3 pals of Boston Marathon bombing suspect charged with coverup

[arely staircase]

The three friends, who are all 19-years-old, allegedly went to Tsarnaev’s dorm room after the FBI photos came out April 18 and left with a backpack that contained fireworks tubes that had been emptied of their explosive powder, according to the documents....

...They then "collectively decided to throw the backpack and fireworks into the trash because they did not want Tsarnaev to get in trouble," Kadyrbayev told agents, according to the complaint.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/01/18001437-3-pals-of-boston-marathon-bombing-suspect-charged-with-coverup?lite

[Eugene]

1. Idiots!

....ing idiots!

[arely staircase]

3. yeah, they just pissed their futures away for an asshole eom

[Fawke Em]

5. I'm tired of hearing this.

Listen, if you had been friends with someone for many years of your young life - including those formative teen years - you're NOT going to accept the fact that that friend may be guilty of a heinous crime - EVEN if that person looks EXACTLY like the suspect.

It's simply NOT going to dawn on you, particularly at 19 years old, that that is even possible.

From all accounts, Jahar Tsarnaev was an average, normal college kid. He sounds like an American college kid. He acted like one.

I suspect these guys were beginning to awaken to the fact that their friend was involved in this and wanted, out of sheer love and loyalty, to protect him without realizing the enormity of the situation. I think they now know, but are STILL having a hard time accepting it.

Shit, wouldn't YOU?

[arely staircase]

8. not no but hell no

I don't give a shit who you are/

[Fawke Em]

9. Glad you're not my friend.

[arely staircase]

10. then we agree on that eom

[madokie]

14. I'm glad you're not my friend

In fact I'm not sure I want to read anymore of what you might have to say on anything going forward

[cali]

11. fuck no. and there is no way they didn't realize how horrible this crime was

disgusting little assholes covering for their murderous friend. I can't imagine doing that for anyone- not even my son.

[Fawke Em]

15. Wow... I'm glad I don't know any of you, then.

My point is that they didn't KNOW it was him. Couldn't FATHOM it was him. Got rid of a bunch of fireworks just in case because they're kids and didn't know what to do.

Man, you people must have forgotten your youth.

I'm 43 and if one of my best friends was accused of something like this, I'd have a hard as hell time imagining and accepting that it was them.

[cali]

68. right back at you

I think they did know or certainly suspected and their actions demonstrate that.

[arely staircase]

22. if it were my child

I would lawyer him up first and then call the cops. a friend would have lost the friendship when his face was on TV and then I found the evidence in his dorm room.

[madokie]

12. hell no.

I might even go to the cops if I thought someone I knew was responsible for something like this. Hell I know I'd go to the cops, no if and or buts about it. Killing people is not cool no matter who or what the circumstances are

[Fawke Em]

17. Someone you knew? Or your best friend?

I'm telling you... I bet they simply couldn't accept it.

[madokie]

20. Yes someone I knew, a best friend even

You are way out of line in this train of thought you have. I feel for you

[arely staircase]

23. yes

yes it is disgusting

[madokie]

25. Very much so

disturbing actually

[Fawke Em]

29. It's distrubing to believe that people are innocent before

being proven guilty and that you'd want that for your friend?

Wow.

[FarCenter]

33. They did not have a duty to report the crime; but they did have a duty to respond truthfully

If you witness a crime, you generally do not have a duty to report it to the police, unless you are in one of the special situations where laws make reporting a duty.

However, you may not conceal or alter evidence, and if asked about the crime by the police, you must respond to the questions truthfully.

[Fawke Em]

55. They did within the week.

My point is that they were trying to work this out and finally did.

That we expect people to stop loving their friend and turn on him or her on a dime and without reflection, even if it is the right thing, is kind of awful.

[FarCenter]

69. "trying to work this out"? They were concealing evidence of a crime.

Which is a crime.

[madokie]

35. You are nuts

[Fawke Em]

47. So are you

[Fawke Em]

27. And, well, you are what you hate.

You're convicting people before a trial, but, I'm guessing, you have ALWAYS defended civil rights.

Sorry, I feel for you.

[madokie]

37. I haven't convicted anyone

I stated pretty plain what I would do and how I feel and its nothing like you're going on about.
Now take your stupid somewhere else, I'm not interested in any of it. bye

[Fawke Em]

48. Yes, you have

but, you don't think you have.

Take your stupid and go somewhere else yourself.

[arely staircase]

24. so just to be clear

would you have done the same for a friend?

[Fawke Em]

28. Just to be clear...

I'm an American and believe the accused should have a right to a trial.

Not convicted in the media (of which I was a part of) or on message boards.

[arely staircase]

34. so you don't want to answer the question?

would you have done the same?

[Fawke Em]

39. I'm not 19, so it's doubtful I would, no.

However, they are 19.

That you know what you would do, no matter how much you loved your friend and didn't want him to be involved and couldn't imagine it, is unimaginable.

