F.B.I. Interview Led Homeland Security to Hold Up Citizenship for One Brother

[dkf]

Department of Homeland Security officials decided in recent months not to grant an application for American citizenship by Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of two brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings, after a routine background check revealed that he had been interviewed in 2011 by the F.B.I., federal officials said on Saturday.

Mr. Tsarnaev died early Friday after a shootout with the police, and officials said that at the time of his death, his application for citizenship was still under review and was being investigated by federal law enforcement officials.

It had been previously reported that Mr. Tsarnaev’s application might have been held up because of a domestic abuse episode. But the officials said that it was the record of the F.B.I. interview that threw up red flags and halted, at least temporarily, Mr. Tsarnaev’s citizenship application. Federal law enforcement officials reported on Friday that the F.B.I. interviewed Mr. Tsarnaev in January 2011 at the request of the Russian government, which suspected that he had ties to Chechen terrorists.

The officials pointed to the decision to hold up that application as evidence that his encounter with the F.B.I. did not fall through the cracks in the vast criminal and national security databases that the Department of Homeland Security and the F.B.I. review as a standard requirement for citizenship. The application, which Mr. Tsarnaev presented on Sept. 5, also prompted “additional investigation” of him this year by federal law enforcement agencies, according to the officials. They declined to say how far that examination had progressed or what it covered.


Late last year, Homeland Security officials contacted the F.B.I. to learn more about its interview with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, federal law enforcement officials said. The F.B.I. reported its conclusion that he did not present a threat.



http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/us/tamerlan-tsarnaevs-citizenship-held-up-by-homeland-security.html?_r=0

[TwilightGardener]

1. Seems like Russia knew all about these characters...and were quick to offer their help

before they'd even been ID'd publicly. Not sure if I should be comforted or disturbed.

[LisaL]

2. Maybe you missed the part where Russia informed US and US decdied he was not a threat?

[TwilightGardener]

3. No, I got that part.

[applegrove]

4. I heard Russia informed the US he might be a muslim radical, FBI investigated and found nothing,

the FBI then asked the Russians for more information, the Russians gave them nothing so the FBI closed the file.

[newmember]

5. "I heard Russia informed the US" he might be a muslim radical"

I'd say that's a pretty good bet now.

[Ellipsis]

9. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

What rhymes with HOLE?

[LisaL]

6. What else did FBI expect Russia to give them?

How many clues do they need?

[applegrove]

7. Maybe actionable intelligence. I can see a Putin government not wanting to give details because

it might identify an informant.

[KittyWampus]

11. So you are FOR detaining people with no hard evidence? Interesting.

[Cali_Democrat]

10. Actually it appears all the "goods" Russia had on these clowns...

are some radical islamic you tube videos which the bombing suspects liked. There was no evidence connecting them to actual terrorism at the time

That's about it. Definitely not enough for US authorities to have done anything.

[dkf]

15. This seems to indicate more than just you tube videos...

“based on information that he was a follower of radical Islam and a strong believer, and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the United States for travel to the country’s region to join unspecified underground groups"

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/us/boston-marathon-bombings.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&hp

[Cali_Democrat]

16. Based on what information?

[dkf]

17. That's what we don't know.

But wouldn't you agree it points to something larger than YouTube?

[Cali_Democrat]

18. Nope

I don't jump to conclusions like the New York Post or CNN. I wait for actual facts to emerge before jumping to conclusions.

We're a nation of laws. We can't arrest and prosecute people without evidence.

[Please proceed]

8. wouldn't this guy immediately pop up

As a person of interest. And wouldn't you at least see if he matched the photos? They had the photos the day before and ran them by law enforcement, wouldn't that include the feds?

[LisaL]

12. You'd think so. But apparently you would be wrong.

[dkf]

13. It makes you wonder what our technological capabilities are...

This seems to have exposed quite a few cracks in the system.

[LisaL]

14. Well supposedly we have face recognition software.

Maybe FBI should have used it.
In this case.

[defacto7]

19. What I would like to know is

whether brother #1 knew his citizenship was being delayed? Would that have been a twisted motive for the bombing? I read that one of them said something to the order of "being fed up with the US and not wanting to be here anymore".

[FarCenter]

20. Or was he pissed off that you can't beat your wife or girl friend in the US?