Why do I feel sympathetic towards the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev?

[Anonymous]

I am intrigued (not sure if that is the right word) by the reference by Governor Deval in WaPo that when they were narrowing down the suspects, suspect No. 2 (Dzhokhar) had a reaction to the explosion that made him a clear suspect. I read that to be that he somehow reacted with pleasure to the horror that he had unleashed, which is horrifying in and of itself.


Yes = he did seem to laugh and be smiling. So he may actually be the real psychopath. The brother was clearly a violent individual ... but everyone saw that, including his beaten girlfriend/wife. The younger son, who seemed like such an easy going nice guy, is actually more intriguing. He may have been even more damaged somehow - so much so that he could drop a bomb in front of an 8-year old then blithely return to his college campus to work out and retire to his dorm room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will never be a truly civilized species until we can figure out a way to solve our differences without physical violence. Lone individuals commit heinous acts as do organized governments. We're light years away from becoming a non-violent species. Normal immediate gut reaction to crimes like these is to condemn the perpetrators to Hell and damnation. However, when we do try to think past our anger, to try even for a minute to speculate why someone would do such a thing or what might have happened to them in their lives, we do get a little bit closer to becoming more civilized. I havent' heard one sympathetic poster say that Tsarnaev shouldn't be punished for his crimes. Just a little turning off the lizard part of their brains and wondering what happened to this person who was once a child.

I would say not to judge people too harshly until you have walked a mile in their shoes. But when they blew up innocent people, they lost me. However, maybe step into the shoes of those affected by this horrible crime and then you can see why most people choose to condem the perpetrators to hell. If these men had bombed a shelter full of puppies, you all would not be talking about having sympathy for them. You would be wanting to have revenge in the most bloody way possible.

I think you might be missing my point. Is it not possible to attempt to walk in the shoes of both the victims and the perpetrators? Do you really think that wondering about what makes a person act this way obviates our primary sympathies for the victims? Is it really that black and white for you? Some of us are trying to think outside of the box for a minute. Why do people do such things? How can we prevent a person from becoming this way? Churn 'em and burn 'em ain't gonna get us there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He actually tweeted that there was no love in the city and for everyone to be safe after it happened, pretending he was looking out for his friends after the incident. HE DID IT. There is pure evil in the world. I'd rather spend my energies learning to keep our Nation safe from it than have any sympathy whatsoever towards this calculating monster. Enough people have died and been maimed.

Do you have a link that actually shows this?

His twitter account.

actually, I meant could you type out a digital link to the account...

Not the Pp you are responding to but here you go. https://twitter.com/j_tsar

Lots of eerie irony there, over the last six months: "I always break for a passing squirrel, "Never underestimate a rebel with a cause, "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing, "If you have the knowledge and inspiration all that's left is to take action, "Most of you are conditioned by the media, (this one posted April 10)."

How very profound Dzhokhar: "People come into your life to help you, hurt you, love you and leave you and that shapes your character and the person you were meant to be."

[Anonymous]

One of my good friends is an attorney with the Federal Defenders Office in Boston. I look forward to their doing heir Constitutional duty and providing the accused a vigorous defense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I understand some of what you're feeling. I see a 19 year old who may have been damaged in some way we don't yet know about, or under the influence of an older brother or family/trusted friend in an unhealthy way, etc... We just don't know. But I too feel some concern for him - and especially his family. I am glad that the police were able to bring him in alive - I think it speaks very well for everyone involved that he was brought in with a chance to shed some light on what happened and for his family to perhaps have a chance to see him again.

It's tremendously sad all the way around. To the posters who think it's a racial thing to feel sympathy towards one person rather than another - that isn't necessarily the case. I had many similar (even stronger/more clear) feelings of sympathy for Lee Boyd Malvo. To me age plays a larger role than anything else.

Either way, I think the ability of people to see the complexities of a situation, and feel empathy for all parties, is reflection on the basic goodness of humanity and the mature, thoughtful abilities of grown ups.

[Anonymous]

Me too. I had very sympathetic feels towards Lee Boyd Malvo, because he was so obviously brainwashed by a father figure at a young age.

[Anonymous]

...why do you fel sympathetic? Because you look at your own DS and wonder: Is he the next poor victim to becaome a hated mass murderer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am intrigued (not sure if that is the right word) by the reference by Governor Deval in WaPo that when they were narrowing down the suspects, suspect No. 2 (Dzhokhar) had a reaction to the explosion that made him a clear suspect. I read that to be that he somehow reacted with pleasure to the horror that he had unleashed, which is horrifying in and of itself.


Yes = he did seem to laugh and be smiling. So he may actually be the real psychopath. The brother was clearly a violent individual ... but everyone saw that, including his beaten girlfriend/wife. The younger son, who seemed like such an easy going nice guy, is actually more intriguing. He may have been even more damaged somehow - so much so that he could drop a bomb in front of an 8-year old then blithely return to his college campus to work out and retire to his dorm room.

