Muslim groups add to anger of Boston Marathon bomber burial as local authorities say they want to 'undo' burial
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As local Muslim groups fume over the burial of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev at a cemetery in central Virginia, authorities in the state say they were never consulted about it and are questioning whether any laws were broken that might allow them to 'undo' the burial.
‘First of all the county was not one, consulted on this particular issue. The county was not aware of this coming forward, and most importantly, the county did not provide any permission for this to happen,’ Floyd Thomas, Board of Supervisors Chairman, told MyFoxBoston.
He said Caroline County officials are looking into whether or not the burial at Doswell cemetery was legal and added that if it was, there is not much that the county can do now.
Fury: As local Muslim groups fume over the burial of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev at a cemetery in central Virginia, authorities in the state say they were never consulted about it
Caroline County's sheriff Tony Lippa said that he learned of the burial from the media and added that the county does not have the money to provide security and that it will be the cemetery's responsibility.
The cemetery director told MyFoxBoston that he is not concerned about adding security and added that Doswell is a close community.
He also shared details of Tsarnaev's burial, saying he was buried in a small ceremony Thursday morning after being draped in three white sheets and laid on his right side to face Mecca.
The cemetery director declined to say who was in attendance.
The decision to bury Tsarnaev in the small Islamic cemetery in rural Virginia has also sparked fury some members of the area's Islamic community, who say they weren't consulted, according to the Associated Press.
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Buried: Tsarnaev was buried in the Muslim cemetery in Virginia on Friday, May 10
Flower removal: Bukhari Abdel-Alim, of Islamic Funeral Services of Virginia, removes flowers from one of two newly dug graves at the Doswell cemetery
Imam Ammar Amonette, of the Islamic Center of Virginia, said that his group was never consulted.
Tsarnaev was buried under a shroud of secrecy Wednesday evening at the Al-Barzakh Cemetery in central Virginia, about 15 miles from Richmond.
Mullen said she coordinated the clandestine burial with the help of the Islamic Society of Greater Richmond after a number of cemeteries refused to take his body.
Within an hour of contacting the group, she got a response saying a plot had been found. So she called the officials overseeing Tsarnaev's burial and arranged to have the body, which was being held at a Worcester, Mass. funeral home, transported to Virginia to be buried Wednesday evening.
The development has infuriated some residents of the rural Virginia town as well as members of the area's Islamic community who say they weren't consulted in the decision.
A flower is placed on what is believed to be Tsarnaev's grave. He was buried under a shroud of secrecy Wednesday evening at the Al-Barzakh Cemetery in central Virginia, about 15 miles from Richmond
'The whole Muslim community here is furious,' Imam Ammar Amonette of the Islamic Center of Virginia told the Associated Press. 'Frankly, we are furious that we were never given any information. It was all done secretly behind our backs.'
'Now everybody who's buried in that cemetery, their loved ones are going to have to go to that place,' he added.
News of the burial comes several days after a Massachusetts police chief went on national television to plead for help in finding a plot for the 26-year-old suspected bomber, as number of cemeteries and lawmakers in three states had turned down requests to bury his body.
'There is a need to do the right thing,' Worcester Police Chief Gary Gemme said. 'We are not barbarians. We bury the dead.'
Final destination: The secret transfer of Tsranaev's body to the site from a Worcester funeral home was orchestrated by Virginia woman with help from an Islamic organization
Dr. Ahmad, president of the Islamic Funeral Service of Virginia (IFSVA), looks at graves at the Al-Barzakh Islamic Cemetery in Doswell
Vice President of the Islamic Funeral Services of Virginia, Bukhari Abdel-Alim, reads a statement at the entrance to the Al-Barzakh Islamic Cemetery
Meanwhile, the funeral home where Tsarnaev's body was being held had become the site of ongoing protests.
Martha Mullen, a professional counselor who has a degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, said she was disgusted by reports of the protests and decided to take action.
'Jesus says [to] love our enemies,' Mullen, 48, told the Boston Globe's Wesley Lowery. 'So I was sitting in Starbucks and thought, maybe I’m the one person who needs to do something.'
Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzokhar Tsarnaev, are accused of carrying out the April 15 twin bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a violent shootout with police on April 19 and his brother, who was injured in the gunfight, was captured in Watertown, Mass. after an 18-hour manhunt.
Tough sell: A number of cemeteries and lawmakers in three states had previously turned down requests to bury the alleged bomber's body
Small token: Flowers are placed on the alleged burial site of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Doswell, Va.,
Tsarnaev's death certificate, which was released on Friday, showed that he was shot in the firefight and then run over and dragged by a vehicle. Police say it was Tsarnaev's brother who mowed over his body as he was making a getaway.
Tsarnaev’s body was claimed by his uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, who asked that the remains be placed in a municipal cemetery in Cambridge, Mass., where Tsarnaev lived with his wife, Katherine Russell. But city officials would not allow that to happen.
Russell did not claim the body, which is why it was released to Tsarni.
Tsarnaev's mother, who maintains that her sons are innocent, wanted Tamerlan's body sent back to Russia, where he was born, but there was no certainty that Russian officials would accept the remains.
As authorities continued searching for a plot to bury the remains, they were repeatedly turned away. No one wanted to take responsibility for the body. Meanwhile, protests continued outside the funeral home where the body was being held.
It is unknown if Katherine Russell, widow of Boston Marathon bomber suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, (left), was at the burial - but Ruslan Tsarni (right) approved the site
(From left), Lisa Taurasi, Lucy Rodriguez and Luis Barbosa, all of Worcester, Mass., hold protest signs as they stand across the street from Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester, Mass. on Sunday evening
The public was not notified that Tsarnaev's body had been moved until after it was transported from the funeral home Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, police officials announced that 'A courageous and compassionate individual came forward to provide the assistance needed to properly bury the deceased.'
On average, burials cost $6,000 to $10,000, which covers basic services of a funeral director and staff, including the casket as well as embalming and sanitation of the body, according to the Funeral Consumer Guardian Society, a consumer advocacy group.
Typically, the person who claims the body - which in this case would be Tsarnaev's uncle - pays these costs.
Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzokhar Tsarnaev, are accused of carrying out the April 15 twin bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260
Tamerlan Tsarnaev's death certificate was released by the Massachusetts medical examiner Friday hours after it was learned that he was buried in Virginia
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2322987/Tamerlan-Tsarnaev-Local-authorities-say-want-undo-burial.html#ixzz2T0HV8DVf
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