Feds Seek Death Penalty for Boston Marathon Bomber

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that the Department of Justice would seek the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 20-year-old accused of orchestrating last year’s mass bombing at the Boston Marathon.

Tsarnaev, along with his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan, allegedly planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs near the finish line of the famed Boston Marathon, which killed three people and injured over 250 bystanders. “The nature of the conduct at issue and the resultant harm compel this decision,” Holder said in a statement.

Tsarnaev is also accused of murdering an MIT policeman and carjacking during his escape attempt, which led to a massive manhunt that shut down the city of Boston, and the death of Tamerlan during a shootout.

CNN notes that Holder has issued significantly fewer death-penalty charges than his predecessors, but the severity of Tsarnaev’s actions forced him and the DOJ to ask that the 20-year-old be put to death. “The nature of the conduct at issue and the resultant harm compel this decision,” Holder said in a statement.

Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to all 30 counts against him.

[CNN]

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