Where did you see any pictures of him after the explosion? I didn't see any picture of him laughing and smiling and I have looked at a lot of pictures. The only I saw from after the blast was him leaving the blast seen and rounding a corner and he isn't smiling in that picture. Can you link to the laughing / smiling post blast pictures?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it is because my DH is of Eastern European descent and I see similarities in these boys facial features to my own boys and my nephews.

My husband and older son also look very similar to him, and I have felt a lot of sadness and have a heavy heart about these events as well. I think it just hits really close to home.

It's interesting how you two can say this, but Obama is drug through the mud when he said that Trayvon Martin could've been his son (and Trayvon was an INNOCENT young man who was murdered).

Obama spoke about a young man who could have resembled his son who could have been murdered because of his appearance. This is not the same thing as having sympathy for people who resemble family and could have committed horrendous crimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He actually tweeted that there was no love in the city and for everyone to be safe after it happened, pretending he was looking out for his friends after the incident. HE DID IT. There is pure evil in the world. I'd rather spend my energies learning to keep our Nation safe from it than have any sympathy whatsoever towards this calculating monster. Enough people have died and been maimed.

Do you have a link that actually shows this?

His twitter account.

actually, I meant could you type out a digital link to the account...

Not the Pp you are responding to but here you go. https://twitter.com/j_tsar

Lots of eerie irony there, over the last six months: "I always break for a passing squirrel, "Never underestimate a rebel with a cause, "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing, "If you have the knowledge and inspiration all that's left is to take action, "Most of you are conditioned by the media, (this one posted April 10)."

How very profound Dzhokhar: "People come into your life to help you, hurt you, love you and leave you and that shapes your character and the person you were meant to be."

The tweets are bizarre. It does seem like purpose misdirection. Like most 19 year olds there is a total lack of self awareness. But unlike most 19 year olds, maimed people.

[Anonymous]

I'm tired of some posters telling other posters what to think and how to feel. You can be sympathetic towards the person Dzhokhar was a few short years ago and mystified about the person he became and wonder how he got from Point A to Point B and, all at the same time, it's amazing what the mind can handle, recognize that Point B was an atrocity.

[Anonymous]

When I was in high school, I got into the popular group. They wanted me to take part in a "fag bashing". I called the police and spent the rest of my high school years with the "unpopular" crowd. Thank God. Just saying..... Truly Good people cannot be talked into talking part in such despicable things that cause so much harm and tragedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was in high school, I got into the popular group. They wanted me to take part in a "fag bashing". I called the police and spent the rest of my high school years with the "unpopular" crowd. Thank God. Just saying..... Truly Good people cannot be talked into talking part in such despicable things that cause so much harm and tragedy.

Do you think individual people are can only be "all bad" or "all good"? Don't you think it's possible that one human being might be both at different times in the course of a lifetime?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also feel sadness for Dzhokhar. I also felt sadness for Lee Boyd Malvo, Dylan Klebold, Sam Manzie (http://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/08/nyregion/eddie-was-murdered-sam-s-doing-70-years-but-who-is-to-blame.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm), Seung-Hui Cho, and even Jeffrey Dahmer, who, as a child, had selective mutism and collected road kill and kept the bones of the dead animals displayed on poles in his backyard. There could not have been more obvious signs of a problem, and no one helped.

It saddens me that in so many of these tragic cases there were signs that people ignored and that help wasn't available for the mentally unstable who eventually became murderers. But sometimes even when family and friends try to get help for their loved ones, nothing is done (Sam Manzie being the best example of this I can think of in recent history).

It's not to say that I can't understand the outrage that some feel when hearing people express sympathy for the perpetrators. It just that I feel it is somewhat necessary to feel sadness for them, because the ability to realize that we may not know the whole picture, and that we are so very fortunate that it wasn't our son or nephew doing the killing - that perspective is what keeps us human and it's what will hopefully help us spot the next one before it's too late.

Bleeding heart drivel, makes me want to hurl. Wake.up.

Interesting - the hatred and utter disgust for another person's thoughts, beliefs, and moral code (i.e. "bleeding heart drivel") as expressed by poster 00:28 is how I imagine terrorists operate. "My way only", "your thoughts are stupid, disgusting, and unworthy", "you need to wake up and believe what I do".

[Anonymous]

Interesting - the hatred and utter disgust for another person's thoughts, beliefs, and moral code (i.e. "bleeding heart drivel") as expressed by poster 00:28 is how I imagine terrorists operate. "My way only", "your thoughts are stupid, disgusting, and unworthy", "you need to wake up and believe what I do".

Yet isn't that the same thing that goes on here ever day: pro choice vs prolife, liberal vs conservative, even pantyhose vs bare leg gets contentious. This isn't a very tolerant crowd when it comes to having even a modicum of respect for opposing viewpoints. It only seems offensive to the masses with their individual viewpoint comes under attack.