One of the brothers suspected of the Boston marathon bombing read extremist literature on Adolf Hitler and conspiracy theories, according to the BBC.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was shot dead by police in a manhunt after the attacks in April, read about white supremacy, mass killings and “the rape of our gun rights,” as well as papers that claimed 9/11 and the 1995 Oklahoma bombing were US-led conspiracies.
Tamerlan and his brother, 19-year-old Dhokhar, who allegedly planned the attacks that killed three and injured 264 together, were widely perceived as self-styled radical jihadists.
But the BBC’s Panorama programme spent months speaking to friends of the brothers to try to understand the roots of their radicalisation.
According to friends, Tamerlan turned against the US after his boxing career stalled because he was not a citizen.
One friend, “Mike,” told the programme, aired tonight: “He felt the US was basically attacking all Middle Eastern countries... trying to take their oil.”
Another friend “Tito” said the ethnic Chechen controlled his brother, Dzhokar, who smoked cannabis and rarely prayed.
Dzhokhar recently brought to court, has denied all charges against him.
If convicted he faces life imprisonment or the death penalty.
