We weren’t eager to cover Dzhokar Tsarnaev’s apology. The crime – the Boston Marathon bombing – was so terrible. We’re both against capital punishment. The whole business makes us queasy.
But it seemed important to look at it. How can one apologize for deliberately causing so many deaths and injuries? How can one not?
From security camera.
We know that in the aftermath of quite horrible injustices, people will say, “They didn’t even apologize.” In other words, while an apology won’t make things go back the way they were, it is still wanted.
After the judge sentenced him to death, Tsarnaev surprised the courtroom by speaking for the first time since pleading “not guilty.” (If that plea outrages you, don’t let it. As previously discussed on SorryWatch that plea does not necessarily mean what it says.)
Here‘s what he said, with our comments in parentheses:
Thank you, your Honor, for giving me an opportunity to speak. I would like to begin in the name of Allah, the exalted and glorious, the most gracious, the most merciful, “Allah” among the most beautiful names. Any act that does not begin in the name of God is separate from goodness.
(Sumac, an unbeliever, says “I do not like ‘Any act that does not begin in the name of God is separate from goodness.’ Leaves me and my acts right out, and I didn’t blow up innocent people.” But we don’t know if that sentence is mere boilerplate piety. Snarly observes, “’Separate’ is an odd word choice, and I wonder if there’s a Koranic reference we’re not getting there.”)
This is the blessed month of Ramadan, and it is the month of mercy from Allah to his creation, a month to ask forgiveness of Allah and of his creation, a month to express gratitude to Allah and to his creation. It’s the month of reconciliation, a month of patience, a month during which hearts change. Indeed, a month of many blessings.
(Some people are indignant that Tsarnaev speaks of forgiveness, but it looks like he’s speaking of Allah’s forgiveness, not that of humans. Unless “and of his creation” means humans, which it may. And he’s not asking in the this statement, just alluding to asking. Snarly adds, “It almost sounds as if he’s reminding Allah, ‘Hey, Ramadan time—that means “let’s move on!”’”)
The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said if you have not thanked the people, you have not thanked God. So I would like to first thank my attorneys, those who sit at this table, the table behind me, and many more behind the scenes. They have done much good for me, for my family. They made my life the last two years very easy. I cherish their company. They’re lovely companions. I thank you.
I would like to thank those who took time out of their daily lives to come and testify on my behalf despite the pressure. I’d like to thank the jury for their service, and the Court. The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said that if you do not—if you are not merciful to Allah’s creation, Allah will not be merciful to you, so I’d like to now apologize to the victims, to the survivors.
(This is a curious remark. It seems to suggest that he is apologizing in order to win Allah’s mercy. “I am apologizing to the victims so Allah doesn’t punish me”? He’s apologizing to escape divine punishment? It’s almost like a grudging “My parents say I have to apologize to you. So. Sorry.”)
Immediately after the bombing, which I am guilty of—if there’s any lingering doubt about that, let there be no more. I did do it along with my brother—I learned of some of the victims. I learned their names, their faces, their age. And throughout this trial more of those victims were given names, more of those victims had faces, and they had burdened souls.
Just after the bombing. This picture is small, in case you don’t want it to jump out at you. You can click if you want to see it better.
(There, we see that the “not guilty” plea was a matter of established legal form. He goes on to say, we think, that he was touched by the testimony. Snarly: “To me, this is the only part of the apology that feels real and personal, that shows humanity.”)
Now, all those who got up on that witness stand and that podium related to us—to me—I was listening—the suffering that was and the hardship that still is, with strength and with patience and with dignity. Now, Allah says in the Qur’an that no soul is burdened with more than it can bear, and you told us just how unbearable it was, how horrendous it was, this thing I put you through. And I know that you kept that much. I know that there isn’t enough time in the day for you to have related to us everything. I also wish that far more people had a chance to get up there, but I took them from you.
(Is he really saying that what happened was not unbearable, because Allah says you don’t get more than you can bear? Is this an attempt to comfort? Snarly: “Or worse, is it an ‘Aw, buck up, Allah wouldn’t give you more than you can handle’? I also wonder whether he’s actually talking to the survivors or whether he’s really speaking of himself—the way cats purr to self-comfort.”)
Now, I am sorry for the lives that I’ve taken, for the suffering that I’ve caused you, for the damage that I’ve done. Irreparable damage.
(We can’t tell if he means sorry only in the sense of feeling pity for the dead and injured and bereaved, or sorry in the sense of wishing he hadn’t done it. He doesn’t say he wouldn’t do it again. He doesn’t renounce terrorism.)
Now, I am a Muslim. My religion is Islam. The God I worship, besides whom there is no other God, is Allah. And I prayed for Allah to bestow his mercy upon the deceased, those affected in the bombing and their families. Allah says in the Qur’an that with every hardship there is relief. I pray for your relief, for your healing, for your well-being, for your strength.
