Tsarnaev is in custody, but now what?

After the unfolding of the events following the Boston Marathon bombing —complete with photos, videos, a campus police officer killed, a carjacking, a police chase, a shootout resulting in one suspect’s death (Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26), and an all-out manhunt for the other (Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19) consisting of thousands of police searching a 20-block area with the whole world anxiously waiting — one suspect is silent after being read his Miranda rights.

There are a lot of people who would argue this type of investigation doesn’t merit attention and the remaining suspect should be thrown in a hole and forgotten about. He’s guilty.

While it is tempting to treat Tsarnaev as an “enemy combatant” or “unlawful combatant,” meaning Tsarnaev “would be detained or prosecuted under the domestic law of the detaining state for such action,” it would violate the democratic principles that help to define our country.

So, my argument is to not say how Tsarnaev should be tried, but to ask what constitutes enough evidence to pronounce someone guilty in a day and age where smart phone footage is viable evidence in the case? And why, if someone who has so clearly disregarded the public’s civil liberties, should we care about their liberties?

I understand the flaw in this question. Because of how previous trials, like that of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, were carried out, I know the right thing to do is give Tsarnaev a fair trial. But I feel the evidence that is widespread, thanks to video footage and the Internet, changes the situation.

We have what seems to be evidence convicting these two suspects of killing three people and injuring 264 others, yet they still have the right to a fair trial?

What’s going to be talked about in this trial? The whole world has enough evidence to form an opinion on this case; there are photos of the suspects taking cover before the explosion; one suspect was killed in a shootout with police after he killed a police officer and was in a police chase; the other was found hiding after being injured in the shootout. They’re guilty. Why should we treat this guy with any respect? Would he have treated you with respect? Did he care about the MIT campus police officer or their family? NO. He and/or his brother killed the officer.

I believe in a right to a fair trial and understand that Tsarnaev will more than likely be pronounced guilty, but I think for the sake of the families involved we should pronounce Tsarnaev guilty while the trial determines his fate unless a piece of evidence comes to light clearing his name.