Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will make his first public appearance since his arrest in April Wednesday during a scheduled hearing in federal court in Boston. Tsarnaev is facing 30 criminal charges, including the use of a weapon of mass destruction, which killed three people and wounded over 260 others at the marathon April 15.
The 19-year-old former University of Massachusetts Dartmouth student is also accused of killing an MIT police officer. As a result, Tsarnaev could face the death penalty or life in prison, since he is charged under federal law.
A probable cause hearing for Tsarnaev will be held at 3:30 p.m. EST at a U.S. District Court in South Boston, reports ABC News. The courtroom will be heavily guarded by police and is expected to be packed; survivors of the Boston bombings will also attend Tsarnaev's arraignment this afternoon.
Authorities allege that the suspected teen terrorist was inspired by Al Qaeda publications, and that he left a confession in the boat he was hiding in before he was arrested, justifying the bombings as payback for U.S. military action in Muslim countries.
Tsarnaev's appearance should answer questions about the extent of injuries he sustained during a firefight with police the night before he was captured, and how much he has recovered over the past couple of months. His older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, the alleged mastermind of the bombings, died during the shootout with Boston police in Watertown on April 18. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found the next day hiding in a boat in someone's backyard in Watertown.
According to prosecutors, Tsarnaev wrote his motivation for the bombing on the inside walls and beams of the boat where he was hiding. He allegedly wrote "I don't like killing innocent people," but added, "I can't stand to see such evil go unpunished ... We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all."
The indictment also said that at some time before the bombings, Tsarnaev downloaded Internet material from Islamic extremists that advocated violence against perceived enemies of Islam.