Tsarnaev Family Took Food Stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children

Earlier this week, the Boston Herald reported that the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, lived off of welfare benefits as kids. Tamerlan later took welfare along with his wife and child. Now, the Herald reports that the Tsarnaev parents took food stamps from October 2002 to November 2004, and from August 2009 to December 2011.

Anzor Tsarnaev, the family patriarch, received cash through Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children, from January to March 2003, and from August 2009 to June 2010. Tamerlan’s wife, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, took both food stamps and aid to dependent children, from September 2011 to November 2012.

While Anzor was not an American citizen, as a legal non-resident, he was eligible for federal and state benefits. Katherine Russell Tsarnaev is an American citizen.