in Boston at the end of her opening statement in the penalty phase of the trial on Tuesday, underlining her argument that he was “unconcerned, unrepentant, and unchanged” after the attack.On Wednesday, video of the incident, which happened on July 10, 2013, was shown to jurors at the request of Tsarnaev’s defense team.
The gesture is blurred in this video but you’ll get the idea:
The Boston Herald reports that the families of victims were unimpressed:
No remorse: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s obscene gesture enrages victims’ familiesEnraged parents whose sons lost limbs in the Boston Marathon blasts called the image of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev flipping the finger and puckering up a kiss while in custody three months after the bombings a “disgusting” insult to victims, survivors and America.“He told us all to (expletive) off,” said Liz Norden, whose two sons, JP and Paul, each lost a right leg in the April 15, 2013, attacks. “It showed a lack of remorse, a lack of respect for the human race.”Norden was in court yesterday when prosecutors punctuated their opening statement in Tsarnaev’s death sentencing trial with the picture from his July 10, 2013, arraignment day.Jeff Bauman Sr., whose son lost both his legs to a pressure-cooker bomb Tsarnaev and his brother detonated in front of Marathon Sports, said the callous gesture was “disgusting” and may goad other terrorists to act.“This kid is just appalling to me. He’s disrespectful to America,” the elder Bauman said. “It’s disturbing even to be shown. … He’s inciting more violence against America. At this point he should be begging us” not to be put to death.
It’s difficult to imagine someone more deserving of the death penalty.
Featured image is a screen capture from the Boston Globe.
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