S. Florida Russian Community Reacts To Bombing Suspects
SUNNY ISLES BEACH (CBS4) — South Florida's Russian community, mostly concentrated around Sunny Isle Beach, like everyone, was shocked when those pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line at the Boston Marathon.
"It's really unbelievable, embarrassing for Russian people," said Lana, a local resident from Russia.
Many Russians were even more stunned to find out that the suspects, the Tsarnaev brothers, were tied to republics in the southern part of Russia.
"That's crazy, that's sick! I mean who would do such a thing to innocent people?" Lana asked.
But she, like many local Russians, point out the brothers considered themselves Chechen.
"It's a different republic, different people, different country right now. We don't consider them Russian," she said.
Lyudmila Kalssem is originally from Russia too. She figures the fact that the Tsarnaev brothers have ties to Russia and Chechnya has no significance.
"You know, terrorism has no nationality, to be honest," said Kalssem.
In the big picture, she sees them as guys who had radical personal views, who are accused of carrying out a deadly act of terrorism.
"It doesn't matter which country you come from, if you decide to take somebody's life, it could be anybody," Kalssem said.
