The older of the two Chechen brothers accused of the Boston marathon bombings once dreamed of representing the US as a boxer, but became radicalized after moving to America a decade ago - and created a YouTube list dedicated to terrorism.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, the older brother of 19-year-old Dzhokhar, who is currently the target of a massive all-out manhunt in Boston at its suburbs, was shot dead Thursday evening in an armed confrontation at MIT.
Officials say the two siblings, refugees from the Caucasus region, were the men behind the horrific terrorist attack that took the lives of three and left 176 injured during the Boston Marathon Monday.
Athlete: Tamerlan Tsarnaev practices boxing at the Wai Kru Mixed Martial Arts center in April 2009 in Boston, Massachusetts
Dark past: Tamerlan, pictured in the gym in 2009, was arrested that year on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend (not pictured)
Tamerlan was an avid boxer and spent a lot of time training for competitions, according to Johannes Hirn, who posted a photo essay entitled ¿Will Box for Passport'.
In the hours since the Tsarnaevs have been identified as the prime suspects in the bombings, a picture has begun to emerge of the older brother as a man who felt like an outsider in the US and had recently become radicalized.
The 26-year-old had a profile on YouTube channel since August 2012. Five months ago, Tamerlan created a playlist dedicated to terrorism.
Named simply ‘Terrorists,’ the playlist included a pair of videos, which are now no longer available.
Although most of the clips in the channel are ordinary music videos, Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s YouTube channel shows signs that he had been drawn to radical Islamism.
Among the songs on his playlists was one called ‘I will dedicate my life to Jihad.' He also featured videos recorded by recent converts to Islam.
Both he and his brothers are believed to have military experience. NBC News learned that counterterrorism officials were examining possible links between them and the Islamic Jihad Union of central Asia.
NBC 4 New York reported Friday that Tamerlan Tsarnaev flew in and out of John F. Kennedy Airport last year and spent six months out of the country, raising the possibility that he may have received terror training abroad.
Travel records obtained by the station show that the 26-year-old left New York January 12, 2012, en route to Moscow. He returned to JFK July 17.
Documents show a photo of a bearded Tsarnaev. According to the records, he was born October 21, 1986 and first entered US through JFK July 19, 2003.
According to reporting by NBC News, the deceased Tsarnaev sibling became a naturalized US citizen on September 11, 2012 - the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Man of many talents: Besides boxing, Tamerlan (right) studied accounting, wanted to become an engineer and played the piano and violin
National identity: Tamerlan said in an article that unless Chechnya becomes independent, he would rather compete for the US than for Russia
![American dream: Representing New England in 2010 National Golden Gloves competition in Utah, Tsarnaev said he wanted to be 'selected for the US Olympic team and be [a] naturalized American'](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/04/19/article-2311686-19639790000005DC-721_634x419.jpg)
American dream: Representing New England in 2010 National Golden Gloves competition in Utah, Tsarnaev said he wanted to be 'selected for the US Olympic team and be [a] naturalized American'
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an avid boxer and spent a lot of time training for competitions, according to Johannes Hirn, who posted a photo essay entitled ‘Will Box for Passport’ on his page on Photoshelter.com.
Representing New England in 2010 National Golden Gloves competition in Utah, Tamerlan Tsarnaev dreamed of being ‘selected for the US Olympic team and be [a] naturalized American.’
‘Unless his native Chechnya becomes independent, Tamerlan says he would rather compete for the United States than for Russia,’ reads the caption to one of the pictures that shows Tamerlan during his workout.
Tamerlan, who was affiliated with a Team Lowell club, won the Rocky Marciano Trophy as New England Golden Gloves heavyweight champion in 2010.
Tsarnaev boxed in a 2004 tournament as part of the Golden Gloves tournament, telling The Lowell Sun newspaper at the time: 'I like the USA.'
He said that his first love was music, and that he played the piano and violin.
Islamist: Five months ago, Tamerlan created a playlist on his YouTube page dedicated to terrorism
Named simply 'Terrorists,' the playlist included a pair of videos, which are now no longer available
Troubling: Although most of the clips in the channel are ordinary music videos, among the songs was one called 'I will dedicate my life to Jihad'.
Tamerlan studied accounting as a part-time student. at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston. School officials say that the 26-year-old attended classes there for three semesters: fall 2006, spring 2007 and fall 2008.
