Mayor Marty Walsh stepped to the podium for a televised press conference shortly after 4:30 p.m. Thursday to touch on US Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to approve pursuing the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect.

Walsh reaffirmed his stance against the death penalty but stood by Holder’s decision.

In the past, Walsh has voted against the death penalty. If given the chance to vote again, Walsh said he “would vote the same way.”

“I support [Attorney General Holder’s] decision and process,” Walsh said, refusing to state how he would have handled the situation.

Today’s decision, Walsh said, was “not my vote to cast or decision to make.”

[See what other Mass. political figures think of the decision.]

In 1997, Walsh said, he was first asked to discuss his stance on capital punishment. After numerous discussions with other elected officials, he decided that the prospect of life in prison without parole was a “far greater penalty.”

Walsh expressed sympathy for the victims and families impacted by the maraton bombings, acknowledging he couldn’t imagine what they go through on a day-to-day basis.

“They must relive Marathon Monday everyday,” a solemn Walsh said, before concluding the brief press conference.

Tsarnaev, 20, was charged with 30 federal counts related to the marathon bombings. Holder’s announcement Thursday – a day before the reported deadline – allows the federal government to pursue the death penalty.

Massachusetts has not carried out capital punishment since 1984.

 

Image via Boston Herald