The president attended an interfaith service in Boston Thursday alongside local spiritual leaders, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and Mayor Tom Menino.

BOSTON — President Obama praised Boston's spirit and resilience at an interfaith service Thursday honoring the victims of the marathon bombings.

"For millions of us, what happened on Monday is personal," the president said from the city's historic Cathedral of the Holy Cross, adding a promise to find those responsible for the bombings. "Yes, we will find you. And yes, you will face justice ... We may be momentarily knocked off our feet. But we'll pick ourselves up."

He called Boston his home, referencing the years he and the First Lady spent at Harvard Law School. He offered prayers for each of the three people who died in the explosions, as well as the 176 injured.

"I have no doubt you will run again. You will run again," he said. "Because that's what the people of Boston are made of."

Before delivering his remarks, Obama listened as local spiritual leaders offered their support. Mayor Tom Menino, standing in public for the first time since undergoing leg surgery last Friday, also spoke about the love displayed in Boston in the days after the explosions.

"Since the clock struck that fateful hour, love has covered this resilient city," Menino said. He pointed to New York City, where Yankees fans sang "Sweet Caroline," the anthem of their Red Sox rivals, on Monday.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick emphasized how the tragedy has brought out Bostonians' kindness and hospitality.

"The grace this tragedy exposed is the best of who we are," he said.

About 2,000 people filled the cathedral on Thursday, but 300 others watched the service from a Catholic high school gymnasium next door. After delivering his remarks in the cathedral, Obama spoke in the overflow room, greeting marathon organizers, cathedral workers, and others who spent hours in line for tickets to the service.

"You displayed compassion, you displayed civil duty, you displayed courage," Obama said. "You've inspired the entire country."

Sister Lena Deevy said it was incredibly important to her that Obama made the trip to Boston. "We do inspire one another, and if the leader of the country is encouraging you to carry on, that encourages the country to be at its best," she said.

The president's combined rhetoric of compassion, hope, and resilience seemed to strike a chord with attendees. Brianna Chaves was particularly moved by the president's comment that "they picked the wrong city." "I've lived here all my life, and he's exactly right," she said.

Some in attendance were regular parishioners at the Holy Cross, and the service's location held special significance. Marisel Rivera, one such church member, is a 55-year-old Puerto Rican teacher who moved to Boston three decades ago. When she found out she wouldn't be able to sit inside the cathedral, she said sadly, "But this is my church ... I teach Sunday school here."

Like the rest of her city, Rivera was devastated by the attack on Boston's "most spectacular event."

"I have been crying since Monday," she said. "But I am here now, because we need to pray."

On her cell phone, Rivera has a photo of her 20-year-old daughter Anna with Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who spoke before Gov. Patrick and President Obama on Thursday. Anna was baptized in the cathedral. She received her first Communion here. Her mother and father — before he died of cancer — used to run the cathedral's annual Easter play productions.

"As Catholics, we're taught to forgive," Anna said. "Well, I could forgive whoever did this, but the truth is, I'll always have it in my heart."

In a refreshing move, The Blaze's political sketch comedy show host Brian Sack tackles the controversial MSNBC promo without getting mean-spirited.

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LINK: The B.S. of A.

The student says an Internet “threat” shouldn't be taken lightly.

Via: John W. Adkisson / Getty Images

A student at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) has filed a complaint with police saying she feels threatened by former Rep. Allen West in response to Facebook and Twitter messages from the Republican firebrand, according to West Palm Beach ABC affiliate WPBP.

West posted a stern warning on his Facebook Wednesday morning after he said FAU students were harassing his wife, a member of the school's board of trustees by going to her office, stalking her at board meetings, and sent letters to her company headquarters.

I completely understand the Alinsky tactics and have no issue with the insidious and incessant personal attacks by the left against me. However, I am warning you, end your harassment of my wife Angela. The students from Florida Atlantic University who have gone to my wife's office, stalked her at the FAU Board of Trustee meetings, and sent letters to her company headquarters, end it now. This is not a threat, it is a promise that if Angela calls and tells me of one more incident, you will face me, the side of me that you do not want to see. My wife Angela is an American citizen and if you believe that you can intimidate her to surrender her freedoms you are mistaken. Those left wing groups and lawyers associated with these individuals supporting their antics, I recommend you disassociate yourself. How dare you animals attack my wife and her professional reputation. This is your one and only advisory notice.

The student filing the complaint said threats on social media shouldn't be taken lightly according to The Raw Story which obtained the complaint.

