The suicide of Tyler Clementi
April 20, 2012
Tyler Clementi was an eighteen-year-old student at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge on September 22, 2010. His roommate, Dharun Ravi, and a fellow hallmate, Molly Wei, used iChat between a webcam on Ravi’s computer and a computer in Wei’s dorm room to view, without Clementi’s knowledge, Clementi kissing another man.[3] Ravi later attempted to view Clementi’s sexual encounters a second time, and drew attention to the event by making Twitter postings to his 150 followers, and in private messages to his friends.[4][5] Ravi, who faced 15 basic charges, including invasion of privacy, witness tampering, and evidence tampering, with further charges of bias intimidation attached to some of the basic charges, was found guilty of all 15 counts on March 16, 2012, including all four bias intimidation charges.[6] He was not charged with a role in the suicide itself.[7] Wei was not charged in exchange for testifying against Ravi and doing community service.[3][8]