Boston (CNN) — Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 30 federal counts related to the April 15 attacks.
Tsarnaev appeared in a federal courtroom in Boston on Wednesday for an arraignment in the April 15 bombings, which killed three spectators and wounded about 260, and the slaying of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer three days later. He faces a total of 30 counts in connection with bombings and a police chase that left his brother, Tamerlan, dead.
MIT police officers lined up outside the courthouse as the hearing neared its end Wednesday afternoon in a show of solidarity with their fallen comrade, Sean Collier. Inside, many of the surviving victims watched as Tsarnaev was brought into court; the 19-year-old’s hair appeared disheveled as he looked back at them before entering his plea.
When the public last saw Tsarnaev, he was climbing out of a motorboat dry-docked in the backyard of a Watertown, Massachusetts, home. He was covered in blood from bullet wounds sustained during a manhunt that brought greater Boston to a standstill.
Victims and their families tend to appear in person at trials at two key moments, said CNN legal analyst Paul Callan: at the arraignment, and at the verdict and sentencing.
“It’s not something they want to watch on television. They want to be there,” he said.
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