DZHOKHAR Tsarnaev has now been charged with using weapons of mass destruction and faces the death penalty if he's convicted.

But the 19-year-old suspected of co-conspiring in the Boston Marathon bombing has already won a legion of supporters who are proclaiming his innocence, Wired reports.



Just as social media carried the story last week, including a few fake rumours and false alarms, the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are now buzzing with the growing #freejahar movement.



The picture (right) was posted to Instagram and is one of many from social media users desperate to see Tsarnaev exonerated of the bombings.



Tsarnaev, whose older brother Tamerlan, the alleged co-conspirator, died after a heated skirmish with police on Friday, has the support of his parents, who claim their boys were set up.



Three people were killed and 180 injured in last Tuesday's Boston Marathon blasts, while a police officer was shot dead at the MIT campus in Cambridge on Friday.

Police investigate triple homicide link



But some people are sceptical, according to the Wired report. They're not quick to believe that Tsarnaev is guilty; the younger brother was found badly wounded in a boat and is still in hospital in a serious condition.



"He's f***ing innocent. If he were 'guilty', it wouldn't take this long to f***ing prove it, and there would actually be evidence," said Twitter user, @sedathemermaid.



Another, @TroyCrossley, tweeted: "We The Private Eye have Proven Jhar innocent an (sic) soon he will publicly be innocent ..Keep up the great job campaigners."



Crossley is one of Tsarnaev's friends and started the #TroyCRossleyTruth campaign on Twitter.

From the 1st day I saw this I knew I had to step up and say something. I stood alone an now We stand together!... fb.me/2HJqwB0SU — troy (@TroyCrossley) April 22, 2013

Don't believe everything you hear and see on the news. Governments have lied to us before. #FreeJahar He is an innocent man!! — #musicismylife (@Nevan_W) April 20, 2013

Ok RT @lindsaylowhands: & until he admits that he did it, I believe he's innocent. They should let him go free. #FreeJahar — Nelle (@NMinajSupport) April 20, 2013

Conspiracy theorists and internet sleuths can't fathom the idea the two brothers with Chechnyan background potentially have extremist Islamic ties and could have carried out such henious acts, Wired reports.



"We are dealing with conspiratorially minded individuals who don't believe anything the government says anyway," Stanford University's Thomas Hegghammer, a terrorism expert, told Wired.



"The simplest and most effective strategy is probably to highlight the suffering caused by the bombs.



"Let them see the injured women and children. The most hardcore extremists won't care, but some fence-sitters might."

Weapons of mass destruction: Tsarnaev charged



The charges against Tsarnaev came shortly before Boston held a moment of silence at 2.50pm Monday (4.50am Tuesday AEST) in honour of the three people killed exactly one week ago.



Church bells tolled across the city and state in tribute to the victims.



After the two brothers engaged in a gun battle with police early Friday, authorities found many unexploded homemade bombs at the scene, along with more than 250 rounds of ammunition.

Police Commissioner Ed Davis said the stockpile was "as dangerous as it gets in urban policing".

"We have reason to believe, based upon the evidence that was found at that scene - the explosions, the explosive ordnance that was unexploded and the firepower that they had - that they were going to attack other individuals. That's my belief at this point." Mr Davis told CBS television.

More on the Boston bombings