"As students, we deserve to feel safe exercising our First Amendment rights to peacefully assemble and express our grievances with the University," Stephanie Rosendorf of the Florida College Democrats wrote in her complaint. "These days you never know if a threat on social media is to be taken lightly, and in this case it certainly should not be. Allen West is making me feel in danger at school."

West's wife Angela is a financial adviser for Raymond James. She previously said FAU students came to her office uninvited to tell her to oppose a private prison contractor's large donation to the school, according to The Palm Beach Post.The private prison company, GEO Group, that made the donation of $6 million dollars was going to have its name on the school's football stadium. After significant uproar the company decide against the making the donation.

Angela West said when she and the students disagreed they called on her to resign from board and when asked to leave they said "oh, you think you're as tough as your husband." West's co-workers agreed with her account of the incident.

Student involved denied showing up uninvited saying West agreed to the meeting. They said West became angry when the student's decided to leave the meeting.

Secretary of State argues 14 percent cut to spending is just a “readjustment.”

Via: Jason Reed / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry down played the importance of a planned 14 percent cut in the State Department spending in Central and South America, insisting the reductions are little more than "readjustments."

"There are some pluses and minuses, you're absolutely correct, and it's really readjustments I think more than anything to some success stories," Kerry said in response to a question from Virginia Senator Tim Kaine while testifying at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

Kerry said that "it is not a diminution of effort and focus on the region, but a reflection of how do you adjust and do some things better."

The proposal sent to Congress would cut funding for Colombia by $61 million compared with 2012, and funding for troubled Mexico would decrease by $124 million. Meanwhile, funds for the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) will rise by $26 million to $161.5 million.

A State Department official said in a background briefing with reporters last week that "the programs in Mexico and Colombia are on sort of a downward glide path, because – for two reasons. One, the assistance to those countries in the past have been very, very high, and they were driven largely by big military equipment, which are very sort of expensive. Now we're sort of normalizing those programs to be much more in a capacity training types of programs."

"So you're going to see – there are decreases in our budget compared to 2012 with Mexico and Colombia, but we're also – but we're increasing our accounted drug efforts in the Caribbean, where things seem to be moving in terms of drug trafficking and crime. So programs like our regional Central America security initiative go up," the official said.

Senator Bob Menendez, former chair of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, questioned Kerry about the proposed cuts.

"This decrease in the Western Hemisphere levels, this has now been a historic reality," Menendez said. "I understand that we have in the case of Mexico and even in Colombia a different dynamic, but we have underfunded a whole host of other initiatives in the western hemisphere in our own interest."

"Many of the issues we debate in Congress stem from issues in the hemisphere, citing undocumented immigration and the drug war as well as environmental issues. He described Venezuela, which recently went through a controversial presidential election, as a "pressing issue" and called for an audit.

"I said we had to make tough choices about tradeoffs this budget, and obviously ours is the first cut, you get the second and third and final cut frankly," Kerry said.

The Western Hemisphere "has too often been viewed as a second thought — it shouldn't be, it's our backyard," Kerry said.

"I would leave the hopeful door open that maybe something could turn in Venezuela, although obviously right now it's not in a great place," Kerry said, seconding Menendez on the need for an audit of the recent election.

“No one in the country bears more responsibility for the complexity of this law than you,” Pompeo tells Sen. Max Baucus.

Via: J. Scott Applewhite / AP

WASHINGTON — A key House Republican Thursday openly mocked Sen. Max Baucus' election-cycle conversion to the anti-Obamacare crusade, reminding the Montana Democrat that he played a central role in it's passage.

"Your attempts to pass the buck to President Obama's team will not work, nor will they absolve you of responsibility for the harm that you have brought via this law," said Rep. Mike Pompeo, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Obamacare.

A Baucus aide dismissed complaints, arguing the Montanan remains supportive of the law and is simply concerned with it's proper implementation. "There's no change of heart. There should be no confusion about this. As Sen. Baucus said yesterday, he thinks this is a good law and he's simply holding the administration's feet to the fire to make sure they do their job implementing it correctly and informing people about the benefits that are available to them," the aide said.

Finance Chairman Baucus, who is up for reelection next year, played a critical role not only in writing President Obama's signature health care reform but also in rounding up enough votes to break a Republican filibuster.

Still, like many Democrats, Baucus has expressed concerns with the implementation of the law, and during a hearing on Obamacare Wednesday, Baucus said he was very concerned with the "train wreck" Obamacare was becoming.

