Rolling Stone Boston bomber cover stirs controversy

Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will get the full rock star treatment as he's featured on the cover of the Aug. 3 edition of Rolling Stone magazine.

The cover image is a selfie of Tsarnaev with shaggy hair, a teenager's goatee and a title that reads "How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam, and became a monster." The cover story is written by contributing editor Janet Reitman.

From Boston.com:

The cover story, "Jahar's World," reveals that Tsaranev played down his Muslim faith in high school, once told a friend that terrorist attacks could be justified, and may have been willing to surrender during a standoff in Watertown on April 19 because of a plea from a former wrestling coach.

Reaction to Rolling Stone magazine's cover photo and story has been brutal on the Boston.com version on this story:

  • The image on the cover of Rolling Stone likens a terrorist to a rock star, what an incredibly irresponsible act...almost unbelievable...and a testament to how desperate this magazine has become...go bankrupt already and stop taking up space in our culture. Gross.Pathetic of Rolling Stone to even consider this terd on the cover.
  • He killed a 6 year old and blew the legs off man, many more........oh, I MEAN ALLEGEGED for all you pathetric ESQ types out there. Wake up Rolling Stone your magazine is dead like his killer brother.
  • The poor kid. I hope there is a death penalty in the near future. I would hate to have the poor young thing suffer for long.

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