Police have identified Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, as the “black hat” bombing suspect, killed during the manhunt that followed. Readers have pointed out that Johannes Hirn made Tsarnaev the subject of a photo essay, “Will Box for Passport,” taken before the boxer competed at National Golden Gloves competition in Salt Lake City. The captions give us a micro-profile of the suspect.
Tamerlan, who studies at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston and wants to become an engineer, took the semester off from school to train for the competition.
Tamerlan fled Chechnya with his family because of the conflict in the early 90s, and lived for years in Kazakhstan before getting to the United States as a refugee.
Originally from Chechnya, but living in the United States since five years, Tamerlan says: “I don’t have a single American friend, I don’t understand them.”
If he wins enough fights … Tamerlan says he could be selected for the US Olympic team and be naturalized American. Unless his native Chechnya becomes independent, Tamerlan says he would rather compete for the United States than for Russia.
Tamerlan says he doesn’t drink or smoke anymore: “God said no alcohol.” A muslim, he says: “There are no values anymore,” and worries that “people can’t control themselves.”
This YouTube account may be Tsarnaev’s.
UPDATE: Justin Hart located Tamerlan’s Amazon wishlist. Among the hits:
- How to Make Driver’s Licenses and Other ID on Your Home Computer
- The I.D. Forger: Homemade Birth Certificates & Other Documents Explained
- Secrets Of A Back Alley ID Man: Fake Id Construction Techniques Of The Underground
- The Lone Wolf And the Bear: Three Centuries of Chechen Defiance of Russian Rule
- Organized Crime: AN INSIDE GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL INDUSTRY
And, of course…
- How to Win Friends & Influence People
Read more on Slate about the Boston Marathon bombing.