In a harshly worded letter to Baucus, Pompeo lashed out at Baucus. "No one in the country bears more responsibility for the complexity of this law than you. When your supermajority couldn't pass the bill using normal procedures, you and your Senate colleagues rammed through the final legislation by using parliamentary gimmickry," Pompeo wrote, adding that, "You drafted it, you twisted arms to get it passed, and, until now, you have lauded it as a model for all the world."

Baucus's decision to criticize a law he was instrumental in writing and passing is part of an election year pattern for the moderate Montana Democrat. Earlier this year he was one of a handful of red state Senate Democrats to vote against his party's budget, and he broke with Democrats Wednesday evening in voting against a watered down gun background check measure, which helped kill the legislation.

Although Republicans are taking great delight in ripping Baucus over his Obamacare statements, walking the fine line between being a loyal soldier for the first four years of his term and turning conservative in the last two has been a key part of a re-election strategy that has kept Baucus in the Senate since 1978.

On conference call with stakeholders, Biden says Obama will carry the gun control fight forward on his own. Updated: The White House says it is only implementing some of the executive actions Obama announced in January.

Via: Yuri Gripas / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Vice President Biden told White House allies in the gun control fight Thursday that President Obama will be announcing new executive actions on gun violence in the days after the Senate voted down a gun violence bill.

On a conference call with "stakeholders," Biden told gun control advocates that the fight is not over and that eventual action on gun control will come. Press were not invited to the conference call; a participant provided BuzzFeed with access.

"Look, I know you're going to say that I'm just being an optimist and I'm trying to put a good face on this. But, you know, I've been around here a long time and we've already done, because of you, some really good things," Biden said. "Number one, the president is already lining up some additional executive actions he's going to be taking later this week."

After the Newtown shootings, Obama took a number of executive actions to expand research into gun violence and other areas favored by the gun control community. He took the actions without congressional approval, leading to outrage by some conservatives.

Biden mentioned several areas where executive action has been taken, including helping schools that want them to hire more armed police offers and training teachers to identify and treat possible future school shooters.

"Already we have put out notifications to all communities that if they want school resource officers to use their portion of the COPS grant to be able to deal with a school resource officer or someone in the school who's a counselor, or whatever they need," he said.

"Secondly, we also have pushed forward grants for new and available funding for dealing with training teachers and dealing with alerting them to high-risk, you know, kids in their communities and their school that are signs that they're going to have a real problem and may be the very kids you need to get to now before they end up like an Adam Lanza," he said. "We also are going to have a national mental health dialogue where we're going to vastly expand mental health availability under the Mental Health Parity act as well as the Affordable Care Act."

Biden said the White House is looking at ways to increase the number of people denied the right to buy a firearm under the current background check system.

"We also are reviewing the list of prohibited purchasers to maybe expand that list of prohibited purchasers," he said. "Granted, only 60% of people who go for a purchase are doing it [background checks]."

Biden lamented Wednesday's Senate vote on the call but said it had taken him multiple attempts to pass the Brady Bill in the 1990s. He said that in the long run, supporters of gun control will win out over the NRA and its allies.

Update: A White House official told BuzzFeed the executive actions Biden was referring to on the call are part of Obama's original list of 23 executive actions on guns announced in January.

“It was perfect,” said one. “Historic,” another said.

Via: Pool photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images/MCT

Several members of Massachusetts' congressional delegation praised President Obama's speech in Boston Thursday morning, with one calling it "historic."

In his speech at an interfaith service, Obama paid tribute to the Boston's spirit and resilience in the wake of Monday's deadly marathon bombing.

"It was perfect," said Rep. Ed Markey, in an interview with WHDH. "The president and the governor were both preaching. They were preaching love. They were preaching resilience. And they were preaching hoping. He was saying that he felt like Boston was a part of him, and I think we all felt that today. A very optimistic speech in a very somber time."

Rep. Bill Keating had a similar reaction to Obama's affection for the city of Boston.

"He said he is one of us. He said we are one in this country and that Boston is tough and will persevere and we finish race," Keating told WBZ. "We talked on the way down here on Air Force One and he mentioned he does have a friend whose either daughter or granddaughter lost a leg, and in that way it is personal too."

Rep. Stephen Lynch of the 9th district called the speech "historic."

