bombers burial

May 10th, 2013, 10:31 pm
TSARNAEV’S BURIAL SURPRISES CAROLINE

BY ROBYN SIDERSKY, CHELYEN DAVIS AND PORTSIA SMITH / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

As the shock wore off after learning Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was buried in a Caroline cemetery, Caroline County officials realized that there’s little they can do about it.

Caroline Sheriff Tony Lippa and Floyd Thomas, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said that as long as no laws were broken—which they are checking into—they didn’t have a choice about the body being buried in the county.

Tsarnaev was buried Thursday at a Muslim cemetery west of Dawn in southern Caroline, the result of efforts by a Richmond woman and the Muslim group that owns the cemetery.

Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police a few days after the bombings at the Boston Marathon, which killed three people and injured more than 260.

But while Tsarnaev’s family claimed his body, they had difficulty finding any cemetery willing to bury it.

In a news release, Martha Mullen—who described herself as a private citizen and professional counselor—said she “quietly coordinated efforts to resolve the problem of where to bury Tsarnaev’s remains.”

She emailed members of her own Christian church and representatives of Richmond-area Muslim, Jewish and Hindu communities, the release said.

The Islamic Funeral Services of Virginia, which runs the Muslim cemetery off State Route 30 near the Hanover County line, offered a burial plot. Mullen connected them with the Worcester, Mass., police and the funeral home director who had Tsarnaev’s body.

In the release, Mullen said she got involved for “moral and ethical” reasons.

“Jesus tells us ‘love your enemies,’” she said in the release, “not to hate them even after they are dead.”

The release also quoted unnamed Muslim administrators of ISFVA, saying they condemn Tsarnaev’s actions but believed burying him was their duty.

“To God belongs the soul, and He has the final judgment. What Tsarnaev did is between him and God,” said a Muslim administrator in the release. “We strongly disagree with his violent actions, but that does not release us from our obligation to return his body to the earth. We must all take a more positive, proactive approach with our children. We need to be in communication with them and know what they are exposed to on the Internet. As fathers and mothers, we must protect our children before they become poisoned by hatred.”

The gravesite is covered with fresh dirt and a single rose surrounded by about 50 other marked graves.

His grave, in addition to one other, were recently dug. Two others were covered with tarps, as if they are expecting to have another burial there soon.

Caroline County officials said they had no prior knowledge of the burial plans.

“Caroline County was not consulted or given any input into the decision-making process for determining a burial site for this individual. We had no advanced notice of the decision and unfortunately learned of the selection of a burial site through the media,” said County Administrator Charles M. Culley, Jr. “We would much prefer to be associated with positive news reports from the national media, but unfortunately had no say in the matter.”

Lippa and Thomas echoed that at a press conference Friday afternoon in Bowling Green.

Lippa said he didn’t know of any Virginia law enforcement agency that was aware of the burial.

In fact, there is no law that says the sheriff has to be notified of a burial.

He said that there was a deputy at the cemetery today for security and explained that anyone vandalizing a plot will face consequences.

Thomas said that the county would make sure all laws were adhered to and that if they were not, they would look into “undoing” what happened.

Residents of Caroline County were troubled by the surprise.

“I would have preferred he not be buried on American soil,” said resident Jessica Moore.

She said she thinks it will be problematic for the county and will be a security issue.

She said she hopes it will not draw like-minded people to the county.

However, the owner and two employees of Toot & Pop’s Old Courthouse Café, in Bowling Green, had a different opinion.

Mary Hatch said she isn’t worried about the burial in the county.

“I’m more concerned about it being blown out of proportion and it turning into something it doesn’t need to be,” she said.

Chrissy Howard said she doesn’t think it’s going to change anything in the county.

“I know a lot of people don’t agree with it, but

what are you going to do?” she said.

Both said the same thing—he’s got to be buried somewhere.

Tom Andrews, the owner of the café, said he thinks this will be forgotten about fairly quickly.

“It’s that whole not-in-my-backyard mentality,” he said about the folks who don’t want the gravesite to be in Caroline.

He said the focus should shift back to the victims instead of giving so much attention to the suspect.

Residents near the cemetery on Sadie Lane, just two miles west of the Meadow Event Park and at the end of a rocky driveway, are not happy about the burial.

“If they didn’t want him in Boston, they shouldn’t have brought him here,” said Constance Tillman, who lives a few houses away. “They should have sent him to Russia.”

Jaquese Goodall, 21, said the driveway leading to the cemetery is usually blocked off by a rope and she had no idea it was back there until she saw it as breaking news on television.

“This is how we find out? This is wrong,” she said. “We live around here and we should have been notified.”

But no one was more upset than Sheverne Tillman, who has lived in the area all of her life.

“Why would you bring some man that bombed people, somebody that killed people, somebody that murdered children, all the way from Boston to here in Caroline County?” she asked. “Where is his grave? I will spit on it.”

The owners of the cemetery live right next door to the property, but did not answer knocks at the door.

Robyn Sidersky: 540/374-5413

rsidersky@freelancestar.com

 

The owners of the cemetery live right next door to the property, but did not answer knocks at the door.


Duh..helloooo..no one's home.

 

In other news, a new site found in Caroline County for pork waste dumping.

 

Tsarnaev was not buried there.

 

Maybe you want to go dig him up from the Al-Barzakh Cemetery and take him out to the farm for some company to talk to.