BOSTON (WHDH) — Friends and protesters clashed with others outside the Moakley Federal Courthouse in South Boston Wednesday as accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was arraigned.
A small number of people stood outside the courthouse and held signs, wore t-shirts and declared Tsarnaev's innocence.
One woman told 7News she met Tsarnaev in New York. She said she believes it was the same time the infamous photograph of Tsarnaev with his friends in Times Square was taken. She came out in his defense Wednesday.
“I would still support him because I don’t feel that he is guilty. I just don’t see anything, any evidence that points that they’re guilty. I don’t see video that they dropped the backpacks. I don’t see anything that points out that he’s guilty. I see more that he’s innocent, if anything,” said Karina Figueroa.
“I think he’s guilty for falling into his brother’s influence, but I don’t think it was in his nature to do something like that,” said Brittany Gillis, who went to school at UMass Dartmouth with Tsarnaev. She did not know him personally, but knew people who did know him.
Tsarnaev and his brother are accused of executing the bombings at the Boston Marathon, which killed three people and injured more than 260. The brothers are also accused of killing MIT police officer Sean Collier. Tsarnaev’s brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a shootout in Watertown on April 19.