"We are extremely grateful to the president and First Lady Michelle Obama for their compassion and kindness during their visit today," Lynch said in a statement to BuzzFeed. "President Obama's historic address at the memorial lifted the spirits of this city and this country. We are all thankful for his inspirational words."

ICE has a Saudi in custody but it is not the former Boston bombing “person of interest” that Glenn Beck is talking about.

WASHINGTON — The rumor that a 20-year-old Saudi Arabian national on a student visa who was questioned after the Boston bombing has been deported is false, a senior law enforcement official said on Thursday.

"The rumor is one hundred percent false," the official said. "One hundred percent false. Just like [the report of] the suspect in custody yesterday."

The official said that the confusion stemmed from another, entirely different Saudi man who is actually in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement custody.

"We do have a Saudi in ICE custody," the official said. "He is not related in any way to the investigation into the bombing. He's not in any way related to this investigation."

The official declined to give more details about the Saudi national who is in custody, or about whether this has anything to do with President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry's meetings with the Saudi Foreign Minister on Wednesday.

The Saudi man who was questioned after the bombings was questioned as a witness by police and was never a suspect in the crime.

Glenn Beck's news network The Blaze has reported the false rumor, citing its own sources, and the conservative host has been urging his radio listeners to spread it on social media. In an appearance on Beck's radio show Thursday, Senator Rand Paul said he would "look into" the alleged deportation.

Their pretty good excuse: “It made us laugh.”

Senator McConnell and Senate Republicans were in a jubilant mood yesterday after controversial gun control legislation failed to move forward in the Senate.

Via: J. Scott Applewhite / AP

So Team Mitch, which is McConell's campaign site decided to post a meme about the legislative victory.

The campaign chose to post this clever meme!

Via: facebook.com

The picture did immense traffic for the campaign site.

Via: facebook.com

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Paul Kevin Curtis wrote repeatedly about the death of a DC whistleblowers' advocate in the day before his arrest. Lawyers at the firm where the woman worked, however, say they didn't know Curtis and never represented him.

Paul Kevin Curtis, accused of mailing letters with poison to national leaders.

Via: The Associated Press / AP

WASHINGTON — The man arrested in connection with the letters sent to President Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker that tested positive for ricin poison saw himself as a whistleblower, and posted repeatedly on Facebook in recent days about the death of a woman who worked at a whistleblower protection law firm in DC.

But lawyers at the firm say they don't know him and that the firm never represented him.

On the front page of Paul Kevin Curtis' Facebook account is a photo of and moving eulogy to a Estelle Kohn, who he writes was "dedicated and passionate about educating the public on whistleblower protection issues."

Kohn, who died April 10, had been the deputy director of the National Whistleblower Center and the National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund, where she oversaw the fund's attorney referral service. She also was on staff at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto LLP, a law firm that specializes in whistleblower protection issues and whose lawyers are the four attorney trustees of the center.

Curtis, identified by the Associated Press in a photo caption and by local media as being the same Elvis impersonator active on social media, had been updating Facebook several times each day prior to his arrest, including multiple posts on multiple Facebook accounts about Kohn.

Two lawyers at the office where Kohn had worked before her death April 10 — David Colapinto and Mary Jane Wilmoth — were surprised Thursday to hear that Curtis had posted her photo and told BuzzFeed that they did not know him and that the firm had not represented him. As they receive many requests and emails related to the attorney referral service, however, they added that they could not immediately confirm whether he had ever written to any of the three entities.

On his Facebook page, the caption Curtis posted about Kohn's dedication was actually the same as the obituary posted at the whistleblower fund's blog.

In a second posting of Kohn's picture, Curtis wrote that he saw himself was a whistleblower, writing, "I'm on the hidden front lines of a secret war. A war that is making Billions of dollars for corrupt mafia related organizations and people. (bone, tissue, organ, body parts harvesting black market) ... It was not fun in 1999 when I made accidental discovery and became a 'Person of interest'."

As BuzzFeed reported Wednesday night, Curtis has a longtime obsession with illegal organ harvesting, which appears to stem from what he maintained in 2007 was the discovery of "dismembered body parts & organs wrapped in plastic" in the morgue at North Mississippi Medical Center in 1999.

He added of difficulties he has faced since then, "I feel ... everything that has been happening since 2000 is a direct result of my finding the dismembered body parts and being terminated from the largest employer in the state."

He wrote in the 2007 posting about having mailed Wicker about the issue and added, "I even ran into Roger Wicker several different times while performing at special banquets and fundraisers in northeast, Mississippi but he seemed very nervous while speaking with me and would make a fast exit to the door when I engaged in conversation leading up to my case against NMMC."

