Biden Calls Boston Terror Suspects 'Twisted, Perverted, Cowardly, Knock-Off Jihadis

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a memorial service for slain Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus officer Sean Collier at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. Wednesday, April 24, 2013. (AP)

Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday referred to the Boston Marathon bombing suspects as "twisted, perverted, cowardly, knock-off jihadis."

Speaking at a memorial service for Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier, Biden asked the question, "why do they do what they do?"

"I've thought about it a lot, because I deal with it a lot," Biden said. "They do it to instill fear. To have us, in the name of our safety and security, jettison what we value most in the world...our open society, our system of justice that guarantees freedom, the access of all Americans to opportunity, the free flow of information and people across this country, our transparency. That's their target."

Authorities say Collier was shot Thursday night by brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, three days after the marathon bombing. Tamerlan was ultimately killed after a shootout with police, and Dzhokhar was captured alive Friday after an all-day manhunt. He is facing federal charges and could receive the death penalty.

Biden also called the Tsarnaev brothers "craven, misguided, perverted apostles" who misunderstand the Muslim faith.

"Our very existence makes a lie of their perverted ideology," Biden said, later adding, "We will not yield to fear, we will not hunker down. If the purpose of terrorism is to instill fear, you saw none of it here in Boston."