The Tragic Story of Tyler Clementi, Rutgers' Webcam Voyeurism Victim

[Honey]

New details about the victim and alleged perpetrators in Rutgers' deadly cyber-voyeurism case have emerged: Tyler Clementi, age 18, is believed to have jumped to his death after his roommate broadcasted video of Tyler "making out with a dude" online.



As we reported this morning, Dharun Ravi tweeted last week about secretly recording—then publicly broadcasting—video of his college roommate "making out with a dude." Now The Newark Star-Ledger reports that Clementi is presumed dead after his car, cell phone, and computer were discovered near the George Washington Bridge. Tyler's wallet lay abandoned on a walkway. He is believed to have thrown himself into the Hudson River and died.
Tyler Clementi grew up in Ridgewood, NJ and was a freshman on Rutgers' Piscataway campus. Dharun Ravi, also an 18-year-old freshman, is from Plainsboro and attended West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North. Ravi's classmate in high school and college, Molly Wei, has been charged with invasion of privacy alongside him for her role in the webcam affair: Ravi tweeted that he watched his livestream of Tyler from a computer in Molly's room. Both Dharun and Molly face up to five years in jail.

Tyler's Facebook profile is still up. It offers little information other than a single Favorite Quotation: "What do you get when you kiss a guy? You get enough germs to catch pneumonia..." —Promises Promises

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...9/clementi.jpg

[msdeb]

Tyler's Facebook profile is still up. It offers little information other than a single Favorite Quotation: "What do you get when you kiss a guy? You get enough germs to catch pneumonia..." —Promises Promises

it doesn't say that.

the guy that instigated this is an asshole and Karma will catch up to his ass.

[celeb_2006]

It's heartbreaking.

Would a guy have killed himself if it were him kissing/making out with a girl?

It just goes to show how homophobic our society really is, and how people in this day and age still must feel 'pressured' to keep it on the down low in 'mainstream' society.

Really sad.

[Brookie]

I don't get how a rational thinking person can possibly think about doing this much harm to someone. This is no different than being a playground bully and beating up someone because you think they're smaller and weaker than you. These two need to be in jail for more than 5 years.

[KrisNine]

5 years isn't enough for these little assholes. They ruined someone's life, I hope theirs is ruined as well.

[Lalique]

Fucking bullies. Let's see how adding 'prison' to your resumes helps your careers.

[Sundance]

This is so sad.

[sluce]

I actually cried this morning when I heard this story on The Today Show. I can't begin to imagine the mind of this asshole who would do this to his roommate. You just know that the defense attorney will now start digging up everything from the victims past to try and say he was already trouble and their clients didn't cause his death. I also agree that this would not have happened if he was kissing a girl.

I live in a town surrounded by 6 colleges. A few years ago my neighbor rented their carriage house to some students from Villanova. They were seniors and it was constant parties. The one kid was so good looking , so spoiled and so arrogant. He was dating a girl and she slept over a lot. Any night she was not there was a night for him to bring home a different girl. Then he found out she cheated on him on spring break in March. He printed out copies of nude photos he had taken of her. He plastered them all over the bar where students hung out a few blocks from the Villanova campus. He hung them other places and emailed them out to everyone he knew. Someone reported it to the police. Villanova security investigated but said it happened off campus and didn't involve them. The local police wanted to take action but the girl decided to not proceed and withdrew her complaint. Next thing you knew they were back together and she was sleeping over all the time again.

[Janet296]

I cried when I heard about this poor boy. He took a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I just want to take shake that boy and tell him to fight that fucker! Bring him up on criminal charges and get him expelled.

[celeb_2006]

Outrage, remorse after Rutgers student's death

Outrage, remorse after Rutgers student's death - Yahoo! News

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The death of a Rutgers University freshman stirred outrage and remorse on campus from classmates who wished they could have stopped the teen from jumping off a bridge last week after a recording of him having a sexual encounter with a man was broadcast online.

"Had he been in bed with a woman, this would not have happened," said Lauren Felton, 21, of Warren. "He wouldn't have been outed via an online broadcast and his privacy would have been respected and he might still have his life."