Similarly, Curtis had reached out to a professor and former journalist on Twitter this past fall, telling University of Wisconsin professor Jessica McBride: "I've got a story for you to report on....i blew whistle on illegal bone, tissue, organ & body parts trade in 1999 in Ms..." McBride told BuzzFeed early Thursday that she did not know Curtis, had not responded to the tweet at the time and was unaware of any reason why he would have reached out to her.

Regardless of the difficulties, however, he wrote in the 2007 posting, "I know in my heart that my coming forward has brought national attention to this terrible and illegal black market."

In court Thursday, the Commercial Appeal reports, Curtis' attorney said he maintains his innocence as to the ricin letter-related charges.

Despite pressure from leadership, Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas isn't giving up on a bipartisan approach.

Via: David Goldman, File / AP

WASHINGTON — His leadership may not like it, but Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas isn't giving up on the idea of bipartisanship when it comes to a five-year, multi-billion-dollar farm bill measure.

In a meeting with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor Thursday, Lucas said that despite leadership's desire for a partisan minded approach, he was sticking to his plan to mark up bipartisan legislation.

"Chairman Lucas did meet with Majority Leader Cantor today to discuss his plans to move forward with a May 15 markup date for the farm bill. Chairman Lucas also told him that in the interim he would be happy to hold listening sessions to gather input from his Republican colleagues," Lucas' spokeswoman Tamara Hinton said Thursday.

Multiple Republicans Thursday said Lucas and Cantor have been at odds over how to move on the farm bill, with Cantor wanting his chairman to craft a bill that would garner broad Republican support, while Lucas wanted to take a more bipartisan approach.

A spokesman for Cantor dismissed talk of a split between the two lawmakers, noting Wednesday's meeting was the first discussion the two have had on the direction the Agriculture Committee is taking.

"The Leader and Chairman Lucas are discussing the timing for House consideration of the Chairman's proposal for a multi-year farm bill that reforms our agriculture and nutrition programs and contributes significantly to deficit reduction," Cantor spokesman Rory Cooper said.

Traditionally, farm bills have been a bipartisan affair, with coalitions for and against a bill breaking along either regional lines, with suburban lawmakers opposing them while rural and urban members support the bills, which include food stamps and other assistance.

Although the Senate was able to pass a strong bipartisan measure last year, the House was never able to move it's own version. That has left programs ranging from food stamps to conservation efforts and farm subsidies in limbo.

Lucas had originally hoped to resume work earlier this year, but with the sequester, continuing resolution and other major issues crowding the schedule, he put bringing a bill before his committee for months.

But with the House's schedule suddenly free of controversial legislation, Lucas is now moving forward on the measure. According to aides, the May markup will likely mirror last year's, which was a rare model of bipartisanship as the committee spent 15 hours working its way through a nearly 100 amendments to Lucas's underlying bill.

A rumor turns into a Blaze exclusive, which turns into a fully debunked falsehood — all in the matter of hours.

Last night, terror expert Steve Emerson told Fox News host Sean Hannity that Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, the Saudi national who was a "person of interest" in connection to the Boston Marathon bombings, would be deported on Tuesday.

This morning, Glenn Beck's news network TheBlaze got on the case — aggressively.

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Rep. Doug Lamborn argues “smuggling” internet and radio capable technology would help turn population against regim.

Via: Evan Vucci / AP

WASHINGTON — Rep. Doug Lamborn Thursday called for an active push for regime change in North Korea and reunification with South Korea, arguing that Kim Jong-Un will not "go quietly into the night … [and will] hang on till' the bitter end."

"I would love to see regime change in North Korea as long as it can be done without provoking a war where they lash out" said Lamborn, a Colorado Republican and member of the House Armed Services Committee.

According to Lamborn opponents of the North Korean regime could smuggle technological supplies into North Korea, which would in turn help destabilize the government.

"Empowering the people through smuggling in technology" is key to getting the population behind regime change.

"I would love to see the people of North Korea get technology, like the internet or even hear radio."

"I think eventually everyone would love to see North Korea free and united with the South … like they did in Germany," he added.

Williams cites “overseas military training” while describing suspects in Boston marathon bombing. And the focus shifts from a missing Brown University student. Update: The family responds.

The remaining suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was still at large Friday morning.

