Photos of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s capture were released by Boston Magazine in the wake of Rolling Stone’s decision to print a photo of the teenage Boston Marathon bombing suspect on its cover this week. The police sergeant who released them was relieved from duty.
Boston Magazine released the photos on Thursday, showing more details of Tsarnaev’s surrender to police after a 24-hour manhunt that paralyzed Boston. They were taken by Boston Sgt. Sean Murphy, who is a tactical photographer with the Massachusetts State Police.
The magazine reported on Thursday evening that Murphy was relieved from his post pending a review, according to CNN.
“Murphy wants the world to know that the Tsarnaev in the photos he took that night — defeated and barely alive, with the red dots of sniper rifles lighting up his forehead — is the real face of terrorism, not the handsome, confident young man shown on the magazine cover,” wrote John Wolfson, who is the editor-in-chief of Boston Magazine.
The images show Tsarnaev emerging from a boat where he was holed up in suburban Boston. The terror suspect is shown, covered in blood, and in one shot, a laser dot from a sniper rifle is aimed at his forehead.
“I hope that the people who see these images will know that this was real,” Murphy told Boston Magazine. “It was as real as it gets. This may have played out as a television show, but this was not a television show.”
In one, he puts his blood-soaked hand in the air as if to show that he is surrendering in one.
The photo release came after the Rolling Stone’s cover drew widespread condemnation on Twitter and Facebook.
Murphy added: “This guy is evil. This is the real Boston bomber. Not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.”
