The cover of Rolling Stone magazine that hits newsstands on Aug. 1 features an image of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and has many criticizing the publication for choosing the alleged terrorist for its cover.

The picture of an unsmiling Tsarnaev - sporting shaggy hair and a goatee - lies above the bolded headline "The Bomber." The subhead states the inside cover story will reveal "[h]ow a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam, and became a monster."

The magazine posted a blog entry featuring what it calls "five revelations" in the story, written by magazine contributing editor Janet Reitman. The details cited in the report include Tsarnaev's devotion to Islam, his troubled homelife and his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev's "growing mental instability."

At time of publication, Rolling Stone has not commented publicly on the decision to put Dzhokhar on its upcoming cover.

The cover already drew negative reaction on social media ahead of its public release, with "Boycott Rolling Stone" becoming a trending Twitter topic. Some users on the website attacked the magazie for trying to "legitimize a mass murderer" and glorify terrorists.

The Tsarnaev brothers are accused of planted two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon held on April 15. The explosions killed three people and injured over 200 others, Fox News reported. Dzhokhar was captured on April 19 following a shootout with police, in which Tamerlan was killed.

On July 10, Dzokhar pleaded not guilty to 30 federal counts. If the government decides to seek capital punishment, he could face the death penalty if convicted on one of 17 counts.

Tags
Dzhokhar tsarnaev