BOSTON (WHDH) — The issue of “Rolling Stone” magazine featuring accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has yet to hit the stands, but it is causing outrage across New England.
“They’re trying to make him look like a rock star and he’s a horrible person that did a horrible thing,” said Rachel Carfarella, who dislikes the magazine cover.
“I think it’s a disgrace, on the cover they should have the survivors and the first responders,” said Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
Victims of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing also spoke out.
The Norden brothers, who each lost a leg at the finish line, released a statement on Facebook, which read in part: “There is a very long road that awaits the involved victims and your magazine ripped at the hearts in an instant and cut at the deepest levels and for what, to increase sales of a magazine that usually is worthy of music celebrities. Well ‘Rolling Stone’, you just reclaimed your 15 minutes of fame, we only hope, it lasts only 15 minutes.”
The girlfriend of Marc Fucarile, another person seriously injured in the bombings, released this statement: “The new ‘Rolling Stone’ cover is disgusting. It sensationalizes Marc’s pain as well as all the other victims and survivors. It is an insult to the families and people impacted that day.”
The cover story headlined “The Bomber” details how a popular, promising student was failed by his family and fell into radical Islam. The editor who wrote the story spent the last two months interviewing dozens of people who knew the accused terrorist from childhood to college.
“Rolling Stone” magazine is defending the story, saying: “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.”
But it’s not the story that has people upset; it’s the portrayal of an accused terrorist on the cover, a place usually reserved for rock stars and celebrities.
“The cover is out of taste,” said Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
Menino wrote a letter to “Rolling Stone”. In part it reads: “The survivors of the Boston attacks deserve ‘Rolling Stone’ cover stories, though I no longer feel that ‘Rolling Stone’ deserves them.”
The issue is set to hit newsstands on Aug. 3.