Tamerlan Tsarnaev: "I Don't Have a Single American Friend"

Impact

The dead Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was the subject of a photo essay by photographer Johannes Hirn titled “Will Box For Passport.” Tsarnaev said to be representing New England in the heavyweight category at the National Golden Gloves competition in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Perhaps one of the most telling photo captions from the photo set quotes Tsarnaev and sheds light on the nature of his American experience.

Originally from Chechnya, but living in the United States since five years, Tamerlan says: "I don't have a single American friend, I don't understand them."

In another photo, the caption read:

Tamerlan says he doesn't drink or smoke anymore: "God said no alcohol." A muslim, he says: "There are no values anymore," and worries that "people can't control themselves.

On Tsarnaev’s alleged Amazon wish list, items of interest include How To Make Driver’s Licenses and Other ID on Your Home Computer, Document Fraud and Other Crimes of Deception, and How to Win Friends and Influence People.

It is too early in the manhunt to speculate if there is there is any correlation to Tamerlan's words, alleged reading choices and religion in relation to the subsequent bombings.

The Associated Press recently got into contact with the father of the Tsarnaev brothers said praises of younger brother, Dzhokhar, 19.

“My son is a true angel,” the father said. “Dzhokhar is a second-year medical student in the U.S. He is such an intelligent boy. We expected him to come on holidays here.”

“It’s crazy,” the uncle of the brothers said in an interview on Boston television.