Gay rights groups say Tyler Clementi's suicide makes him a national example of a problem they are increasingly working to combat: young people who kill themselves after being tormented over their sexuality.

A lawyer for Clementi's family confirmed Wednesday that he had jumped off the George Washington Bridge last week. Police recovered a man's body Wednesday afternoon in the Hudson River just north of the bridge, and authorities were trying to determine if it was Clementi's.

The lawyer has not responded to requests for comment on whether Clementi was open about his sexual orientation.

Clementi's roommate, Dhraun Ravi, and fellow Rutgers freshman Molly Wei, both 18, have been charged with invading Clementi's privacy. Middlesex County prosecutors say the pair used a webcam to surreptitiously transmit a live image of Clementi having sex on Sept. 19 and that Ravi tried to webcast a second encounter on Sept. 21, the day before Clementi's suicide.

A lawyer for Ravi, of Plainsboro, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. It was unclear whether Wei, of Princeton, had retained a lawyer.

Collecting or viewing sexual images without consent is a fourth-degree crime. Transmitting them is a third-degree crime with a maximum prison term of five years.

ABC News and The Star-Ledger of Newark reported that Clementi left on his Facebook page on Sept. 22 a note that read: "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry." On Wednesday, his Facebook page was accessible only to friends.

Even if the young violinist from Ridgewood was not well known at his new school, his death stirred outrage.

"The notion that video of Tyler doing what he was doing can be considered a spectacle is just heinous," said Jordan Gochman, 19, of Jackson, who didn't know Clementi. "It's intolerant, it's upsetting, it makes it seem that being gay is something that is wrong and can be considered laughable."

Other students who did know Clement were upset that they didn't do more to help him. "I wish I could have been more of an ally," said Georges Richa, a freshman from New Brunswick.

About 100 people gathered Wednesday night for a vigil on campus. They lay on the ground and chanted slogans like, "We're here, we're queer, we're not going home."

Several gay rights groups linked Clementi's death to the troubling phenomenon of young people committing suicide after being harassed over their sexuality.

On Tuesday, a 13-year-old California boy died nine days after classmates found him hanging from a tree. Authorities say other teens had taunted the boy, Seth Walsh of Tehachapi, for being gay.

Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, said in a statement that his group considers Clementi's death a hate crime.

"We are heartbroken over the tragic loss of a young man who, by all accounts, was brilliant, talented and kind," Goldstein said. "And we are sickened that anyone in our society, such as the students allegedly responsible for making the surreptitious video, might consider destroying others' lives as a sport."

Last week, Dan Savage, a columnist at the Seattle weekly newspaper The Stranger, launched the latest of several efforts to try to stem the problem: the It Gets Better Project, a YouTube channel where gay, lesbian and bisexual adults share the turmoil they experienced when they were younger — and that their lives are better now.

In response to Clementi's death and other incidents, the group Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays said it would issue a "call to action" on the subject on Thursday.

Rutgers University President Richard McCormick wrote in a letter to the campus, "If the charges are true, these actions gravely violate the university's standards of decency and humanity." Coincidentally, the university on Wednesday was launching a new two-year Project Civility, designed to get students thinking about how they treat others.

Meanwhile, for some of Clementi's new classmates, the first time they learned much about him was when they got word of his death.

"I guess the only person I haven't talked to is Tyler 'cause he's like really quiet and shy," said Justin Lee, a freshman from Princeton who lives on Clementi's hall.

[twitchy2.0]

I just want to take shake that boy and tell him to fight that fucker!

Lots of people did tell him that. He reached out on a couple of forums for advice. (threads now locked and moved to private)

[WhateverLolaWants]

Its a sad world when so many are forced to be ashamed of who they love.

[MohandasKGanja]

I blame "American Pie".

[BBDSP]

Those 2 need to get the maximum sentence, and then when they're done serving it, they need to die in a fire.

I read this story on the internet last night and I honestly don't know what the fuck is wrong with those two kids. I hope the rest of their lives suck.

[celeb_2006]

I'm awaiting the tear filled public 'statement' and/or "apology" from these two turds (or their lawyers), in which they make themselves out to be the victim in this.