Boston Bombing Trial Jurors Shown “White Hat” Used to Identify Tsarnaev

The Boston Marathon bombing trial continued on Wednesday as additional evidence was presented to the jury. The members were shown several items that the FBI had recovered from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s dorm room just days after April’s attack. Of these items, the “white hat” which helped authorities identify Dzhokhar as a suspect in the bombing was also presented.

The cap was found on the suspect’s bed. Before being able to apprehend him, FBI agents had referred to Tsarnaev as “White Hat”. Just days after the bombings, video surveillance was released by the FBI showing a man wearing a white cap backwards. At the time, the FBI had attempted to involve the public in identifying the bomber.
Among the distinguishing features on the hat was the figure of a man on a horse (common to Ralph Lauren Polo attire) and the number “3” on the side.

According to the detailed jihadist writings that Tsarnaev had stored on his computer as well as additional evidence, he had made a trip to a New Hampshire shooting range the month that preceded the attack. This new evidence speaks highly of premeditation and suggests that Tsarnaev was more than an unwilling participant.
Furthermore, an FBI supervisory agent who was already on the Witness stand returned on Wednesday to offer further information regarding this shooting escapade. During her Tuesday testimony, Kimberly Franks, the agent in questions, told jurors that a receipt had been found for a pellet gun as well as pellets when agents had searched Tsarnaev’s dorm room.

Tsarnaev’s legal team has insisted that the teenager only participated in the bombings and that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his older brother, had been the mastermind behind the entire thing.

Other items presented to the jurors included a note (which was shown on Tuesday) where Tsarnaev had explained his poor academic results, claiming that the loss of too many loved ones back in Chechnya had been interfering with his ability of obtaining better grades. More notes were then revealed, which Tsarnaev had written during his sophomore year. He had described Chechnya as an independent republic which had unlawfully been occupied by Russian soldiers who “abduct innocent men under false pretenses and terrorist accusations.”

Bostonians are following the trial closely, it seems, however recent polls show that residents of the Boston-area oppose the death penalty and believe that Tsarnaev should serve a life sentence if the jury deems him guilty of having committed the horrible acts he stands accused of.

A recent poll which surveyed 504 Bostonians found that over 49 percent of those interviewed believed that Dzhokhar should be spared the death penalty. When respondents came from the City of Boston itself, the degree to which they opposed the death penalty was even higher.

“I also think it’s a much more fitting punishment for someone who did the things that he did to live out his final days in prison”.

One of the poll respondents said, explaining that there shouldn’t be any support for taking lives solely for the sake of taking lives.