The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was read his constitutional rights sixteen hours after investigators began interrogating him at his hospital bed, according to a U.S. law enforcement source and four officials of both political parties briefed on the interrogation, the Associated Press reported.
Before being advised of his rights, Tsarnaev told authorities that his older brother, and suspect, Tamerlan had recruited him to be part of the attack that detonated pressure cooker bombs at the finish line of the marathon on April 15, which killed three people and injured over 240 people.
The CIA named Tamerlan to a terrorist database 18 months ago said officials close to the investigation who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The disclosure that Tamerlan was included within a classified database of known and suspected terrorists before the attack was expected to drive congressional inquiries in the coming weeks about whether the Obama administration adequately investigated tips from Russia about Tsarnaev posing a security threat.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who for years chastised the U.S. for not fully taking the radical Islamic threat against Russia, particularly from Chechnya had this to say on Thursday: "I was always appalled when our Western media called the terrorists who did bloody crimes in our country 'insurgents,' and almost never 'terrorists," he said. "Those two have proved our position too well," he added on Russian TV.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a police shootout hours before Dzhokar was discovered hiding in a boat in a suburban backyard in Watertown, Massachusetts.
The debate over whether suspected terrorists should be read their Miranda rights has become a major sticking point in the debate over how best to fight terrorism. Many Republicans, in particular, believe Miranda warnings are designed to build court cases, and oft-times only hinder intelligence gathering.
Legal experts oft-times believe that being read Miranda Rights, and having a court case, enhance the prosecution's case if they seek to impose measures, like the death penalty.