According to a profile that appeared in a Boston University magazine in 2010, Tamerlan wanted to become an engineer.
Spokeswoman Patricia Brady said Friday they had little information on Tsarnaev other than that he studied accounting at the Boston school.
The Tsarnaev family, which also included two daughters, Bella and Amina, had the status of refugees at the time they moved to Makhachkala, the capital of Dagistan.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev reportedly lived for years in Kazakhstan before coming to the US as a refugee. He became a legal permanent resident in 2007, the officials said.
Despite spending most of his life in the US and being involved in sports, Rt.com reports that he claimed to have 'a single American friend.'
Fighter: Counterterrorism officials believe Tamerlan and his brother had some military training
Tamerlan Tsarnaev (right) became a permanent US resident in 2007, about four years after seeking asylum in the US
Traditional values: While appearing like an all-American 20-something, Tamerlan said in an interview that he is a devout Muslim who does not drink and upholds traditional values
New twist: Tsarnaev flew in and out of John F. Kennedy Airport last year and was out of the country for six months
Pugilist: Tamerlan trained at this Waikru Mixed Martial Arts boxing gym in Massachusetts
Pursuing education: Tamerlan Tsarnaev studied accounting part-time at Bunker Hill Community College.
'I don't understand them,' reads a caption below a set of pictures showing Tamerlan obtained by the news site.
The elder Tsaranaev, described by his uncle Ruslan Tsarni Friday as a 'loser,' was arrested in 2009 for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, who described him in an interview as a 'very nice man,' according to the City of Cambridge Police Department.
The family's second run-in with the law came in June 2012, when the boys' mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, was arrested for stealing $1,624 in clothes from Lord and Taylor.
In the aftermath of his older son’s death during a gunfight with police, the father of the suspects said that his slain son was a devout Muslim.
‘Tamerlan says he doesn't drink or smoke anymore: “God said no alcohol.” A Muslim, he says: "There are no values anymore," and worries that 'people can't control themselves,”’ Anzor Tsarnaev told the The Associated Press by telephone from the Russian city of Makhachkala.
Speaking of his younger son still on the loose, Mr Tsarnaev said Dzhokhar is a smart and accomplished young man.
‘My son is a true angel,’ Mr Tsarnaev said. ‘Dzhokhar is a second-year medical student in the US. He is such an intelligent boy. We expected him to come on holidays here.’
In May of 2011, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, then a senior at a prestigious high school attended by actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, was awarded a $2,500 scholarship from the city of Cambridge, Mass., to pursue higher education.
He is a registered student at University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, according to the school, where he lived in a dorm. The school was evacuated Friday morning as a precaution.
Final farewell: An uncle, Alvi Tsarnaev, got a call from Tamerlan just hours before he was shot dead, with the nephew telling his relative that he had a baby
Harsh words: Ruslan Tsarni, the uncle of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect, called his nephews 'losers' and said that they brought shame on their family before urging Dzhokhar to turn himself in.
Now, Tsarnaev is on the run, described as 'armed and dangerous' and suspected of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Tsarnaev, 19, and his older brother, Tamerlan, who was killed during a violent night in Cambridge, had been living together on Norfolk Street in Cambridge. An uncle, Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., told The Associated Press that the men lived together near Boston and have been in the United States for about a decade.
They came from the Russian region near Chechnya, which has been plagued by an Islamic insurgency stemming from separatist wars.
Speaking to reporters Friday afternoon, an emotional Tsarni said he has never known his nephews to bear any ill will towards the United States, but insisted that his family has nothing to do with his brother's family.
'I respect this country, I love this country,' Tsarni told the media in lightly accented English.
'I think what's behind it is being losers,' Mr Tsarni said when asked about a possible motive behind the bombings.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot to death during a police gunfight on the MIT camps Thursday night
Manhunt: The shooting set off a massive search for Tamerlan's younger brother, who is still at large
Last ride: Tamerlan's silver SUV seen at the scene of the police standoff that ended with him getting shot dead
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Responding to a reporter's question about the Chechnya connection, Tsarni grew emotional, saying: 'Chechens are different, Chechens are peaceful people.'
'He put a shame on our family,' Tsarni fumed, speaking of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. 'He put a shame on the entire Chechen ethnicity.'
