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Cambridge refuses to bury Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev – Metro US

Cambridge refuses to bury Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev

tamerlan tsarnaev boston marathon bombing suspect Federal authorities released a photo of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. Suspect One was later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev who died during a shootout with police in Watertown.
Credit: FBI

The city manager in Cambridge said he urges the family and funeral home handling the body of accused Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev not to request that the alleged terrorist be buried in the city.

City Manager Robert Healy said in a statement released on Sunday that despite reports of the Worcester funeral home seeking a burial plot for Tsarnaev in Cambridge, no formal application has been filed. However, Healy said that the city wouldn’t allow him to be buried there, anyway.

“Under State law, ‘… it shall be the duty of the city manager to act as chief conservator of the peace within the city.’ I have determined that it is not in the best interest of ‘peace within the city’ to execute a cemetery deed for a plot within the Cambridge Cemetery for the body of Tameran Tsarnaev,” Healy said in his e-mailed statement.

Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a shootout with police in Watertown April 19. His body was released from the state medical examiner’s office on Thursday and taken to a Worcester funeral home. His cause of death was ruled to be gunshot wounds and blunt trauma. Authorities have said his younger brother and fellow suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, ran him over while fleeing from police.

Tsarnaev’s uncle traveled from Maryland to Worcester Sunday to prepare the body for burial, according to the Globe. The funeral home director is having trouble finding a plot to bury Tsarnaev.

The full text of Healy’s statement can be read below:

“Despite multiple media reports, the City of Cambridge has no formal application for a burial permit, or the purchase of a cemetery plot. I would however urge, both the funeral director, and the family of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, not to make such a request.
The difficult and stressful efforts of the citizens of the City of Cambridge to return to a peaceful life would be adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests, and wide spread media presence at such an interment.. The families of loved ones interred in the Cambridge Cemetery also deserve to have their deceased family members rest in peace.

“Under State law, “…it shall be the duty of the city manager to act as chief conservator of the peace within the city.” I have determined that it is not in the best interest of “peace within the city” to execute a cemetery deed for a plot within the Cambridge Cemetery for the body of Tameran Tsarnaev .

“This entire investigation has been conducted admirably by multiple law enforcement agencies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had had the lead jurisdiction, and now, other federal agencies should take the lead in the burial of this individual.”

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.