Rolling Stone magazine has sparked furious outrage after putting a somewhat glorified image of Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of its August 2013 issue.
The decision to place a photo of the bomber on the cover of the magazine has angered Americans, particularly the families of victims and those who survived the horrific attack.
The cover reads: "THE BOMBER - How a popular, promising student was failed by hs family, fell into radical Islam and became a monster."
A photo of the magazine cover was posted on Facebook, and readers have expressed their disgust at the cover photo, with many threatening to stop their subscription.
Jenna DeMato Hebert commented on Facebook: "Being from Boston, I take this personally offensive that this s*** 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. How about putting Jeff Bauman on the cover, who lost both his legs during this horrific event, but was still strong enough to identify this f***** and his demon brother before they took him into surgery. I personally know people who were directly injured... Thanks for adding even more insult to injury! Rolling Stone has hit an all time low and I wouldn't even wipe my ass with it.... Disgraceful!"
David Becks commented: "I am ending my subscription. This is b***s**t. Let's honor those who hurt innocent people. Who's next, George Zimmerman?? Rolling Stone is a music magazine, not the Taliban Times."
Shawn Anthony wrote: "I think it's wrong to make celebrities out of these people. Why give the guy the cover of Rolling Stone? TIME gave Charles Manson the cover and all the magazines carried pictures of the Columbine shooters on the covers, too. Don't make martyrs out of these people."
Others are rallying for the August issue to be pulled. Kari Carver wrote: "Can we get 1 million likes to have this issue pulled...!!!"
The 19-year-old suspect is charged with murder of three victims, the murder of a police officer in MIT, and using a weapon of mass destruction. Tsarnaev made his first court appearance for a hearing on July 10 at a Boston courthouse. His charges can lead to the death penalty, which state prosecutors believe the defense attorneys will try to avoid.
Dzhokhar and his late brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev built home-made bombs with a pressure cooker and planted the twin bombs at the Boston Marathon finish line on April 15.
Tsarnaev, 26, was killed during a police confrontation on April 19. Dzhokhar was captured alive the next day after one of the nation's biggest manhunts.
The three victims who lost their lives are Martin Richard, 8; Krystle Marie Campbell, 29; and Lingzi Lu, 23. The police officer who was killed by the Tsarnaev brothers at MIT is Sean Collier.