For the record: I had to cover the murder of a man by his wife and her lover for the newspaper I worked for and I had been friends with the lover. We weren't all that close, but I STILL had a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that he did it until I sat through the trial.

[arely staircase]

41. so no, because you aren't 19

you need help

[Fawke Em]

44. So do you.

[Whiskeytide]

61. You're confusing two concepts...

... I don't think anyone here is saying these guys should go straight to jail with no trial. No one here approves of trial/conviction in the media or on a message board. Even though every post may not explicitly state it, I suspect every poster would agree to the unspoken qualification of "if they did it...".

But what you seem to be saying is that even if they did it, you would cut them slack. I can't agree with you on that. They are 19, not 9. They are alleged to have disposed of evidence that no one could reasonably claim was not highly incriminating given the circumstances. Empty fireworks tubes??? You don't think they understood the significance of that?

And, though we'll never know for certain, there is certainly the possibility that had they gone immediately to authorities when they recognized the published photos, an MIT police officer, husband and father would still be alive.

You're pretty far out on a limb here. If they did what the police have accused (at least as far as what the media is telling us about that), they should be prosecuted without hesitation. If there were extenuating circumstances, they will have an opportunity to defend themselves by presenting them. But they won't get any slack from me or most others because they were young and confused.

[Fawke Em]

63. No. You're confusing two posts.

[Whiskeytide]

67. If you say so...

... but I stand by what I said. I think there is a significant difference between an inability to accept the proposition that someone you know committed a heinous crime (understandable) and actively - with organized thought - taking steps to eliminate evidence of that crime (simply unforgivable). If they did that, they should be held accountable criminally and perhaps civilly.

[flamingdem]

13. If they didn't believe it was him, why did they toss the laptop?

??

[Fawke Em]

16. Confusion.

Not quite accepting the reality, but not wanting their friend to get in trouble.

They're kids/young adults. This is as foreign to them as it would be to any of us.

[LisaL]

26. Well, if they are convicted, they will have plenty of time to get rid of that confusion.

[Fawke Em]

45. Thank you for saying, "if they are convicted...".

Apparently, these people have already been proven guilty without a trial.

[Politicalboi]

58. I would turn in my best friend as they should have done

But, I can see where you're coming from. They hear about torture and terrorist, and the loony GOP. They lived with the guy, they texted him, they may have thought they would be in trouble to speak up. And if their visas were expired, they may be shipped off. So they may have done this so no one would think they were involved. But just the opposite happened. Yes they never should have lied, or go rid of the backpack and the lap top. But if I were a foreigner in this country, I may be scared to talk too. Gitmo is still open.

[Fawke Em]

64. That seems very reasonable, too.

In fact, more plausible that what I was saying.

[Trajan]

19. When I grew up ... we had a large group of acquaintances from HS

and we would party like all teens in the 70's did ...

During that time, I began to recognize that some of our merry band would commit some egregious acts ... one pulled a knife in a bar and looked at me, requesting that I. a life long pacifist and cool head stoner (at that time), be his back up in his little tawdry to-do ...

I told him he was out of his fucking mind, and that I would never consider joining his stupid, little unnecessary brouhaha ...

I never saw him again, but it's my understanding that he died in a jail some years latter ...

I have a set of personal values that transcend acquaintance ... I would never discard my own integrity just so someone else I happen to know can get away with murder ... FUCK THAT ...

I have to live in my own skin ... nobody else does ...

So yeah ... I do NOT have your back Fawkes ... Not if you act like a criminal buffoon ...

[Fawke Em]

30. And you had your parents at home, not a half a world away.

I am having trouble accepting that DU is this fucking square.

Good, God!

Murder is NOT acceptable and I'm not saying it is. I'm SAYING that it's hard to believe your best friend is an accused terrorist. That's a hard cry difference from robbing a bank or a liquor store. It's being scared and alone and overwhelmed.

[GitRDun]

62. I can see where you are coming from...

While for myself I would not cover for that friend, I can see how a 19 year old might make a horrific decision to do something like that. While that does not excuse the behavior, I can understand why it might happen.

It's a little disappointing to see so many talk "past" your statements. I did not see you condone the behavior anywhere. You seemed to be saying you can understand how it would happen.

In the end, I think we need to take a deep breath and understand all the facts, e.g., did they hide things after they knew he did something or before, what exactly did they do, etc.

Hyperbole abounds lately...

[cherokeeprogressive]

21. I don't give a FUCK what the reasoning, or how long we're friends. I'm not defending a MURDERER.

Not for any reason or length of time.

If a lifelong friend of mine had been involved in something like this, then shot a man in the face in order to take his gun I'd be on the phone with the authorities post haste.

That you would defend someone who'd murdered innocent women and a child with a bomb and a man for no fucking reason whatsoever says volumes about you.

[Fawke Em]

31. I didn't say I would.

What I SAID is that they didn't KNOW and couldn't COMPREHEND that he did that!

Jeez.

They wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt because they loved their friend.

