Why are hundreds of teenage girls crushing on an accused murderer?

In a disturbing trend an accused ‘terrorist’ has attracted groupies.

Hundreds of teenage girls crushing on a man accused of murdering three people.

Teenage girls swept up in an online trend supporting a 21-year old man who is now the focus of a death row trial.

Nineteen months after the Boston bombings Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s trial is starting in the US.

The 21-year old is accused of plotting with his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and carrying out an attack near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in April 2013. The pressure cooker bombs killed three people, wounded more than 260 and spurred a massive manhunt that terrorised the city for days.

The world stood on alert as fears of terrorism struck again.

In the trial, which began Monday in Boston, US Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
While the state of Massachusetts actually got rid of the death penalty three decades ago due to the nature of the crimes Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is accused of committing prosecutors have the ability to pursue the punishment.

As the world watches to see the outcome a disturbing development since his arrest has caused growing concern.

An online support network for the man they call Jahar – and the hashtag #freejahar trending. Most concerning of all some of the main members of this support network – teenage girls.

The New York Post has reported on the trend saying that one teenage girl was even planning on having Dzhokhar’s words inked on her arm forever.

“Getting one of Jahar’s tweets tattooed on me tomorrow. Guess you could say I’m a #FreeJahar supporter” @keepitbluntedd tweeted.

She told the newspaper that said she was putting a tweet he had sent out saying “If you have the knowledge and the inspiration all that’s left is to take action” on her arm.

Forums and Facebook groups following #freejahar discuss everything from his legal case to his curly hair.

One called Gianna tweeted “Yes i like Justin Bieber and i like Jahar but that has nothing to do with why i support him. I know he’s innocent, he is far too beautiful”

Tweets that Jahar sent are re-tweeted.

And gifs and YouTube videos of him dancing are posted by the fans.

In July when he first appeared at his arraignment The Boston Herald reported “about a half-dozen supporters, all young women, wore T-shirts that read ‘Free the Lion’ and ‘Dzhokhar is innocent,’

His victims and their families however are horrified by the fangirl trend.

The Boston Herald goes on to report that one of them yelled at the supporters “You are disgusting. You’re disgusting’’

“Don’t you know people died?’’

Writing for The LA Times an opinion piece by author Charlotte Allen put the phenomenon down to the accused murderer’s “charisma.”

“I’m betting that women, young and old, are drawn to Dzhokhar not because he is a good-looking late adolescent but because he is a good-looking accused killer. He’s a classic “bad boy” of the sort to whom women are chronically attracted because they want to reform them, or minister to their wounds, or be the healing presence they’ve never had — but mostly because they find them sexy….In short, Dzhokhar in his photos looks cocky. Women love cocky.”

As what is expected to be a lengthy trial gets underway the fangirls aren’t going anywhere. The hope is that the voices of the victims drown out the voices of these manic teens, and that the manic teens learn what in many cases “cocky” might actually represent.