The US government says it will seek the death penalty against Boston Marathon bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

“After consideration of the relevant facts, the applicable regulations and the submissions made by the defendant’s counsel, I have determined that the United States will seek the death penalty in this matter,” US Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement Thursday.

“The nature of the conduct at issue and the resultant harm compel this decision.”

Tsarnaev, 20, faces murder and terrorism-related charges in connection with the April 15 twin blasts near the finish line of the marathon and the chaotic police manhunt in the days the followed.

He has pleaded not guilty to all 30 charges against him related to the bombing that he is accused of carrying out with his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was shot and killed by police during the manhunt.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is also charged in the murder of Sean Collier, a police officer at the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who was shot dead while the brothers were being sought by police.

Tsarnaev will be charged under the federal death penalty law; Massachusetts abolished the use of capital punishment in 1984.