Criminals as Celebrities (or Boston Bomber on Rolling Stone Cover)

[Timbuk2]

Rolling Stone has made the curious decision to put Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the front cover of its latest issue.



Tsarnaev is the surviving brother of the two who bombed the Boston Marathon.

In disgusted response to the publication, a police photographer has leaked a photo depicting the moment Tsarnaev was captured.



Beeb article below.

A US police photographer has leaked images of Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev during his capture in anger at the picture used by Rolling Stone magazine for its next cover.

Police Sgt Sean Murphy said his photos showed "the real bomber" - the magazine cover was "hurtful" to the victims' memories and their families.

The images, given to Boston Magazine, show him with the red dot of a laser sight of a sniper rifle on his face.

The bombings killed three people.

More than 260 were injured in the two explosions at the marathon finish line on 15 April.

Mr Tsarnaev is also accused of the murder of a fourth person, a university police officer, who was allegedly shot dead by him and his brother Tamerlan in the days after the attack.

The pictures were taken when Mr Tsarnaev, wounded after a gunfight with police, was found hiding in a dry-docked boat in a residential garden.

A spokesman for state police said the release of the photos had not been authorised, and they would not be given to other news media.

The spokesman also said Sgt Murphy, a police photographer, was subject to an internal investigation.

A tweet from the author of the Boston Magazine article said Sgt Murphy had been "relieved of duty".

The police photographer told the magazine he released the contrasting images of Mr Tsarnaev as a response to the Rolling Stone cover.

The latest pictures show the "real Boston bomber, not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine", Sgt Murphy said.

"These were real people, with real lives, with real families," he said in a statement. "And to have this cover dropped into Boston was hurtful to their memories and their families."

On Wednesday, Rolling Stone defended its decision to put Mr Tsarnaev on the cover, saying it was committed to serious, thoughtful coverage.

But two Massachusetts-based convenience store chains, Rockland and Tedeschi Food Shops, and national pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens, said they would not stock the edition.

An outpouring of angry comments appeared on social media networks saying the magazine cover was tasteless.

A bold move by Rolling Stone? A cheap shot to make a quick buck?

Utterly tasteless?

Should criminals be romanticised in this way? Made into celebrities á la Bonnie & Clyde?

Should there be legislation against such publication?

Should the police officer who leaked the photo of the capture face disciplinary charges? Lose his job? Face no further repercussion?