American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing, a new Netflix series, has sparked renewed interest in the 2013 bombing that killed three people and injured hundreds of others. One question that has resurfaced is whether the FBI was following the two brothers who carried out the attack, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, before the bombing occurred.

The answer is yes. The FBI was aware of the Tsarnaev brothers before the bombing, and they had been monitoring them for several years. In fact, Tamerlan Tsarnaev had been interviewed by the FBI in 2011, after a foreign government expressed concerns that he may have been radicalized.

According to the FBI, the foreign government (now widely believed to be Russia) had informed them that Tamerlan had become a follower of radical Islam and had changed dramatically in the years prior to the attack. The FBI conducted an investigation, but found no evidence of terrorist activity, and the case was closed.

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However, Tamerlan had come to the attention of other law enforcement agencies in the years leading up to the bombing. In 2009, he was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend, and in 2010, he was arrested for shoplifting. Both charges were ultimately dismissed, but they did raise red flags about his behavior.

In addition, Tamerlan had become increasingly religious in the years leading up to the attack, and had begun attending a mosque with extremist views. He had also created a YouTube channel with videos promoting jihad and radical Islam.

Despite these warning signs, the FBI did not have the legal authority to monitor Tamerlan’s activities without evidence of criminal activity. In the wake of the attack, many criticized the FBI for not taking more aggressive action, but others argued that the agency’s hands were tied by legal restrictions.

The FBI’s monitoring of Dzhokhar was less extensive than that of his brother, but he was not completely unknown to law enforcement. In 2011, he had been interviewed by the FBI as a witness in the murder of three men in Waltham, Massachusetts. At the time, he was not considered a suspect, but after the bombing, it was revealed that Tamerlan was a suspect in the case.

Despite these warning signs, the Tsarnaev brothers were able to carry out the attack without detection. In the aftermath of the bombing, the FBI faced criticism for not preventing the attack, but it is worth noting that the agency had limited resources and had to prioritize threats based on available information.

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The Boston Marathon bombing was a tragic event that shook the nation. While the FBI’s monitoring of the Tsarnaev brothers raises questions about whether more could have been done to prevent the attack, it is important to remember that law enforcement agencies face difficult choices and limited resources in their efforts to protect the public from terrorism. As we continue to grapple with the aftermath of the bombing, it is worth reflecting on how we can better balance the need for security with the need to protect civil liberties and individual rights.