Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old at-large suspect in Monday's Boston Marathon bombing, likely used Twitter under the handle @J_tsar, evidence collected by several observers indicates.
Friends of Tsarnaev have confirmed to ABC 7 and BuzzFeed @J_tsar belonged to Tsarnaev, who they say used the nickname "Johar." CNN, too, has picked up @j_tsar as authentic.
Additionally, an individual in this photo tweeted by @j_tsar seems to be the same individual in a photo posted on what is believed to be Tsarnaev's profile on the Russian-language VK social media network (Mashable has blurred the faces to protect the subjects' privacy):
@J_tsar's Twitter stream seems mostly ordinary, though a few potentially revealing tweets were sent in the days leading up to and since Monday's bombing:
Ain't no love in the heart of the city, stay safe people— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 16, 2013
There are people that know the truth but stay silent & there are people that speak the truth but we don't hear them cuz they're the minority— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 16, 2013
Nowadays everybody wanna talk like they got somethin to say but nothin comes out when they move their lips; just a bunch of gibberish— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 17, 2013
I'm a stress free kind of guy— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 17, 2013
Several fake accounts for Tsnarnaev have been spotted on Twitter since the Federal Bureau of Investigation released his name, and law enforcement has not verified the authenticity of the account. However, this tweet from May 2012 backs up the case that @J_tsar is authentic, as it matches his first name:
tat my name on you girl so i know it's real oh and make sure to spell it right, its spelled Dzhokhar— Jahar (@J_tsar) May 6, 2012
Additionally, several of the Twitter users with whom @J_tsar has engaged with have been posting messages of disbelief since Tsarnaev's name was released:
Anyone who believes this BULLLSHITT about Jahar is Fuckinnnnn cooked. He's the last dude to be harming anyone or anything— EL PLAGA™ (@Kid_Wavyy) April 19, 2013
Still don't believe this— Fat BoyTnL 4/20 (@JukeMeng) April 19, 2013
@yorozayyyy @thezookid call it what you want , that's still my nigga. What he did was completely wrong and over the top but still my nigga— Fat BoyTnL 4/20 (@JukeMeng) April 19, 2013
@yosoybrii he wasn't bullied. He was a cool ass nigga. I used to smoke mad blunts with him. He was like an Allstar on the wrestling team— Fat BoyTnL 4/20 (@JukeMeng) April 19, 2013
Their earlier interactions:
@kid_wavyy yea man never get into a family plan with foreigners— Jahar (@J_tsar) April 13, 2013
@jukemeng yeaa that'sbeefski— Jahar (@J_tsar) March 27, 2013
@j_tsar's old profile picture, dug up via Google Cache by Gawker's Adrien Chen, also seems to match official photographs of Tsarnaev released by the FBI:
This is Dzhokar Tsarnaev's real twitter account--> @j_tsar judging from old profile pic and friend's tweets: webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache…— Adrian Chen (@AdrianChen) April 19, 2013
Do you think @j_tsar is Tsarnaev's authentic Twitter account? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Christina Warren contributed to this report