Via: fbi.gov

NBC News and the Associated Press reported Friday morning that the suspects in the Boston Marathon attack are two men from the Russian region of Chechnya, not a missing Brown University student who was the subject of intense speculation on social media.

NBC's Pete Williams initially reported that "Authorities say these people came from overseas ... had overseas military training [and have] been here about a year." But according to further reporting from BuzzFeed and other outlets, the men — brothers 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev — had lived in the United States with their family for several years.

The 19-year-old brother, Dzokhar Tsarnaev, is as of Friday morning still at large.

Chechnya, in the Caucuses Mountains of southern Russia, was the site of a bitter civil war in which Vladimir Putin's forces leveled much of the capitol city. Much of a generation of young men were killed in the conflict, which ignited in 1999. Many young Chechens were also radicalized by the conflict, in which Islamic radicals were among those joining the Chechen cause.

"There's been a lot of speculation that one of these suspects is a student that went missing from Brown," Williams said, dismissing the speculation.

That speculation reached a fever pitch when police officers mentioned 22-year-old Sunil Tripathi and another man on the police scanner in the early hours of Friday morning. His name had surfaced on Reddit Thursday night.

Tripathi was last seen on March 16 on a surveillance camera after leaving his apartment at 1:33 a.m., and his family has been frantically searching for him for a month.

There is no evidence tying Tripathi to the bombings.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a shoot-out with police in Watertown early Friday morning, while the Dzhokhar, who wore a white hat the day of the Boston bombing, remained at large, the Boston police commissioner confirmed on Friday morning.

The Associated Press also intially reported that the two men had lived in the United States for about a year.

The alleged connection between Tripathi and the Boston bombing was first made by users on the website Reddit, a fact that was noted by journalists on Twitter when Tripathi's name was mentioned on a Boston police scanner. WKYC, NBC's Cleveland affiliate, also named Tripathi a suspect in a report Friday.

Reddit users flagged tweets from a woman who said she went to high school with Tripathi saying she recognized him in photos.

"I don't want the person in the photo to be Sunil Tripathi. I really don't. I hope with all of my heart that it's not him," the woman, Kami Mattioli, tweeted.

Mattioli didn't return a request for comment.

Tripathi grew up in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and had been living in Providence since 2008. According to CBS News, he was on approved leave from the Ivy League school, where he was a philosophy major in the class of 2013. The FBI joined the search to find Tripathi in March.

The Brown Herald reported Tripathi was last seen wearing "a black jacket, blue jeans and a Philadelphia Eagles cap," and that Tripathi weighed 130 pounds and was 6 feet 2 inches tall. Tripathi left his apartment without his wallet and cell phone. ABC News reported that he was "possibly depressed and left home without any of his belongings."

A Facebook page dedicated to finding Tripathi was taken down by his family late Thursday night after suspicions about his involvement in the Boston bombing were posted on Reddit. The Facebook page was flooded with comments that were quickly deleted before the page was taken down.

The family also ran a @FindingSunny Twitter account to spread the word of their search for Tripathi. The most recent tweets are from earlier on Thursday, three days after the bombing. Two tweets sent on Monday mentioned the Boston Marathon — another piece of "evidence" in what could be the latest in a series of efforts online to put together patterns where, perhaps, there were none.

Meanwhile, on the subreddits relating to the Boston investigation, Reddit users have been congratulating themselves for finding Tripathi.

"Fuck political correctness, good job reddit," wrote one commenter. Said another: "Wow, just wow. And a Redditor was the one who made the connection to begin with. Internet FTW."

Update:Tripathi's family responded in a statement:

A tremendous and painful amount of attention has been cast on our beloved Sunil Tripathi in the past twelve hours.

We have known unequivocally all along that neither individual suspected as responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings was Sunil.

We are grateful to all of you who have followed us on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit—supporting us over the recent hours.

Now more than ever our greatest strength comes from your enduring support. We thank all of you who have reached out to our family and ask that you continue to raise awareness and to help us find our gentle, loving, and thoughtful Sunil.

Two more photographs of the suspect.

Via: fbi.gov

(Boston Police)

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AP and NBC reported that Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev came to the U.S. from or near Chechnya, but both have apparently spent several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Via: vk.com

Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, is the remaining suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings — the subject of a massive manhunt Friday morning in Watertown, Massachusetts, multiple sources reported Friday morning.

His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, has been identified as the first suspect and died overnight following a firefight with police.

NBC News' Pete Williams said earlier Friday morning that the two suspects likely had "foreign military training," and had been in the country for about a year.