(“I hope you feel better.”)
I ask Allah to have mercy upon me and my brother and my family. I ask Allah to bestow his mercy upon those present here today. And Allah knows best those deserving of his mercy. And I ask Allah to have mercy upon the ummah of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. Amin. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
(The ummah is the community of Muslims. So he’s not asking for mercy for non-Muslims, other than those in court.)
Thank you.
It’s not a good apology. Snarly notes, “He says he did a horrendous thing and he apologizes for that… but does not renounce terrorism and does not say WHY he did what he did. To me, THAT is as close as he could come to reparations. It’s the only thing he has that he can offer the victims’ families, and he doesn’t offer it.”
Most of those who heard him rejected the apology. One accepted it. Survivor Henry Borgard, 23, said that when he locked eyes with Tsarnaev in court, he saw a boy. “I do know that I believe in second chances,” Borgard said. “The man, the boy, who planted that bomb that blew up in front of me is younger than I am.”
Some legal experts say that seeming remorseful could be part of what could save him on appeal of the sentence. And we can’t tell where his feeling bad for those who testified shades into self-justifying “Allah doesn’t give you anything you can’t bear.”
Snarly also remarks, “The religious talk is obfuscating. I’ve known ultra-Orthodox Jews who sound similar in their rhythms and language and denseness of references, if you replace ‘Allah’ with ‘HaShem.’ The devoutness hides the person.” Sumac agrees. It may be that he’s trying to demonstrate to non-Muslims how great Islam is, how full of mercy and goodness—and at the same time to show Muslims that he remains pious and devout.
It’s possible that he could have made a better apology if he didn’t depend so heavily on pious thoughts and phrases. It’s also possible that he thinks himself justified in what he did, and is only sad at the sight of the suffering he believes it demanded. We can’t tell from these words.
When Tsarnaev was caught, a widespread Boston-area lockdown ended, and people headed for the streets. Here, in Watertown.
I am inclined to see his words in a more positive light, although I agree that it is not overall a “good apology.” The main problem with it is that he never renounces the actual bombing, never says that he regrets doing it or that he was wrong to do it. So in that sense it is not an apology at all. What it does have going for it is that it is very sincere. He does not say anything that he does not truly believe. If he were simply saying what he thought would get him a lighter sentence he would have said a lot more about regretting his actions.
As to the specific points, I do believe that his statement that “Any act that does not begin in the name of God is separate from goodness” is both boilerplate piety and also an avowal that the act that he is about to perform, the “apology,” starts with Allah. He is not referring to the bombing, although the implication is that he believes that act was in the name of God as well.
I do believe that his reference to “Allah and his creation” means people, so he is saying now is the time to ask forgiveness and express gratitude to people (and indeed he follows that by thanking people.)
I appreciate actually that he followed the part about Allah not giving you more than you can bear by acknowledging that the pain he caused was “unbearable” and the damage was “irreparable.” I think that is as close as he comes to an apology in the whole statement. He also says that he is sorry for the lives he took and the suffering he caused, but he doesn’t renounce the bombing itself. It is almost as if he still believes that the bombing was the right thing to do, but he just wishes it hadn’t caused so much suffering. I do think that he feels bad about it, but he doesn’t necessarily think it was wrong to do it. As I said, it is not a good apology, but at least it is a sincere statement of empathy toward the victims and survivors, he listened to them, he heard them, he does not argue with them, he acknowledges the pain and suffering he caused, he does not dispute it or minimize it or justify it. And he wishes them well. I can tell you, I’ve received worse “apologies” than this (albeit for far less heinous actions!)
Wow. “Can’t even” is a good way to describe this. I can’t even, either. If you kill a bunch of people, does anything you say matter anymore at all?? Religious babble in the midst of an apology is like the “I have a Deity in my back pocket” apologies that Evangelicals get up to — My Deity told me to tell you all about the affair I had with that young man, so here I am, weeping attractively on national television, thank you, and Amen.
I rarely feel compelled to listen to people justifying their actions… I find myself incensed when they apply Divinity as their “get out of this free” card. His words have the meaning of a brass cowbell – mere noise.
How often do you hear a terrorist apologize? Irrespective of its quality, it drives home the truth that terrorists should be tried in a civilian court – not only due to the vertiginous conviction rate, but also the opportunity for the accused to face one’s accusers and thereby witness their humanity.
Good point — I do agree about civilian courts.
Just a note – pretty much all of what he said is boilerplate Q’uranic quotations. The idea of goodness not existing apart from Allah, the soul not being burdened beyond what it can bear, the repeated references to Allah as merciful. There seems to be little of what he said that goes beyond this really basic religious language taken almost verbatim from the Q’uran. I don’t know what that indicates, really. I don’t agree with the death penalty in any case. I guess I just wanted to point out that you were right when you said that you thought it was a reference to the Q’uran.
Thank you. That’s useful information.