Boston Marathon Bombing Victims: Rolling Stone Cover 'Disgusting'
BOSTON (CBS) – Rolling Stone magazine's decision to put accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on its latest cover has left many people furious, most notably the victims.
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Brothers J.P. and Paul Norden of Stoneham each lost a leg in the attacks and they let the magazine know how they feel in this long Facebook post Wednesday morning.
Here you go Rolling Stones; if you required a cover and wanted marathon related, one would assume that you would have promoted a nation of continued healing, provided American heroes and encouraged moving forward. This is just one of several available shots that would have made sense if you were looking for togetherness.
Instead, your irresponsible behavior did more to tear open wounds and insult victims, survivors and families that have been slowly healing and accepting the horrendous acts of terrorism. There is a very long road that awaits the involved victims and your magazine ripped at the hearts in an instance and cut at the deepest levels and for what, "To increase sales of a magazine that usually is worthy of music celebrities." Well, Rolling Stones, you just reclaimed your 15 minutes of fame, we only hope, it lasts only fifteen minutes.
What you did yesterday with your incredibly poor decision, was weaken extreme good that has been built from unimaginable evil.
Well, we are here to remind you that we are 2 BROTHERS 1 NATION....Standing Boston Strong.......and no room for magazines intended on highlighting evil, hate and death.
Today, we take a step over that magazine and hold our heads up high and ask our supporters to do the same and to also ignore the sensationalism perpetrated by RS.
SBS......
MBTA Officer Dic Donohue, who nearly died after being shot during the violent standoff with the Tsarnaev brothers, also issued a statement.
The City of Boston and the surrounding communities have faced many challenges since the bombings at the marathon finish line. The new cover of Rolling Stone has garnered much attention due to its sensationalized depiction of one of the alleged bombers. My family and I were personally affected by these individuals' actions. I cannot and do not condone the cover of the magazine, which is thoughtless at best. However, I appreciate our country's protection of free speech afforded to us by the Constitution. I am confident that our Boston Strong community will remain intrepid and unshaken by the cover of this magazine.
The fiance of victim Marc Fucarile called the cover 'disgusting.'
For over three months now, Marc has had to wake up every day in a hospital dealing with pain, dozens of surgeries and intensive rehab therapy. Our entire family has been focused on Marc's recovery while we anxiously await when he can return home. The new Rolling Stone cover is disgusting. It sensationalizes Marc's pain as well all the other victims and survivors. It is an insult to the families and people impacted that day. We know that the people of Boston are better than this and will continue to rise above this meaningless story and keep the focus where it belongs on the victims, survivors and their families who face a lifetime of challenges. We look forward to welcoming Marc home soon and thank everyone for their continued support.
Katlyn Townsend, a friend of Jeff Bauman, who lost both of his legs in the bombings, wrote a letter to Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone's founder, starting an online petition to get the magazine to remove the cover photo.
Here is an excerpt:
While I respect and support the media's right to freedom of speech, I do not condone your blatant abuse of that right to sell magazines. Your use of a provocative, borderline sympathetic image and headline of someone who has caused so much pain to our country is appalling, insensitive, and disgusting. This person does not deserve to have his name mentioned publicly, let alone be featured on the cover of a magazine.
I demand that you pull this issue from newsstands immediately so the thousands of Americans who were affected by the bombings do not have to see this face of terror. I also demand that you remove all related content from your website and social media platforms. Additionally, I strongly suggest that all net proceeds from the sale of this issue be immediately directed to the One Fund.
Boston Mayor Tom Menino called the cover a "total disgrace" and Gov. Deval Patrick said it was "out of taste."
Mayor Menino wrote a letter to the editor of the magazine, saying in part, "The survivors of the Boston attacks deserve Rolling Stone cover stories, though I no longer feel that Rolling Stone deserves them."
Read: Menino's Letter To Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone's editors responded to the outrage in a statement Wednesday afternoon, saying the cover story "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."
