Officials said , after initial interrogations , that it was clear the attack was religiously motivated , but that so far there was no evidence that the brothers had any ties to Islamic terror organizations . Officials also said that Dzhokhar acknowledged his role in the bombings and told interrogators that he and Tamerlan were motivated by extremist Islamic beliefs and the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to carry out the bombing . Dzhokhar admitted during questioning that he and his brother were planning to detonate explosives in New York City 's Times Square next . The brothers formed the plan spontaneously during the April 18 carjacking , but things went awry after the vehicle ran low on gas and they forced the driver to stop at a gas station , where he escaped . Dzhokhar says he was inspired by online videos from Anwar al-Awlaki , who also inspired Faisal Shahzad , the perpetrator of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt
2010 Times Square car bombing attempt
2010 Times Square car bombing attempt
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev