Armed boats and police dogs: Tight security for Boston Marathon bombing trial
BOSTON -- Extraordinary security measures are being taken during the federal death penalty trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the most scrutinized U.S. terror case in years.
White vehicles from Homeland Security line up bumper-to-bumper in front of Boston's federal courthouse while others periodically circle the block. Boston police officers patrol the perimeter on foot, and a dark special operations van is stationed near the entrance. In the harbor nearby, armed U.S. Coast Guard boats ply the waters, and inside the court building officers with dogs roam the hallways.
Tsarnaev, 21, faces the death penalty if convicted for his role in the twin bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line in April 2013, which killed three people and wounded more than 260 others. Tsarnaev also is charged in the slaying of an MIT police officer in the days after the bombing.
The U.S. Marshals Service, which oversees courthouse security, declined to comment on measures for the trial and Boston police spokesman Michael McCarthy said his department is not aware of any credible threats. McCarthy said the department is simply providing support to federal authorities, although he declined to say how many city officers or which units have been assigned.
But there's even more going on behind the scenes, according to Rick Avery, northeast region president for Securitas, a private security company not involved in security for the trial.
Bomb squads, snipers, undercover officers and enhanced surveillance operations are just some of the measures used to secure high-profile terrorism trials, Avery said. Tsarnaev's trial, which began this week with jury selection and is expected to last three to four months, is no exception, he said.
"Federal courthouses have a very high level of security to begin with, so what you're doing is basically extending the security barrier beyond the courthouse doors," Avery said. "The possibility of something happening exists every day, so I'd imagine they're being a little more cautious with this."
Boston's federal courthouse is used to heightened security, most recently in 2013, when notorious gangster James "Whitey" Bulger was tried, convicted and sentenced there.
Law enforcement officials will be keeping a watchful eye on the demonstrators and onlookers the proceedings periodically have drawn, as well as the hundreds of prospective jurors who have been filing in and out of the courthouse complex.
They'll likely also be keeping tabs on social media, where Tsarnaev's supporters and bombing conspiracy theorists have been active.
Tsarnaev arrived in a federal courthouse in Boston on Monday as jury selection in his trial gets underway.
In the end, 12 jurors and six alternates will be selected. The trial is expected to get underway on January 26. Due in part to the extensive media coverage of the bombing, jury selection is expected to take several weeks.
The defense has implied in court documents and motions it plans to show Tsarnaev was under the psychological control of his older brother, Tamerlan.
"What this defense wants to show is whether or not this was a young man who was influenced and under the influence of his older brother who was the master mind," CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman said.