U.S. police officer releases photos of ‘the real’ Boston bomber

A photographer working with the Massachusetts State Police released gritty new photos of “the real Boston bomber,” following the controversial depiction of the suspected Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, reported the Boston Magazine.

Murphy’s portrayal of the ‘the real bomber’

of 4

• 
• 
• 
• 

(4 Photos)

Share

• URL Copied

Law enforcement officials surround the boat where Starnaev hid. (Photo courtesy: Sean Murphy/Boston Magazine)

Tsarnaev appears leaving the boat right before he is captured by police officials. (Photo courtesy: Sean Murphy/Boston Magazine)

Tsarnaev is pictured near the boat where he was hiding. (Photo courtesy: Sean Murphy/Boston Magazine)

After his arrest, medical personnel rush Tsarnaev to the ambulance. (Photo courtesy: Sean Murphy/Boston Magazine)

Sergeant Sean Murphy intended to negate the “glamorizing” manner in which Tsarnaev was portrayed on the cover of the Rolling Stone August issue, said the magazine.

“Glamorizing the face of terror is not just insulting to the family members of those killed in the line of duty, 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,” he said in a statement released on Thursday.

However, a Massachusetts police spokesman said there was no authorization that the pictures be released.

“Today’s dissemination to Boston Magazine of photographs of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev and police activity related to his capture was not authorized by the Massachusetts State Police,” spokesman David Procopio said in a statement.

Procopio told CNN that Murphy was relieved of duty for one day but is schedule to have a status hearing next week to determine if he will be on full duty, restricted duty or suspended during an internal police investigation.

The sergeant published several photos showing police officers on duty and Tsarnaev bloodied and disheveled on the day of his capture.

He defended his decision to release the pictures, saying: “An image like this on the cover of Rolling Stone, we see it instantly as being wrong. What Rolling Stone did was wrong. This guy is evil. This is the real Boston bomber.”

USA today

However, editors of the Rolling Stone stood their ground and denied there was any wrongdoing.

“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,” said the Rolling Stone in a statement.

“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.”

Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured when a bomb went off near the finish line of the Boston marathon on April 15.

Tsarnaev is an ethnic Chechen who came to the U.S. as a child. He pleaded not guilty last week.