Maret Tsarnaeva, an aunt of the two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, holds a reporter's smart phone which displays a scene from the bomb site, as she speaks to journalists in the lobby of her apartment building in Toronto on Friday April 19, 2013. (Photo: AP)
Maret Tsarnaeva, an aunt of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, told reporters Friday that she didn't believe her nephews were capable of the crimes they were being accused of. But more than that, she alleged a conspiracy is at play, and demanded proof that 26-year-old Tamerlan and 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev aren't being framed.
"I do not believe, I just do not believe our boys would do that ... I don't know them in the way that they could be capable of this," she remarked.
On Saturday, a woman identifying herself as Maret Tsarnaeva made an unscheduled phone call to Buck Sexton on TheBlaze radio network to explain her statements.
"I understand...most of them probably hate me by now because some people, you know, feel like this could be true about what's said about my nephews," she began, the emotion clear in her voice. "Some people are sympathetic, and [have] doubts that this could be true. I just want to share how I feel about this, and what I think about this."
This combination of undated photos shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. Credit: AP
"My dear fellows, I respect people of all religions, I respect people of all ethnicities, I respect people of all colors -- it just -- two boys that have been claimed terrorists, that have been accused of committing these atrocities on the streets of Boston, they are not who -- " she said, before Sexton interrupted.
"I have to ask you, you have doubts about the guilt of your two nephews, is that what you're telling me now?" Sexton asked.
"It's not even doubts," the woman responded. "I strongly believe these boys are innocent."
She inquired: "If that happened, why don't we have any materials that can be shown to people? Where are they? All I hear on the public TV is, you know, these officials said this. Those officials said that..."
Sexton interrupted:
"We have surveillance footage. We have the dead body of one of your nephews who was in a shootout with police. He had an IED strapped to his chest. Ms. Tsarnaev...they are accused of killing an 8-year-old boy. You have got to be kidding me....180 people...You know what? You've made -- your case is nonsense. I can't take it. They are going to face the full weight of justice. You called in, you had your say, we know what's happening now, and I'm sorry but I can't take it anymore. Two terrorists. One down, one to go.
And at that, Sexton cut to a commercial.
Listen to the audio below (skip to around 3:30 for discussed comments):
Reflecting after the interview, Sexton said it wasn't his intention to "yell" at the woman, and that it's important to treat everyone with respect.
"I understand on the one hand, this woman -- she's in shock. She's in denial, and what I think it's obvious -- what her nephews did is so inhuman and evil. She's clearly a shattered woman, and the Christian side of me...wants to help somebody like that," he said. "But the Buck Sexton side of me wants to say, we can't allow evil to go unpunished. We can't allow people to hide the truth. That was hard. And I listened to clips and just so you know -- we did our best to make sure that wasn't some kind of a prank. I think you could hear the pain in her voice. And I -- I wasn't trying to add to that. I actually wanted to have an honest discussion...But I can't sit here and talk to her and tell me that at this point we don't know what those two young men did."
Listen to the entire Buck Sexton show, and the rest of Sexton's explanation, below (skip to around 1 hour 45 minutes):
The Buck Sexton show can be heard Saturdays from 12p - 3p ET on TheBlaze radio.
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