USA - Massachussetts. Death penalty favored for Boston Bomber - but not among Blacks.

Death penalty favored for Boston Bomber - but not among Blacks. 70 % of those surveyed in the Washington Post-ABC News poll support capital punishment for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Federal prosecutors indicted the 19-year-old on capital charges of using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property in the bombings that killed three and injured almost 200 persons. According to the Washington-ABC News poll, 74 % of Americans seemed to back the Obama administration's decision to try Tsarnaev in federal courts rather than a military tribunal. That support was mostly consistent across political and racial lines. Backing for Tsarnaev's execution was also mostly comparable across party lines, although Democrats were the least likely to support the measure. Republicans (84 %) were most supportive of the death penalty, followed by Independents (69 %) and Democrats (64 %). But, there were wider racial gaps on support for the death penalty, reflecting ideological divisions that exist in the general public. While 3/4 of White respondents supported the death penalty for Tsarnaev, only a little over 1/2 of African Americans support execution and 43 % opposed it. And Hispanics were also less likely to support the death penalty for Tsarnaev; 62 % supported the punishment and 35 % opposed. An overwhelming majority of Americans - but African Americans to a lesser degree - support the death penalty for the suspect in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings should he be convicted, according to a recent national poll.