Immigration officials holding two fellow students of Boston bombing suspect

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  Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and older brother Tamerlan reportedly planned to drive to NYC after their deadly Boston attack to detonate devices in Times Square, which Dzhokhar visited earlier with friends. None of the others pictured here are suspected of being involved in the Tsarnaevs’ plot. Dias Kadyrbayev is standing left of Dzhokhar's right in the blue scarf, and Azamat Tazhayakov is immediately left of Kadyrbayev.

Two people seen in a photo with suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in New York's famed Times Square are being held by authorities on administrative immigration violations, Fox News has confirmed.

The two men were identified to Fox News as Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, both citizens of Kazakhstan. They can be seen standing next to Tsarnaev in a photo believed to have been taken in April 2012 in Times Square, which authorities suspect was another of the bombers' intended targets.

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov were arrested April 20 -- five days after the attack at the marathon -- at the Hidden Brook apartments by the FBI and Homeland Security in New Bedford Mass., and they are being detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement at the Suffolk County House of Corrections in Boston because of problems relating to their student visas, sources told Fox News.

New York City officials held a news conference Thursday confirming that the city was another target following the bombings in Boston, which killed three and wounded more than 200 near the finish line of the Boston race.

“We learned through the Joint Terrorist Task Force that the Boston Marathon bombers had planned to travel to Manhattan to detonate remaining bombs in Times Square,” New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, though it is unclear when this information was relayed to New York City officials.

A law enforcement source also confirmed that task force investigators will be questioning Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov about their activity last week immediately after a surveillance video of the suspected Boston bombers was released. They also want to know whether the two young men took any action to help Tsarnaev.

The source said a "variety of techniques" led investigators to question Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov, with the goal of seeing “what’s there” -- though they are not charged with any crimes at this time. 

Kadyrbayev is a former student and Tazhayakov is a current student of UMass Dartmouth, a university spokesman said. Tsarnaev, 19, is registered as a sophomore at the university.

Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen and U.S. citizen, is being held on a federal charge of using a weapon of mass destruction. Authorities think he was recruited to help carry out the bombings by his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed days later in a shootout with police.

Kadyrbayev's father, Murat Kadyrbayev, told Kazak news website Tengri News that Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov were in Tsarnaev's social circle but nothing more. The father also said a "TERRORISTA #1" vanity plate on a BMW jointly owned by the two young men was just a joke.

Yerlan Kubashev with the Consulate General for Kazakhstan in New York confirmed in a statement to Fox News that the consulate is helping the young men with legal representation.

Kubashev said the two men are “shocked at the bombings,” and “they express sorrow to the bombing victims and their families.”

Attorney Robert G. Stahl confirmed to Fox News he is representing Kadyrbayev in an upcoming immigration hearing.

"He’s a 19-year-old with student visa problems, and he may or may not be returned to Kazakhstan," Stahl said.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.

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Washington school officials accused of searching student's Facebook page

Published March 17, 2013

Associated Press

EVERETT, Wash. –  The American Civil Liberties Union is asking the Everett School District to apologize to a student because a supervisor pressured her to make her Facebook page available during an investigation of a complaint of cyber-bullying that involved other students.

The group sent a letter to Superintendent Gary Cohn on Friday regarding an incident last month involving a North Middle School vice principal and student Samantha Negrete, The Everett Herald reported.

"Our hope is to work together with the school district to find a resolution to this that allows Samantha to return to a safe and welcoming school environment," said Linda Mangel, an ACLU attorney.

Samantha said she did not willingly disclose the contents of her Facebook page. The ACLU said that the request for Toutant's transfer was made because Samantha fears "he will seek to abuse his power and punish her for reporting his illegal search."

Samantha is "being called a snitch, a tattletale," Mangel said. "She's being ostracized. She's afraid."

The group wants students to be formally notified that Samantha's Facebook page was involuntarily and improperly searched; for students to be trained on their rights and responsibilities in using online technology and their rights regarding school searches; and for a new school district policy outlining when school officials may access students' online accounts.

It called for Bryan Toutant, North Middle School's vice principal, to be re-assigned to another school for the remainder of the school year.

School district spokeswoman Mary Waggoner said Cohn had not seen a copy of the letter.

"If something was done that was inappropriate, we would always apologize," she said.

A report on the North Middle School incident is expected next week, she said. Any decision on whether disciplinary action will be taken against staff will occur after the superintendent gets a chance to review the report, Waggoner said.

Waggoner said that Toutant has not been at North Middle School this past week because he was involved in the investigation of the Facebook incident.

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