More information has been revealed about how brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may have gone from living normal American lives to bombing the Boston Marathon in April. Along with Al Qaeda and Jihadist doctrine, their self-radicalization may have also been stirred by an anti-U.S. government conspiracy theorist suffering from brain damage.
On Tuesday, attorney Jason Rosenberg revealed that a 67-year-old man named Donald Larking shared publications with the brothers and discussed conspiracy theories arguing that the 9/11 attacks and the Newtown elementary school shooting either never occurred, or were planned by the U.S. government, reports the Associated Press. The Wall Street Journal reports that Larking also shared theories with Tsarnaev that alleged the Holocaust never happened.
The attorney said the Tsarnaev brothers met Larking years ago and became friends when their mother began working as a personal care assistant for Larking's quadriplegic wife. In 1974, Larking was shot in the head during an attempted robbery and suffered from brain damage that altered his decision-making and judgment skills as a result. The attorney said that Larking shared anti-U.S. government websites with the brothers.
Rosenberg said Tuesday he doesn't think Larking helped the Tsarnaev brothers, ethnic Chechens from Russia, formulate ideas, but may have made them believe others shared their feelings.
"[They] were seeing someone who was Caucasian and was born in America who was saying the same things," the attorney said.
Rosenberg said he doesn't know if the Tsarnaev brothers understood how seriously Larking's brain was affected from the shooting. He said he's talked to Larking since the Boston Marathon bombin,g but doesn't think his friend comprehends what happened.
The brothers took Larking to their mosque, and he converted to Islam and still attends the mosque, Rosenberg said.
Nicole Mossalam, a spokeswoman for the Islamic Society of Boston mosque in Cambridge, said it becomes obvious during conversation that Larking has a disability because he's unusually open and "childlike" and often says politically incorrect things without seeming to realize it.
"He loves to sit down with people and talk, and there's basically no filter," she said.
In a federal indictment in June, authorities alleged that a search of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's computer led them to discover a publication that advocates using violence to terrorize Islam's perceived enemies, written by someone known as the "Father of Global Jihad."
Prosecutors also alleged Dzhokhar Tsarnaev downloaded a publication that "glorifies martyrdom in the service of violent jihad" and an Al Qaeda magazine that had directions for building bombs using pressure cookers.
The brothers are believed to be responsible for the April 15 marathon bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 others. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty last month. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a shootout with police on April 18.