Tsarnaev Rolling Stone Cover Draws Criticisms

On Friday, be surprised to see Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the Rolling Stone magazine cover. The magazine drew criticisms especially from Boston-area readers who thought that it turned an accused killer into a “rock star.”

The article was written by contributing editor Janet Reitman, with the title “The Bomber: How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam and became a monster.”

The cover photo showed the 19-year-old Tsarnaev, with long, curly hair, mustache and goatee, staring directly into the camera.

The Facebook page of Rolling Stone has been bombarded with rage and comments from online readers.

Some of the angry comments include:

– I will never buy, read or promote anything you publish moving forward. Glorifying terrorism, are you that desperate for revenue? FU

– I hope every news stand in America stops carrying your magazine! bull shit to make this piece of shit a celebrity.

– Repulsed ad disgusted that you would make money off of this monster and the tragedy that he caused . Renew yourself and our faith in you and donate the proceeds from this issue or I , personally will no longer partake in the purchase of any future rolling stone magazines.

– What the hell is wrong with you numbskulls? Showing the youth of this county, or any other country, that to be famous all you need to be is a terrorist coward is as irresponsible as a publication can be. Pull that issue from the shelves you morons.

– I am so furious that you would even think of putting that murderer on your cover!!! BOYCOTT ROLLONG STONE

– Will not buy this magazine again, a slap in the face to the tragedy in Boston

– If you have this page liked, unlike it, they support terrorist and just like any other superstar or Famous person they all fell over stupidity, i don’t know what was going on inside rolling stones head when they came up with this issue, did you really think this would be a big hit? its actually a big disaster, i now hate your company and i hope it burns down to the ground honestly, you don’t deserve to have this business no more.

Update: Rolling Stone was quick to respond with a message:

“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. –THE EDITORS”