A POLICE photographer – furious with Rolling Stone magazine for ‘glamourising’
the surviving Boston Marathon suspect – has released gritty images from the
night Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured.
The photos released to Boston Magazine yesterday by State Police tactical
photographer Sgt. Sean Murphy show a bloody, dishevelled Tsarnaev with the
red dot of a sniper’s rifle laser sight on his forehead.
Murphy said in a statement to the magazine that Tsarnaev is evil and his
photos show the “real Boston bomber, not someone fluffed and buffed for the
cover of Rolling Stone magazine.”
The officer was later relieved of his duties.
The music magazine hits the shelves this week, and some retailers have said
they won’t sell it.
The newly released photos were taken when Tsarnaev was captured April 19,
bleeding and hiding in a boat in a suburban backyard.
The April 15 bombing near the finish line of the most famous marathon in the
country killed three people and injured more than 260. A police officer was
allegedly killed April 18 by Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, who died
following a shootout with police later that evening.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen who came to the U.S. as a child, pleaded
not guilty last week while appearing nonchalant, though his face was swollen
and his arm was in a cast.
Boston Magazine printed more than a dozen photos from the day Tsarnaev was
captured.
Three of the images show Tsarnaev as he emerged from the boat, head bowed,
with red smudges and streaks on his clothing and the boat.
Two images show the red dot of the laser sight in the middle of his forehead
and just above his left eye. The other show the dot on the top of his head
as he buries his face in his arms.
Boston Magazine editor John Wolfson later tweeted and reported on the
magazine’s website that Murphy was “relieved of duty” and had a hearing next
week.
Police later said they will conduct an internal investigation into Murphy’s
release of the photos.
Murphy said in his statement to Boston Magazine that Rolling Stone’s cover
photo, a softly-lit image of a brooding Tsarnaev, insults officers killed in
the line of duty, their colleagues and their families by glamorizing the
“face of terror.”
He said: “It also could be an incentive to those who may be unstable to do
something to get their face on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.”
Rolling Stone has said the cover story on Tsarnaev was part of its
“long-standing commitment to serious and thoughtful coverage of the most
important political and cultural issues of our day.”
In his statement, Murphy said the capture of Tsarnaev played out like a
television show, but he hopes his photos show it was “as real as it gets.”
Murphy said: “These were real people, with real lives, with real families.
“And to have this cover dropped into Boston was hurtful to their memories and
their families.”
He added: “There is nothing glamorous in bringing more pain to a grieving
family.”