A startling number of teen girls have admitted to having a schoolgirl crush on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, proclaiming their love for the Boston Marathon bombing suspect on social media.

It’s a disturbing trend on sites like Twitter and Facebook, where girls have admitted to finding Dzhokhar Tsarnaev attractive, and herald him in the ranks of Justin Bieber and One Direction singer Harry Styles.

One Twitter user, a waitress who goes by the name Keepitblunted, has said she is looking to get a tattoo of a Dzhokhar Tsarnaev quote.

“If you have the knowledge and the inspiration all that’s left is to take action.”

The quote was tweeted by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on April 8, a week before the Boston Marathon bombings.

She has since gone back on her promise, posting that she has decided to hold off “out of respect of my family’s wishes”.

But the young woman, named Alisha, told the New York Post that she’s not among the group of women who are interested in the case against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev because she’s in love with him.

She told the paper: “Somebody needs to stand up for him, and not the little high-school girls who just think he’s cute.”

The FreeJahar97 Twitter account was created on April 25 – 10 days after the double bombing.

The first tweet reads: “any other beliebers out there who want to see Jahar freed and believe he is innocent? feel like i’m all alone here.. #freejahar.”

Another says she is considering becoming a Muslim to better related to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

“I know I didn’t know Jahar and I shouldn’t be saying this but… I miss Jahar… Is that weird? Don’t think I’m weird. I just miss him.”

Facebook group Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is innocent sprung up shortly after the bombings and has more than 8,000 followers

Tsarnaev5ever tweeted: “Jahar is gonna go crazy in that cell alone with just a book… I wanna send money to him… Anyone have the address?”

“Poor Jahar… He’s only 19. ONLY 19… No one deserves to be in a 10×10… No one…”

Shadowlilly1993 posted: “Yall can judge me as much as you want. I’m on his side.This kid needs people behind him. I hope to meet him one day he fascinates me @J_tsar.”

A teen who goes by the Twitter handle Wildziall, says: “I wonder what jahar is thinking about right now.”

In another, she said: “My little brother just said he would cover for me if I snuck out of the house to meet up with jahar I love him.”

Meanwhile, a Facebook group that sprung up shortly after the bombings, “Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is innocent”, has more than 8,000 followers.

The group, loaded with conspiracy theories and proclamations of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s innocence, is by invitation only.

Vocal fans of the “Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is Innocent” Facebook group have claimed that neither Tsarnaev’s brother, Tamerlan, was responsible for the Boston bombing.

Instead, they say, a government-funded group of mercenaries from a private company staged the event and framed the Chechen pair.

The company they accuse, Craft International, trains military and police teams through tactical and combat scenarios. Its founder, retired Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, wrote the best-selling book American Sniper and recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history.

Chris Kyle was killed in February at a Texas gun range, by a fellow veteran struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.

[youtube t9qZvQ3XmNA]