From The Baltimore Sun: “What happened to Dzokhar Tsarnaev?” by David Horsey

“Seven years younger than Tamerlan[Tsarnaev], Dzokhar came to the U.S. when he was 8 years old. Recently he became a citizen. In between, he lived a relatively normal American life. He was a successful student and competed on his high school wrestling team….Dzokhar is 19 years old, an age when many young men act on impulse and sudden passions. It is the age when boys trying to prove their manhood are easy to recruit. It may be to the military, it may be to religion, it may be to the brotherhood of a hard-drinking fraternity or it may be to a cause that promises them the chance to change the world. Perhaps, most of all, it is an age when someone older with a firm vision of life can have an inordinate influence. It may be a professor, a drill sergeant, a religious figure — or an older brother. When we finally learn the truth about this alleged bomber, the shock may not be that he is so sinister or so consumed by a cause. The shock may be how easily this young man — like many young men — could be swayed from the light to the most brutal darkness.”

Questions for Consideration 

Where did you go to find information about the bombing? Were there any false claims that you heard about the bombing and what were they? What do we know about Mr. Tsarnaev’s motivations for carrying out this act of violence? What can we do in our own communities to prevent something similar from happening? What does justice look like for him and victims of the Boston Marathon? 

Want to learn more?

• Slate: Eminem, Nutella, and Edmund Burke: A Close Reading of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Twitter Account
• Washington Post: Most want death penalty for DzokharTsarnaev if he is convicted of Boston bombing
• Forward: Justice for Dzokhar Tsarnaev–and the Rest of Us
• CS Monitor: In Boston and Cleveland tragedies, a case for more neighborliness
• Guardian: What rights should Dzhokhar Tsarnaev get and why does it matter?
• Al Jazeera: The wrong kind of Caucasian
• Business Insider: A Heartbreaking Letter From Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Former Teammate

Free and open to the public. For more information please call 312.422.5580.

If you need a sign interpreter or require other arrangements to fully participate, please call 312.422.5580. For parking locations near the facility, please visit ChicagoParkingMap.com.