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Trump fumes as court overturns Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's death penalty, Internet says 'don't interfere'

Donald Trump's call for Tsarnaev's death triggered widespread criticism with people calling out the president for the many deaths caused by the pandemic

On July 31, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit overturned the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was one of the two men convicted in 2015 for the Boston Marathon bombings. President Donald Trump is unhappy with this decision. He tweeted calling for the death penalty to be reinstated for Tsarnaev earlier on August 2, in response to a headline covering the story from the Sean Hannity news website.

The Hannity.com article, which contains minimal information and redirects the reader to Boston Globe's coverage of the story, had the headline, "US Appeals Court Overturns Death Sentence of Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev" and was retweeted by Trump, who wrote, "Death penalty! He killed and badly wounded many. Justice!" The federal appeals court's decision has stirred up a lot of controversy as has Trump's tweet. 

However, this does not mean that Tsarnaev can look forward to a release from prison. "Just to be crystal clear Dzhokhar will remain confined to prison for the rest of his life, with the only question remaining being whether the government will end his life by executing him," wrote Judge O Rogeriee Thompson, according to the Boston Globe. Many online users feel that Trump is selective when it comes to talking about the death penalty and asked the president to focus on the growing coronavirus pandemic which has affected far more people than the Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured over 260 others.

One user wrote, "Trump is very 'selective' with which criminals & which 'crimes' he draws attention to. There are plenty of criminals who have 'killed & wounded many' - why focus on this one? Trump doesn't care about JUSTICE. He cares about winning an election." 

"Donald Trump has a bad habit of calling for the death penalty. He needs to stop trying to influence cases that are before a judge and worry about the 154K Americans that died on his watch," writes another.

"I don't think you want to talk about the consequences for people who cause mass death," says a third.

The current number of coronavirus-related deaths has surged over 150,000, putting the United States of America far ahead of any other country in terms of fatalities brought about by the pandemic. Trump continues to come under fire for these deaths, with many holding him directly responsible for his poor response to the outbreak. 

Others are telling Trump that he has no right to attempt to influence the court's decision in this matter. While it is possible for Tsarnaev's death sentence to be reinstated if the prosecutors take the case all the way up to the Supreme Court, Trump has no power over the court's decision and many feel that his attempts to influence the outcome of these court cases is unfair.

"You don’t decide what justice is. The courts do," said this tweet.

"Can you not for one second uphold the Constitution of the United States???" asked this user.

"Justice needs to be served properly. It wasn't in this case. They're going to do it again and do it right this time. Don't interfere. That's illegal," warned this user. 

The Governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, has held a similar position as Trump's. Baker tweeted, "The Boston Marathon bombing was an act of terrorism that devastated families and residents across the Commonwealth and beyond. Victims and their families deserve justice and I hope this case is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

If Trump is attempting to influence the court's decision via social media through his tweets, it is especially ironic as Tsarnaev's case was overturned partially due to the fact that the jurors were not deemed impartial. One of them had a very public post on social media in the aftermath of the attacks in which she called Tsarnaev "piece of garbage". As the foreperson on the jury, she hid information on these Twitter posts and was not pressed on the matter by George A O’Toole Jr, the judge in Tsarnaev’s 2015 trial.

Tsarnaev is currently being held at the US Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Colorado and the sentence to have him remain behind bars for the rest of his life still holds.