Later in the press conference, the uncle labeled his nephews 'terrorists' and called on his surviving nephew to run himself in and beg for forgiveness.
At around 7pm Thursday, just a couple of hours before he was fatally wounded in a police confrontation, Tamerlan called his uncle Alvi Tsarnaev for the first time in two years to say goodbye.
'He said, "I love you and forgive me,"' said Alvi Tsarnaev, who lives in Montgomery Village, Maryland.
'We were not talking for a long time because there were some problems," he told USA Today, vaguely alluding to some family issues.
'We were not talking for a long time because there were some problems," he told USA Today, vaguely alluding to some family issues.
The conversation lasted about five minutes and started with Tamerlan greeting his uncle with the Arabic words, 'Salam Aleikum.'
He then praised his uncle for keeping up with his Muslim prayers. The chatted about family and financial matters.
'I asked him what he was doing. He said, "I fix cars, I got married, got a baby,"' Alvi Tsarnaev said.
The uncle learned of his nephew’s death and of his alleged ties to the Boston bombings only from news reports Friday morning.
The uncle learned of his nephew’s death and of his alleged ties to the Boston bombings only from news reports Friday morning.
'Killing innocent people, I cannot forgive that,' he said. 'It's crazy. I don't believe it now even. How can I forgive this?'
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's page on the Russian social networking site Vkontakte says he attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, graduating in 2011, the year he won the scholarship, which was celebrated with a reception at City Hall, according to a news release issued at the time.
Before moving to the United States, he attended School No. 1 in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic in Russia's North Caucasus that has become an epicenter of the Islamic insurgency that spilled over from Chechnya.
On the site, he describes himself as speaking Chechen as well as English and Russian. His world view is described as "Islam" and he says his personal goal is 'career and money.'
Children play in front of School No. 1 in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic in southern Russia, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev allegedly went to school
Wanted: This combination of photos provided by the FBI, left, and the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, right, shows a suspect that officials have identified as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Tsarnaev appeared in the video released by authorities on Thursday, identified as Suspect Number 2, striding down a sidewalk, unnoticed by spectators who were absorbed in the race.
He followed Tamerlan by about 10 feet. He wore what appeared to be a gray hoodie under a dark jacket and pants, and a white baseball cap facing backward and pulled down haphazardly.
Tamerlan was stockier, in khaki pants, a light T-shirt, and a dark jacket. The brim of his baseball cap faced forward, and he may have been wearing sunglasses.
TIMELINE OF TERROR: HOW EVENTS UNFOLDED IN BOSTON
At 5:10 p.m. Thursday, investigators of the bombings release photographs and video of two suspects. They ask for the public's help in identifying the men.
Around 10:20 p.m., shots are fired on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, just outside Boston.
At 10:30 p.m., an MIT campus police officer who was responding to a disturbance is found shot multiple times in his vehicle, apparently in a confrontation with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. He is later pronounced dead.
Shortly afterward, two armed men reportedly carjack a Mercedes SUV in Cambridge. A man who was in the vehicle is held for about a half hour and then released unharmed at a gas station on Memorial Drive in Cambridge.
Police soon pursue the carjacked vehicle in Watertown, just west of Cambridge.
Some kind of explosive devices are thrown from the vehicle in an apparent attempt to stop police. The carjackers and police exchange gunfire. A transit police officer is seriously injured. One suspect, later identified as Suspect No. 1 in the marathon bombings, is critically injured and later pronounced dead.
Authorities launch a manhunt for the other suspect.
Around 1 a.m. Friday, gunshots and explosions are heard in Watertown, just outside Boston. Dozens of police officers and FBI agents converge on a Watertown neighborhood. A helicopter circles overhead.
Around 4:30 a.m., Massachusetts state and Boston police hold a short outdoor news briefing. They tell people living in that section of eastern Watertown to stay in their homes. They identify the carjackers as the same men suspected in the marathon bombings. Overnight, police also release a photograph of a man believed to be Suspect No. 2, apparently taken from store video earlier in the evening at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Cambridge. He is wearing a grey hoodie-style sweatshirt.
Around 6:35 a.m., Revealed the bomb suspects are from a Russian region near Chechnya and lived in the United States for at least 1 year.
Around 6:45 a.m., Surviving Boston bomb suspect is revealed as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, who has been living in Cambridge, Mass.