This file photo provided Friday, April 19, 2013 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. If the Obama administration seeks the death penalty against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, it would face a long, difficult legal battle with uncertain prospects for success in a state that hasn’t seen an execution in nearly 70 years. Attorney General Eric Holder will have to decide several months before the start of any trial whether to seek death for Tsarnaev. It is the highest-profile death-penalty decision yet to come before Holder, who personally opposes the death penalty. (AP Photo/Federal Bureau of Investigation, File)

 

BOSTON (AP) — Supporters of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) have cheered a caravan of vehicles carrying the Boston Marathon bombing suspect to his arraignment.

A four-vehicle motorcade that included a van, Humvee and a state police car have arrived at the federal courthouse in Boston.

A group of about a dozen Tsarnaev supporters cheered as the motorcade arrived. The demonstrators yelled “Justice for Jahar,” as Tsarnaev is known. One woman held a sign that said “Free Jahar.”

Tsarnaev is charged with using a weapon of mass destruction in the bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 260. He could face the death penalty.

Bombing survivors will be watching the court hearing. It’s the suspect’s first appearance since he was found bleeding and hiding in a boat days after the April 15 explosion.

 

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.