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Boston Marathon bombing survivors react to overturned Tsarnaev death sentence

By Christine McCarthy, Boston 25 News
By Christine McCarthy, Boston 25 News

BOSTON — In a range of emotions, survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings reacted on social media Friday to news that convicted bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence had been overturned.

“So people are sitting on death row for far less, and the US Appeals court chooses to overturn the sentence of this COWARD??!” said Rebekah Gregory, who lost a leg in the attack and has since become an inspiration, running the Boston Marathon as an amputee. “All this does is give him the attention he wants, and prolongs the nightmare we have been living the last SEVEN years. Disgusting.”

Adrianne Haslet, a professional dancer who also lost a leg during the blasts and has become an advocate for the amputee community, expressed her anger on Instagram.

“I’m so livid at today’s ruling by the federal court,” Haslet wrote in part. “The death penalty is used in far too many cases of injustice. AND. The death penalty should be used in this particular case. This terrorist admitted in court he was guilty of crimes committed against our country.”

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Right back atcha motherf*cker. I’m so livid at today’s ruling by the federal court. First and foremost, I cannot emphasize enough, without a shadow of a doubt, that the criminal justice system needs a complete overhaul to stop racial profiling, and the death penalty is used in far too many cases of injustice. AND. The death penalty should be used in this particular case. This terrorist admitted in court he was guilty of crimes committed against our country. He confessed, with his brother, to a man who testified in court that their plans were to drive to New York and bomb the city too. This terrorist gave the finger when asked if he felt guilty. AND. The warden of the jail where he would be housed for life testified that, indeed, other terrorists have committed crimes on the World Trade Center through messages on pipes of the jail. I know, this sounds crazy. But that is why I stood by the death penalty in this particular case. He is a threat to all of us and he needs to die. I cannot imagine the comments I’m about to get for speaking my mind, but these have been my thoughts since I testified. I’m not a woman with a grudge, I’m a human with a brain. #bostonstrong Also props to me for putting his ugly face on my Instagram that’s freaking growth if I’ve ever seen it!!! I’m ready to testify again. LFG 💪🏼🇺🇸

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Retired transit police sergeant Dic Donohue, who was critically wounded during the Watertown shoot-out with Dzhokhar and brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev following the bombings, expressed his lack of surprise on Twitter.

“I’ve been expecting this since the trial and the initial appeal,” Donohue wrote. “And in any case, he won’t be getting out and hasn’t been able to harm anyone since he was captured.”

Donohue’s wife Kim posted a picture on Twitter of her husband between Jeff Bauman, a double-amputee marathon survivor, and marathon bombing hero Carlos Arredondo.

“Today’s death reversal doesn’t change me or my husband’s happiness. It doesn’t bring back our friend Sean,” Kim Donohue tweeted, referring to Sean Collier, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer murdered by the Tsarnaev brothers. “I’ve been inspired by survivors, moved to tears by doctors, and forever indebted to those who saved Dic’s life in Watertown. No sentencing will ever change that.”

Cox Media Group

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