Blurring the lines between fame and infamy, Rolling Stone magazine has came under fire for putting Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of its latest issue.
The magazine, which hits newsstands Friday, features a glamour shot of Tsarnaev with tousled curly hair, bearing resemblance to The Doors’ Jim Morrison. Donning the headline “The Bomber,” Rolling Stone tells the tale of how the 19 year old “became a monster” and “was failed by his family.”
According to a post on the magazine’s website, Rolling Stone contributing editor Janet Reitman spent months interviewing friends, teachers and law enforcement to “deliver the riveting and heartbreaking account of how a charming kid became a monster.” The magazine highlighted five revelations about Tsarnaev, including one detailing the bomber’s feelings on the Sept.11 attacks.
“…he thought the terrorist attacks could be justified,” the site states.
As Fox News notes, featuring Tsarnaev on the cover — which recently pictured Johnny Depp and Justin Beiber — could send a dangerous message to the bomber’s supporters.
“If they want to become famous, kill somebody,” Jack Levin, a criminologist at Northeastern University, told MyFoxBoston.com.
Never one to shy away from controversy, Rolling Stone has faced a bevy of backlash for the cover, with irate readers taking to the magazine’s Facebook page to express their discontent.
“Jeff Bauman, who lost both legs, should be on cover,” one user wrote.
“Being from Boston, I take this personally offensive that this s**t bag is even a thought, never mind given the cover! I don’t care about his religion, race, sex or his poor family. He is bomber #2 in the white hat… That’s the most description I need,” another posted.
The magazine’s editors released a statement Wednesday afternoon, saying, “Our hearts go out to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, and our thoughts are always with them and their families. The cover story we are publishing this week falls within the traditions of journalism and Rolling Stone’s long-standing commitment to serious and thoughtful coverage of the most important political and cultural issues of our day. The fact that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is young, and in the same age group as many of our readers, makes it all the more important for us to examine the complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens.”
Tsarnaev was arrested for perpetrating the bombings at the Boston Marathon — with his older brother Tamerlan — earlier this year. Identified in law enforcement’s early stages of the manhunt for the brothers as a suspect in a white hat, the 19 year old was later found alive, hiding in a boat in Watertown, Mass. Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police.
Tsarnaev faces 30 federal charges, including using a weapon of mass destruction. At his July 10 arraignment, he pled not guilty to all counts.
Three people were killed and more than 260 injured as a result of the bombings.
This piece has been updated to include new information.
