While the father of the two suspects accused of executing the Boston Marathon Bombing maintains that his sons are innocent, other relatives aren't rushing to defend the men, and are instead calling the culprits out for the "shame" that they have caused their family.
In a live interview Friday, Ruslan Tsarni, the uncle of the suspects, expressed outrage at the actions of his nephews and petitioned 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev - who is still at large - to turn himself in and seek forgiveness. His brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnev, was killed during a shootout with police last night.
When a reporter asked what might have provoked the boys to execute such violence, Tsarni responded, "Being losers. Hatred to those who were able to settle themselves" in this country. He then raised his voice to make a point: "Anything else to do with religion, with Islam-it's a fraud. It's a fake." He continued: "We are Muslims. We are Chechens." But that didn't explain his nephews' violence, he said. "Somebody radicalized them."
When a member of the press asked, "Are you ashamed by what has unfolded?" he responded, "Of course we are ashamed! They are [the] children of my brother."
He went on to profess his own love and appreciation for living in America, saying, "I respect this country. I love this country-this country which gives a chance to everybody else to be treated as a human being."
The suspects were born in Chechnya, Russia, however their disgusted uncle declared that "This has nothing to do with Chechnya. Chechens are different. Chechens are peaceful people."
Addressing his feeling of collective disgrace, Tsarni stated that the suspect "put a shame on our family. He put a shame on the entire Chechen ethnicity."
He concluded by expressing his condolences for the victims, saying, "Those who suffered, we're sharing with them, with their grief-and ready just to meet with them, and ready just to bend in front of them, to kneel in front of them, seeking their forgiveness. ... In the name of the family, that's what I say."
Watch his interview below:
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