A few months before the Boston bombings, the suspect behind the terror attack, Tamerlan Tsarnaev wanted to change his name.
Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police in Waterdown, Massachusetts in April 2013. Tsarnaev was also the brother of the accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Tsarnaev wanted to change his first name to Muaz, government officials say. He got this name from Emir Muaz who is a Dagestan insurgent fighting in the Caucasus region of Russia. Emir was killed in 2009.
Tsarnaev filed the request for a name change in January 2013. The request was filed around the same time as Tsarnaev’s application to become a naturalized U.S citizen.
Part of the naturalization process requires the applicant to swear allegiance to the U.S and sign the form. The signature also signifies that an individual might be required to serve in the military.
Tsarnaev had printed his first and last name on the form, but crossed out Tamerlan and changed it to Muaz.
Photo Source: www.salon.com