Later he said they were brothers, and added, "They were legal permanent residents. They were in this country legally, at least a year. They appear to be from Turkey, possibly Chechens from Turkey. That seems to be the nationality here." As more information became available, multiple source reported that Dzhokhar was born in Kyrgyzstan and Tamerlan was born in Russia.

Just before 7 a.m. Friday morning, the Associated Press confirmed Williams' reporting and naming Tsarnaev.

Born July 22, 1993, according to Williams, Tsarnaev attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, has a Massachusetts driver's license, and has been in the country for around a decade. CBS reported that he became a naturalized U.S. citizen on Sept. 11, 2012. He is a registered student at UMass Dartmouth, according to the school, where he lived in a dorm. The school was evacuated at 10 a.m.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, although NBC initially reported he was 20, was 26. He became a lawful permanent resident, according to NBC, in 2007. He maintained a YouTube page that focused on Sunni Islam and included a playlist named "terrorist."

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's online profile is more secular, though his "World view" on Vkontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, is listed as "Islam" and his "Personal priority" is "career and money."

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died following a firefight with police, suffering from what doctors at the hospital where he was pronounced dead said were "blast and potentially gunshot wounds ... probably a blast injury [and] possibly shrapnel" throughout his trunk.

In 2011, Dzhokar Tsarnaev was recognized as a Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Greater Boston League Winter All Star:

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Eric Machado, a high school friend of bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said no one expected that he could be a terrorist.

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Via:

“He was literally among the sweetest, most laid-back guys I've ever known.”

Dzokhar Tsarnaev on the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School's wrestling team.

Source: Courtesy of a source who went to high school with Tsarnaev

Classmates of the younger Boston Marathon bomber were horrified Friday to wake up to the news that their mild-mannered schoolmate had been identified as the culprit behind one of the largest-scale terrorist attacks on American soil in recent history.

Dzokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is, as of this writing, still at large; his older brother Tamerlan was killed in a shoot-out with police on Thursday night in Watertown, Massachusetts, after the brothers killed an officer on the MIT campus.

People who attended the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School with Dzokhar, whom they called Jahar because Dzokhar was too difficult to pronounce, say they never would have expected such a thing.

"I saw the pictures last night and thought it looked kind of like him," said Rebecca Mazur, who was in Tsarnaev's class at school and is now studying at Harvard. "But I felt mean even thinking that the person in the photos looked like him."

"It's such a huge shock," Mazur said. "He was such a sweet, sort of quiet guy."

But Tsarnaev wasn't a loner.

"I think he seemed to keep to himself in that he was kind of reserved, but his demeanor was always friendly, and he would show up at the big social gatherings," Mazur said. "He was a familiar part of the community, he didn't isolate himself."

"I went on Facebook and so far have been reading Facebook status after Facebook status of people who are feeling shocked and betrayed," Mazur said.

"I didn't know Jahar extremely well, but he was literally among the sweetest, most laid-back guys I've ever known," said another student at Harvard who went to Cambridge Rindge and Latin and spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Always friendly and welcoming, I always felt comfortable hanging out with him."

Tsarnaev seemed even-keeled up until recently, the student said.

"In fact, as recently as November, I played pick-up basketball with him and he seemed like he was doing great at UMASS Dartmouth," the student said. "I don't know what changed since then, but evidently it was something pretty big."

"We were friends," said Sam Greenberg, a Harvard junior who also went to Rindge. "We would say hi to each other and occasionally chat. We mostly interacted because he was on the wrestling team, and so we would just hang out after school. And I was on the track team."

Tsarnaev worked shifts at Harvard's Blodgett Pool, said one person who knew him.

"I can confirm that he was a Harvard lifeguard, especially now that I'm seeing close-up pictures of him," said Ryan Galuski, head lifeguard at the pool. "He seemed very friendly, nothing that would indicate he was a weirdo or anything. He started working with us two summers ago, right after he graduated from high school."

"This most recent summer, he was only there for a few weeks until [he] was let go because he wasn't showing up for shifts," Galuski said.

Tsarnaev received a $2,500 scholarship to attend college during his senior year at Rindge, a school with a prestigious reputation in the Boston area, and was listed as an "all-star" wrestler in 2011.

He and his family lived in Cambridge since 2002 or 2003, when authorities think they emigrated to the United States. Dzokhar was born in Kyrgyzstan and his brother Tamerlan was born in Russia, but the family are ethnic Chechens.

