Boston Marathon bombing suspect’s mother: My son wasn’t brainwashed by mysterious radical Muslim

[FarCenter]

The mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects shot down reports that her older son was brainwashed by a radical Muslim he met at a Boston-area mosque.

...


Tsarnaev's grief-stricken mother, though, called the report "nonsense," saying that Tamerlan and Misha's friendship was brief because Misha moved away after shortly the pair become friendly in 2008 and 2009.

"He was just a friend," Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told ABC News from south Russia, where she has been talking with the FBI.

The hefty Armenian was a strict follower of Islam, and her son's faith did blossom under his tutelage, she said. But they were not radicals, she told ABC News.

Tamerlan's ex-brother-in-law, Elmirza Khozhugov, said the suspected bomber's mother never had a problem with Misha.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/bomber-mom-denies-shadowy-muslim-friend-influence-article-1.1325950

So the elusive Misha has now been attested to by at least three family members. Wonder whether Tamerlan's wife knew him, and if he helped in her conversion.

[graham4anything]

1. So another conspiracy theory is shot down.

wow.

[FarCenter]

3. Actually, the mother is confirming the existence of Misha

However, being a few fries short of a happy meal herself, she thinks that Tamerlan's religious conversion to radical Islam was a good thing.

Other family members view Misha as sending Tamerlan down the radical road led to the bombings.

Until Misha is identified and found, we will not know much about his connections and whether he was working as an agent for some organization.

[dkf]

4. You trust her judgment on what is "radical"? Really?

[Leslie Valley]

5. So there ya go

He came up with his radical beliefs all on his own. Didn't need any help from some "mystery" man.

[seabeyond]

6. and see. i felt the article was a bit of confirmation this misha was the extremist influence. nt

[11cents]

8. What "conspiracy theory?"

The proposition that Tamerlan may have been influenced by this guy Misha (which the mother confirms) is a "conspiracy theory?"

[dkf]

2. The mom doesn't think her boys, who planted bombs and killed people, are radicals either.

It looks like we are seeing radical #1 right here.

[demosincebirth]

7. I guess that's the norm for her...to plant bombs and kill inocent people.

[eissa]

9. Armenian Muslim?

I know the family has been pushing this fictional character, but I STRONGLY doubt his existence. An Armenian convert to Islam is so incredibly rare, and one that not only does that, but befriends historic enemies like Chechens? It takes self-loathing to a level thus far unknown.

[FarCenter]

10. It may be a confusion of political and human geography

Possibly Misha was from Armenia but was not ethnically Armenian. Azeri from Nagorno-Karabakh for instance? Maybe Russian, since Misha sounds Russian. He was reportedly a convert to Islam.

[HiPointDem]

13. yeah, pretty weird.

[HiPointDem]

11. funny, armenians are (or were) almost always christian.

Under Ottoman rule, the Armenians were granted considerable autonomy within their own enclaves and lived in relative harmony with other groups in the empire (including the ruling Turks). However, as Christians under a strict Muslim social system, Armenians faced pervasive discrimination. When they began pushing for more rights within the Ottoman Empire, Sultan ‘Abdu’l-Hamid II, in response, organised state-sponsored massacres against the Armenians between 1894 and 1896, resulting in an estimated death toll of 80,000 to 300,000 people.

Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, an event traditionally dated to AD 301.[87][88][89][90]

The predominant religion in Armenia is Christianity. The roots of the Armenian Church go back to the 1st century. According to tradition, the Armenian Church was founded by two of Jesus' twelve apostles – Thaddaeus and Bartholomew – who preached Christianity in Armenia between AD 40–60. Because of these two founding apostles, the official name of the Armenian Church is Armenian Apostolic Church.

Over 93% of Armenian Christians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, a form of Oriental (Non-Chalcedonian) Orthodoxy, which is a very ritualistic, conservative church, roughly comparable to the Coptic and Syriac churches.[91] Armenian Apostolic Church is in communion only with a group of churches within Oriental Orthodoxy.

Other religious denominations in Armenia are the Baptists[92][93][94][95] and Presbyterians.[96][97][98]Catholics also exist in Armenia, both Latin rite and Mekhitarist Catholics. The Mechitarists (also spelled "Mekhitarists" Armenian: Մխիթարեան , are a congregation of Benedictine monks of the Armenian Catholic Church founded in 1712 by Mekhitar of Sebaste. They are best known for their series of scholarly publications of ancient Armenian versions of otherwise lost ancient Greek texts.

The Armenian Catholic denomination is headquartered in Bzoummar, Lebanon.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia


the new armenia even has an official patron saint.

[Marrah_G]

12. I don't think this mother has any clue what her kids were doing

[geek tragedy]

14. Oh baby you, you got what I need, you say he's just a friend. . .

[yellowcanine]

15. If the family members were smart they would not talk to the media.

It is a no win situation and will not help their son in any way.

[FarCenter]

17. Won't affect the outcome regarding the son

With all the photographic and physical evidence, there is no possibility that he'll see the outside of prison alive.

[eissa]

18. Her recent tirades certainly aren't doing her family

any favors. The father thus far has at least appeared shell-shocked. I haven't heard anything from the sisters, but apparently a statement was released expressing condolences? If so, that was smart on their part.

[jwirr]

16. The way she is acting I would say it is a good chance that the hatred behind their actions came from

her.