Washington, DC - Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, applauded the news today that the Supreme Court of the United States has reinstated the death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted of executing the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The National FOP was the only law enforcement organization to file an amicus brief last year in United States v. Tsarnaev – otherwise known as the Boston Marathon Bomber case – to request a reversal of the First Circuit’s “high-profile case” rule.

National FOP President Patrick Yoes issued the following statement:

“This decision by the Supreme Court is certainly a major victory for the FOP and the law enforcement community as a whole. This was a case where a brutal terrorist took the life of a law enforcement officer and was on the verge of escaping from receiving the ultimate penalty.

“As the largest law enforcement labor organization in the nation – with more than 364,000 members – we firmly believed that it was our responsibility to weigh in and take a strong position in the Boston Marathon Bomber case.

“This decision comes when it could not be more dangerous to be a law enforcement officer. Last year, more officers were shot in the line of duty since the FOP began recording this data. There was also a 115% increase in the number of ambush-style attacks. Our officers are not just in harm's way due to the dangerous nature of their profession but are too often targets of cowardly individuals whose sole motivation is to injure or kill a law enforcement officer.

“This SCOTUS decision is just the latest example of the FOP’s staunch commitment to ensure that justice is always served – especially when a law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty at the hands of a terrorist.

“The National FOP is thankful to William M. Jay, Levi W. Swank, Benjamin Hayes and Roberto M. Braceras of Goodwin Procter LLP for their tireless work to author the amicus brief in this significant case. The National FOP is also very grateful to the Trump and Biden administrations for authorizing the pursuit of an appeal in this case.”