Death penalty protesters gather outside Tsarnaev trial
Suzanne Shanley traveled two hours to stand in the pouring rain and hold a sign outside Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston on Tuesday morning.
“Mercy not sacrifice. Jesus,’’ the sign read.
Suzanne Shanley.
Shanley was one of more than a dozen protesters gathered outside the courthouse for the first day of the sentencing phase in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
“This is a trial not only about the death penalty, which I am against as the result of my Catholic faith, but about America’s conduct in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,’’ Shanley said, adding that she was not at the courthouse to protest the jury’s guilty verdict.
Winston Warfield, a self-described Vietnam infantry veteran who lives in Dorchester, had a much shorter trip than Shanley.
Winston Warfield.
“We, as Bostonians who’ve suffered the horror of terrorism, need to understand blowback. Our government is occupying multiple countries,’’ Warfield said. “I’m a war veteran. I feel very strongly that peace is the essential issue.’’
Tsarnaev faces the death penalty after he was found guilty of 30 different charges for setting off the bombs that killed three and injured over 260 at the 2013 Boston Marathon. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will argue over the next few weeks about whether or not Tsarnaev deserves to die for his crimes.
Several prominent survivors of the bombing, including the parents of 8-year-old victim Martin Richard, have come out against the death penalty for Tsarnaev in recent days.
A flyer distributed in front of the courthouse reads: “To kill a prisoner in cold blood who has no way of escaping is disgusting. To do so by the state, with ceremony, only makes us all accomplices in this cowardly act.’’
A flyer distributed in front of the Moakley Federal Courthouse
Protesters said they planned to assemble each morning during the sentencing phase of the trial, which is slated to last about a month.
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