A federal grand jury indicted Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on 30 counts including charges of using a weapon-of-mass-destruction which is punishable by death, according to the Washington Post.
The indictment also accused Tsarnaev of downloading instructions on how to make a bomb from an al-Qaida magazine, downloaded other material about martyrdom and jihad and of writing anti-American statements while hiding in the boat where he would be apprehended, according to the Washington Post.
Court documents revealed the messages that Tsarnaev wrote on the inside of the boat as he hid from police after he had been shot and wounded during a gun fight from the night before. The messages said:
"The U.S. government is killing our innocent civilians...I can't stand to see such evil go unpunished...We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all...Now I don't like killing innocent people it is forbidden in Islam but due to said (unintelligible word) it is allowed...Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop."
Seventeen of the 30 charges being brought up against Tsarnaev hold a penalty of up to life in prison or execution; the other charges carry either a maximum penalty of life in prison or a fixed number of years, according to CNN.
The indictment explains the alleged actions Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, who was killed by police in a gun fight, took on the morning of the Boston Marathon.
"The brothers placed IEDs (improvised explosive devices) among the crowds of spectators who were cheering the runners towards the Marathon finish line," the indictment said. "Detonated the bombs seconds apart, killing three people, maiming and injuring many more, and forcing a premature end to the Marathon."
U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz announced the charges against Tsarnaev at a press conference on Thursday. Ortiz also mentioned that she had met with relatives of those who were killed in the bombings and also with some of the wounded, reports the Boston Globe.
"Their strength is extraordinary and we will do everything that we can to pursue justice not only on their behalf, but on the behalf of all of us," Ortiz said.
The federal indictment can be read in its entirety here.
