My argument with my neighbor, bombing 'Suspect No. 1'
Teenager who lived below dead Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev recalls a heated discussion they had over politics and religion
This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," April 22, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Two brothers accused of unleashing terror on Boston, killing four, maiming so many more, and just scarring others for life. And they were living right in the middle of the city for years. Neighbor Albrecht Ammon knows both of the Tsarnaev brothers but says it was Tamerlan who had something against the American government. They had a heated argument about U.S. foreign policy. Albrecht joins us. Nice to see you, sir.
ALBRECHT AMMON, NEIGHBOR OF TAMERLAN TSARNAEV: Hey, nice to see you.
VAN SUSTEREN: Tell me, how did you first meet the two brothers? Was it just living in the same building in is that how you knew them?
AMMON: I met the older brother two weeks prior into moving into the apartment under them. I met him at a pizza is shop across from my high school.
VAN SUSTEREN: What was Tamerlan like?
AMMON: My first interaction with him was he was sitting at a table at a pizza shop across my high school and he was talking to another kid that used to go to Cambridge Latin high school. I overheard the conversation, and he was basically explaining the Koran to the person he was sitting with and the differences between the Bible and the Koran.
And I noticed in a way he was idolizing the Koran and trash-talking the Bible. And so I was very interested in the topic. And I didn't know much about religion, whether it's Christianity or Islam, and he seemed like he was very well-educated about both. And so I wanted to join the argument or the discussion.
So, yes, I basically joined the discussion, which then he -- so then I had a discussion with Tamerlan. And he was basically -- he was very passionate about what he was talking about, which was that the Bible was a cheap copy of the Koran, and that the American government used the Bible as an excuse to invade other countries.
Then our discussion kind of shifted from religion to foreign policy and the American government. His belief on that was that the American government was still a colonial power and intended to colonize the Middle East and Africa. And in Afghanistan and Iraq, most casualties were innocent bystanders gunned down by American soldiers.
VAN SUSTEREN: Was this discussion before or after he went for six months to Russia?
AMMON: I believe before, because two weeks after words I moved into the apartment and that was only two months ago.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, and when you moved into the apartment, did you ever see him bringing pressure cookers in? Did you ever talk about bombs or did he ever talk about any organizations, anything like that?
AMMON: No. I only saw him once a week maybe. But they kept to themselves. I see him maybe coming into the apartment or leaving the apartment, sometimes in his car. Yes, we would only talk for a minute or less, just say hi, how are you. Sometimes he would drive by me in the car and honk and wave.
VAN SUSTEREN: Did you ever see his wife and child?
AMMON: Not while I was living there. The first time I met them was on Friday when I was at the police station.
VAN SUSTEREN: What, the wife and the child?
AMMON: Yes, the wife and the child.
VAN SUSTEREN: Did you talk to the wife when you met her at the police station?
AMMON: No. She was with two officers and she -- they were bringing her inside the building and outside of the building, and I would only see her a couple times. And there was an old lady at the police station that she gave her -- she gave the wife her phone because she asked for it. And when she came back, the old lady, she mentioned how upset she was, how upset the wife was and that she was crying. That's all.
VAN SUSTEREN: What was the relationship between the two brothers, the 26-year-old Tamerlan and his younger brother?
AMMON: Like I said, I did not know them that well, so I couldn't really answer that question. I only met the younger brother once, and that was two weeks ago. Yes, I have never seen them together.
VAN SUSTEREN: Did you think there was anything unusual or peculiar about the younger brother? Did he seem hostile toward the U.S. government or towards other people?
AMMON: No. And the only time I met the younger brother was, like I said, two weeks ago. All we were talking about was Cambridge Latin high school, the school he used to attend, and he was asking about old friends of his, how they were doing. We did not mention religion. All we were talking about was his social life.
VAN SUSTEREN: Did the older brother ever mention belonging to any group at all, any foreign group?
AMMON: No, he did not. I do remember when we had the argument at the pizza shop. I mentioned how some people, some Muslims, radicals, how they would blow themselves up, suicide bombers and do it and say they do it for Allah. And he said Islam is all about peace and love and that he was not one of those stereotypical radicals or Muslims.
VAN SUSTEREN: Albrecht, thank you for joining us.
AMMON: No problem.
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