Tyler Clementi

Introduction

Tyler Clementi was an 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22, 2010. According to authorities, Clementi’s roommate had used a webcam to spy on Clementi’s romantic encounters with another man, then used Twitter to invite others to watch a second live transmission two days later (Pérez-Peña, 2012). Clementi had posted a suicide note on his Facebook page that read simply, “Jumping off the gw bridge sorry” (Foderaro, 2010). After his death, family and friends turned the page into an online memorial.

Family members describe Clementi as driven and shy, with few friends. According to the Wall Street Journal, two days before Clementi left for college, he “told his mother he was gay, that he was having doubts about whether there is a God and that he felt friendless” (Associated Press, 2011).

Charges

Dharun Ravi faces a 15-count indictment in connection with Tyler Clementi's death. A grand jury has charged him with multiple counts of invasion of privacy, hindering apprehension, tampering with a witness and evidence, and two counts of bias intimidation, a hate crime punishable by up to 10 years in state prison. There are no homicide charges in connection with Clementi's death.

Molly Wei, who joined Ravi in spying on Clementi in her dorm room and with her computer, also faced invasion of privacy charges, which prosecutors dropped after she negotiated a plea deal and agreed to testify against Ravi. Wei has described Ravi as “a braggart and a habitual liar, who tried to mislead the police into thinking that the spying was unintentional”(Pérez-Peña, 2011). Ravi, an Indian citizen living in the US legally, rejected a plea bargain that would have prot...

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Pérez-Peña, R. (2011, August 12). More Complex Picture Emerges in Rutgers Student’s Suicide. The New York Times. New York. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/nyregion/with-tyler-clementi-suicide-more-complex-picture-emerges.html

Pérez-Peña, R. (2012, February 24). Rutgers Dorm Spying Trial Begins With Questions of Motivation. The New York Times. New York. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/nyregion/in-tyler-clementi-trial-looking-at-dharun-ravis-intentions.html?_r=2&ref=tylerclementi

Shallwani, P. (2012, February 24). Rutgers Webcam-Spying Trial Begins. Wall Street Journal. New Brunswick. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2012/02/24/rutgers-webcam-spying-trial-begins/