Nineteen-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been charged with the bombing which left 3 dead and injured 180, with many victims recovering from dismemberment. Two home-made explosive devices were set off amid the crowds of runners and spectators at the finish line of the race.
According to reports from the US, the surviving Tsarnaev brother was read the charges against him by a magistrate judge as he lay in bed at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital.
He was asked if he could afford a lawyer – and answered “no”.
US attorney general, Eric Holder said in a statement “Although our investigation is ongoing, today’s charges bring a successful end to a tragic week for the city of Boston, and for our country.”
Tsarnaev’s older brother Tamerlan, 26, was killed during a shootout with police on Thursday night. The brothers were born in Kyrgyzstan but have lived in the US for 10 years.
Tsarnaev was made an American citizen last year and “will not be treated as an enemy combatant,” according to spokesman for the White House Jay Carney.
