In a silent courtroom packed with victims of the Boston Marathon attack and their families, bored-looking bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty yesterday in his first appearance since his arrest.
He smiled crookedly — he appeared to have a jaw injury — at his two sisters, who seemed to be the only friendly faces.
“Not guilty,” Tsarnaev repeated over and over in a thick accent during the seven-minute appearance.
The 19-year-old Russian was shackled and handcuffed, wore orange prison garb and had his left arm in a cast as he entered the Boston federal courtroom.
Half of the more than 100 seats in the room were assigned to victims and loved ones of the bombing casualties.
Tsarnaev appeared blase as he denied guilt in the 30 separate charges he faces, including using a weapon of mass destruction to kill. Seventeen of the charges carry the death penalty.
When he left the room, he blew a kiss at his sisters, who wore Muslim attire.
The bombing victims stared at him but showed little reaction after a federal marshal warned them against any outbursts.
Liz Norden, the mother of two men who lost their right legs in the bombings, said afterward, “I actually felt sick to my stomach.”
Tsarnaev is also charged in the slaying of an MIT police officer. MIT Police Chief John DiFava, who was also in the courtroom, said Tsarnaev looked “smug.”
“I didn’t see a lot of remorse. I didn’t see a lot of regret,” he said.
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