Zubeidat Tsarnaeva
The Associated Press reports that two government officials revealed that Boston bombing suspects’ mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, was added to a federal terrorism database 18 months before the Boston bombing attacks.
Officials told the AP that this was done after Russia contacted the CIA with concerns that both Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his mother were linked to religious militants.
The FBI has admitted that it interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev on suspicion of extremist ties but took no action.
Both mother and son were added to TIDE — a classified intelligence database. Those placed on the database are suspected of terrorist activity, but it does not automatically make them subject to surveillance or screenings.
According to CBS Boston, officials spoke “on condition of anonymity” because the had not been authorized to reveal information about the investigation.
The mother of the Tsarnaev brothers has ranted that her sons have been framed for the Boston attack: “America took my kids away from me. I’m sure my kids were not involved in anything.” She also stated that the scene of carnage during the Boston bombings was fake and used “paint instead of blood”.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva has been hesitant whether to travel to the United States to bury Tamerlan Tsarnaev and to reunite with her surviving son Dzhohar. The Daily Mail reports her hesitations to travel “may be based on the fact that she was charged with shoplifting…and is concerned she could get arrested.”
During the same press conference on Thursday, Zubeidat referred to a man known only as ‘Misha’ – a man of Armenian origin living in Boston who has apparently been pinpointed as a source of radicalization for Tamerlan. The mother referred to Misha as “a very nice man”.