Rolling Stone magazine is under fire for dedicating their cover to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who has been accused of murder in the Boston Marathon bombings. According to Fox News, people are upset with the music magazine for giving Tsarnaev "rock star" treatment in a cover shot that many feel "blurs the line between fame and infamy."
The cover features a curly haired Tsarnaev above the headline "The Bomber." The story that accompanies the photo is a "deeply reported account of the life and times of Boston bomber Jahar Tsarnaev," a Rolling Stone blog post reads. The in-depth article features several interviews with some of the suspect's childhood and high school friends, teachers, neighbors and law enforcement agents to help tell the story of how a "charming kid with a bright future became a monster."
"The cover could send a dangerous message to Tsarnaev's warped supporters," one critic told Fox.
"If they want to become famous, kill somebody," Northeastern University criminologist Jack Levin told Fox Boston about why he doesn't agree with the cover.
In the magazine's blog post about the cover story they talked about five revelations about the suspect's life through the interviews including his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev's possible mental illness which his mother felt like could be treated by him delving deeper into his religion rather seeing a psychiatrist.
"Around 2008, Jahar's older brother Tamerlan confided in his mother that he felt like 'two people' were inside him," the blog post reads. "She confided this to a close friend who felt he might need a psychiatrist, but Zubeidat believed that religion would be the cure for her son's inner demons and growing mental instability, and pushed him deeper into Islam."
The magazine hasn't released a statement explain their decision but the cover has caused a social media firestorm with #boycottrollingstone trending on Twitter. Many people said they would no longer support the music magazine for glorifying a suspected murderer. People also felt Rolling Stone had convicted Tsarnaev before he was tried in court.
Check out some of the reactions below:
