Boston marathon bomber's mother says 'Americans are terrorists, my son is the best'

After convicting Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on all 30 counts in 2013 Boston marathon bombing case, the 12-member jury in Massachusetts will now decide whether the 21-year-old bomber would be awarded death penalty or he would spend the rest his life in jail.

London: After convicting Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on all 30 counts in 2013 Boston marathon bombing case, the 12-member jury in Massachusetts will now decide whether the 21-year-old bomber would be awarded death penalty or he would spend the rest of his life in jail.

The jury will now start hearing evidence to decide Dzhokar's fate, who reportedly fidgeted and stood with his hands folded and gaze fixed down as the charges were being read.

Reacting to the verdict, Dzhokar's mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, in a note sent to a family friend, reiterated that her son was innocent while America was "the terrorist", reported the Vocativ.

Vocativ also found the bomber's mother's note posted on a Russian social networking site. The note written in Russian translated to, “I will never forget it. May god bless those who helped my son. The terrorists are the Americans and everyone knows it. My son is the best of the best".

Dzhokhar along with his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev staged the deadly pressure cooker bomb attack at Boston marathon on April 15, 2013 that left 3 people dead and over 260 injured out of which over a dozen lost limbs.

Also police officer Sean Collier was killed later in the shootout as both the brothers attempted to flee.

Dzhokhar has been found guilty on all 30 counts, 17 of which carry death penalty. 

The verdict did not come as a surprise as Tsarnaev's lawyer had, in the very beginning, admitted to Dzhokhar's role in the attacks which he carried with his elder brother Tamerlan.

Apparently, this was in line with the defense lawyer's strategy to spare him the death penalty by contending that Dzhokar, who was a “kid” and a “teenager” (when the attacks took place) was radicalised by his elder brother.

"If not for Tamerlan, it would not have happened,” Defense attorney Judy Clarke reasoned at the trial.

However, the prosecutors portrayed Dzhokar as an equal accomplice in the terror attacks, describing him as a “mujahideen” who wanted to “punish America” for wars in Muslim countries.

Contrary to defense lawyer, the prosecutors contended that Dzhokhar was self-radicalised and was influenced by US-Yemen cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, the AFP reported.

In an impassioned closing statement, assistant US attorney Aloke Chakravarty told the court how the 21-year-old remained remorseless despite having staged a deadly terror attack as few minutes after that, he “casually bought milk, then headed to the gym, laughing and joking with friends and posting a message on Twitter calling himself a 'stress free kind of guy', the AFP reported.

"He wanted to terrorize this country. He wanted to punish America for what it was doing to his people," the AFP quoted the prosecutor.