Featured on the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine’s controversial August issue is Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The publication is famous for featuring the good, the bad and the disenfranchised on the front of their monthly mag – including mass murderer Charles Manson.
This particular cover includes the banner promo: “THE BOMBER. How a Popular, Promising Student Was Failed by his Family, Fell Into Radical Islam and Became a Monster.”
Rolling Stone editors prefaced the feature article titled “Jahar’s World” with this statement: “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.”
According to TMZ, Boston supermarket chain Roche Bros. and nationwide pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens are among a growing number of retailers who have decided not to put the controversial Rolling Stone issue on store shelves.
The photo in question has appeared on television and in newspapers across the country, including the New York Times – leaving many wondering why people are reacting so strongly against this particular magazine cover.
See photo gallery of controversial Rolling Stone covers here.
Photos: Video Screen Grabs, Facebook-Rolling Stone