The 'Terrorista#1' license plate adorning a BMW driven by friends of the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect is a joke about hard partying and does not imply a thirst for jihad, their lawyer has claimed.
Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, have been held in a Boston jail since April 20 on administrative immigration charges because their academic visas had expired.
The two men from Kazakhstan raised eyebrows when it was revealed that they had been driving around in a BMW with a license plate that read 'Terrorista#1'
Best of friends: Azamat Tazhayakov, left, Dias Kadyrbayev, center, and Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, right, are pictured in New York's Times Square
A lawyer for Kadyrbayev, Robert Stahl, says that the plate was given to his client as a joke about his late-night partying ways and does not mean that the 19-year-olds are terrorists.
Mr Stahl told CBS News: 'It's such a silly thing. Bad timing. [Kadyrbayev's] desire is to be released so he can return home. He would like to go home to the comfort of his family.
'You can imagine being 19 years old and having SWAT teams break down your door. It's a terrible situation.'
Another concern was raised when Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov were found to be among a group of men pictured with Tsarnaev in New York's Times Square - the bombing suspects' next target.
The three were classmates at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Wrong plate, wrong time: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's friends liked to cruise around in a car with the 'Terrorista #1' license plate
Mr Stahl says that Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov had nothing to do with the deadly attack at the marathon finish line on April 15, and had seen no indication that Tsarnaev harbored any violent or terrorist sympathies.
He said: 'These kids are just as shocked and horrified about what happened as everyone else. They can't even fathom something like this from a kid who seemed to be a typical young college student.'
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Tsarnaev would hang out at the their New Bedford, Massachusetts apartment frequently and may have stayed with them on the night of the bombing and the following night.
In addition to the suspicious 'Terroristas' plate, Kadyrbayev's black BMW 330XI had a sticker on the back that reads: 'F*** you, you f****** f****'.
Los terroristas means 'the terrorists' in Spanish but it's also a slang reference to 'buddies and friends.'
Jailed: Azamat Tazhayakov, left, and Dias Kadyrbayev, right, have been detained for immigration violations since April 20
Complex: The apartment complex where the men live is about 10 minutes from the Dartmouth campus, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, had been a student
Tweet: Dzhokar had tweeted pictures of himself with the car on his account under the name J_tsar
Symbol: The BMW is pictured outside the housing complex where the arrests took place on April 20
They are now being held at Suffolk County House of Corrections in Boston.
The April 2012 photo shows Dzhokhar posing with four pals in Times Square with four pals, including Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev.
But officials had no clear idea of where the suspect was staying in the city or whether he met with anyone during the two trips.
It was revealed last week that Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan, 26, had hatched a plot to bomb Times Square after they shot and killed MIT Officer Sean Collier three days after the marathon bombing.
The brothers pair carjacked a Mercedes SUV and took its owner hostage with the intention to drive to New York. But the brothers noted the stolen vehicle was low on gas, and stopped to refuel - only for the car's owner to escape and call police.
Tamerlan, 26, died after he was riddled with bullets and run over in the ensuing firefight, and Dzhokhar was arrested after a day of hiding inside a docked boat in a Watertown backyard.
Charged: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was taken into custody late on April 19 after a day of hiding out in a boat