It says volumes about you that you're not getting this.

P.S. They did this before their friend was named and before their friend's brother shot a man in the face. Read the timeline.

[Bluenorthwest]

40. They did know, which is why they went to destroy evidence when they saw their bomber pals on TV

Your theory that 19 year old university students can not tell right from wrong when there are 3 dead and 15 who lost limbs is absurd. Just absurd.
If they did not think he did it, were they robbing his dorm room? Why did they do there and remove things? Sleepwalking? A prank?

[Fawke Em]

43. They were slowly realizing this.

They wanted it to not be true.

I guess everyone now thinks that people just have idea-pops and they change their feelings like a light switch.

Hell, my first husband cheated on me the night our son was born and it still took me months to kick him out and file for divorce.

On Edit: 1. Cheating is not murder, but the point is that I didn't stop loving him because he cheated. However, I knew I couldn't live with that.
2. You're expecting people who loved the suspect to accept that their friend is, indeed, that suspect, in two or three days.

[Bluenorthwest]

66. This is not about their feelings. And you don't know their feelings.

They had very clearly accepted that their pal was suspect as they went to clean his evidence.
We do not, you do not know what they felt or thought, you do not know they loved this guy, don't know they were confused, don't know any of it.
Destruction of items you assume the police will look at indicates you know those items are in some way incriminating. It does not indicate that you feel confused about the nature of the items at all. It indicates the opposite of that.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

36. We're not talking about a guy who broke into the Dean's office and raided the liquor cabinet....

....or shot up a few mailboxes.

Three people are dead, including an eight year old boy.

[dballance]

38. I Can't Believe You Think 19 Year-Olds Can't Commprehend Their Friend is a Terrorist

By the time a person is 19 they're very much old enough to know right from wrong. If one of my friends' pictures got posted by the FBI as suspect 1 or suspect 2 who had killed 3 people and injured over 100 I'd be calling the FBI, not hiding the evidence of their crimes.

I was in a fraternity in college and we all said we were each others' brother and I had close friends there. But I'd have turned in anyone of them if they did what the Tsarnaevs are alleged to have done. Case in point, we had a girl allege that an associate member had sexually assaulted her at a party in a bedroom at the fraternity house. We shut down the party, kept all the witnesses separated and from talking to one another, called our adviser and the campus police and city police. That was for an assault on a single person. Not for murder of 3 people and maiming dozens more.

[Fawke Em]

42. Believing that a frat guy might sexually assualt a woman

is far easier than believing your best friend is a terrorist. It's not in the same realm.

I give your frat kudos, though.

[newmember]

2. They are going down HARD

[malaise]

4. Funny I saw four persons being escorted to the detention center

Strange.

[arely staircase]

6. saw where?

maybe someone was "of interest" but wasn't charged.

[VanillaRhapsody]

32. My guess...the room mate who let them in...

[kentuck]

7. They are called....

accomplices to a crime and coverup,

[HereSince1628]

70. "accessories after the fact" would be

prosecuted as a separate crime, IIRC

[aikoaiko]

18. I hope they hit them hard for destroying evidence.

[flamingdem]

46. Msnbc just reported that the laptop was turned in by the suspects

ha ha they weren't tossing that in the trash so fast.

If they'd done it right away they wouldn't be in this jam.

They f*cked up and need to pay because their lack of action may have
caused more deaths.

[Fawke Em]

49. Need to pay... without a trial.

DU sucks now.

[morningfog]

51. That is for sure.

Look at the post below.

[flamingdem]

53. It's handy to turn into a legal eagle when it suits

your fancy. Wanna bet that there are plenty of emotional posts and not perfectly PC posts from those who criticize a thirst for justice, and that's what is being expressed -- not a desire to break the law -- an easily understood set of emotions being expressed. Get over yerselves

[Fawke Em]

56. Your post is mumbo-jumbo.

The fact is that people on DU are convicting people.

I've no desire to break the law, but to call people guilty who have not been adjudicated is, well, anti-American, even by your own set of "rules."

[flamingdem]

59. That's why I said get over yourself. We're not holding a jury here

and this is a forum for opinion and emotion.

[Fawke Em]

65. Not that I can see.

I'm talking about emotion through most of this thread: how his FRIENDS might not want to admit he MIGHT be GUILTY, but those emotions are wrong.

I know Big Bird and you are no Big Bird.

[Kalidurga]

50. I hope they get long sentences...

Then sent back to where ever they came from.

[Fawke Em]

57. Jaha Tsarnaev is an American citizen.

So, we send him where?

Lemme guess! To the South!

:irony:

[Politicalboi]

52. Idiots Indeed

They could have been the hero's in this had they told authorities who the guy was and where he lived. Then they could have and still may write a book. I look at these 3 as idiots, but they will be rich idiots when they get out.

[flamingdem]

54. Only if they get off

isn't there a law now against profiting from a crime?

[SummerSnow]

60. Stupid asses.Bet their parents are so outdone