Dzokhar, who ran over his own brother in a rush to escape police on Thursday night and whose flight has caused the entire city of Boston and surrounding towns to be locked down, was remembered fondly on Friday by radio host Robin Young in a series of tweets.

"Heart is broken," Young tweeted. "Just confirmed, I know dzhokhar tsarnave [sic], one of best freinds of my beloved nephew, who says he never in his life saw this."

"He came to the prom party we had. beautiful boy," Young continued. "Remember djohar well, beautiful boy in tux at prom party and elsewhere."

Young also tweeted a photo of Tsarnaev with her nephew on graduation day:

Tsarnaev also went to prom:

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As news breaks in Boston, White House staff convene.

Via: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

WASHINGTON — President Obama and top aides met Friday morning in the Situation Room for updates on the developing situation in Boston. Vice President Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder also attended the running briefings.

From the White House pool report:

Shortly after 9:45AM, the President, joined by Vice President Biden, convened a briefing in the White House Situation Room with his national security team on developments in the investigation as well as the events in Boston and Watertown, MA. Participating in the briefing are Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco, Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken, Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, Deputy National Security Advisor For Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes, Deputy Counsel to the President Avril Haines and National Security Advisor to the Vice President Jake Sullivan. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Secretary of State John Kerry, and CIA Director John Brennan joined by video conference. The briefing is currently underway. This morning's briefing is a follow-up to the regular briefings that the President received through the night as he was routinely updated on the investigation.

Early Friday morning, a White House official told reporters Obama had been briefed through the night on developments in Washington.

Check here for live updates as they are made available.

“It will help shed light on the weaknesses in our system … [and] how can we beef up security checks on people who would enter the United States,” Iowa's Chuck Grassley says. Rubio's office acknowledges “legitimate policy questions,” but says immigration reform will make the country safer.

Via: Jacquelyn Martin / AP

WASHINGTON — Ranking Senate Judiciary Committee member Chuck Grassley warned Friday that Congress must take into account the events in Boston this week when working on comprehensive immigration reform to ensure "those who would do us harm do not receive benefits under the immigration laws."

As a chaotic, frantic, and violent hunt for a suspected bomber unfolded in Boston, the Iowa Republican pointed to the situation during the committee's first hearing on a new comprehensive immigration bill. Grassley argued consideration of the issue is important "especially in light of everything that's happening in Massachusetts now."

In his opening statement, Grassley also argued the Boston terror case can help strengthen immigration reform since "it will help shed light on the weaknesses in our system … [and] how can we beef up security checks on people who would enter the United States."

The two suspects in the Marathon bombing, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, are brothers from the Caucasus region who emigrated to the United States with their family and became legal residents in 2007.

UPDATE: Alex Conant, a spokesman for Sen. Marco Rubio, pushed back on that idea. "The situation in Boston is still developing and it's too soon to jump to conclusions, let alone use the tragedy to make political points," Conant said in an email.

Conant later added, "There are legitimate policy questions to ask and answer about what role our immigration system played, if any, in what happened. Regardless of the circumstances in Boston, immigration reform that strengthens our borders and gives us a better accounting of who is in our country and why will improve our national security. Americans will reject any attempt to tie the losers responsible for the attacks in Boston with the millions of law-abiding immigrants currently living in the US and those hoping to immigrate here in the future."

Correction: Grassley is the ranking Senate Judiciary Committee member. An earlier version of this article misstated this fact.

Check here for live updates as they are made available.

“Any attempt to draw a connection between Chechnya and Tsarnaevs — if they are guilty — is futile.”

Source: instagram.com

In a Russian-language statement on Instagram, the Russian-backed president of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, criticized American authorities for killing one of the two Chechen-born men suspected in the Boston bombing, and blamed the United States — not Chechnya — for shaping the bombers.

Tragic events have taken place in Boston. A terrorist attack killed people. We have already expressed our condolences to the people of the city and to the American people. Today, the media reports, one Tsarnaev was killed as [police] tried to arrest him. It would be appropriate if he was detained and investigated, and the circumstances and the extent of his guilt determined. It is evident that the special services needed to calm society by any means possible.

Any attempt to draw a connection between Chechnya and Tsarnaevs — if they are guilty — is futile. They were raised in the United States, and their attitudes and beliefs were formed there. It is necessary to seek the roots of this evil in America. The whole world must struggle against terrorism — that we know better than anyone else. We hope for the recovery of all the victims, and we mourn with the Americans.