Tyler Clementi’s accused tormentor Dharun Ravi plead “not guilty” to 15 charges related to the apparent bullying suicide of fellow Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi. As you may know, Ravi allegedly set up a hidden camera in Clementi’s room to broadcast video of Clementi making out with a dude. Sometime after the alleged broadcast, Clementi jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge.
It’s still not clear how much action Ravi actually saw or how many folks tuned into Ravi’s broadcast (something that may dampen the prosecution). But now that his best friend Molly Wei has copped a plea to testify against him, Ravi’s facing the possibility of 10 years or more in a state pen aline as one of the first major cyber-bullying cases in America. Facts arising in the case could very well help to create cyber-bullying legislation and help educate and discourage kids from acting like a digital dillhole.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
He is attempting to mount a defense that Tyler’s sexuality had nothing to do with the video broadcast. They are attempting to portray the act as “nothing more than a college prank one roomate pulled on another”………
‘Cept they are convientley leaving out the part about his tweets and texts inviting fellow students to “watch the little faggot get fucked” and how he furiously attempted to erase and recall all those acts……….
I am actually amazed that under a Christie, a repugnatican governor mulling a run for white house such a series of serious charges were lodged against this scumbag……Was certain a plea would have been negotiated without a trial……..Sometimes there is a glimmer of hope out there……….
TMikel
He attempted to video and publicize a gay sex act and he claims Tyler’s sexuality had nothing to do with the issue? How may straight sex acts did he video? This young man is vile and full of hate and deserves his time in prison.
Kev C
His insensitivity and lack of remorse are disturbing, almost psychopathic. I hope they fuck him up good in jail.
Aussie Col
How can he plead ‘not guilty’ when it seems he is ‘guilty’ by his own admission. He admits doing it as a ‘prank’, he just didn’t like the consequences – him being filmed openly and compared to the worst scum bags we can imagine. He is a predator, that searched for someone’s vulnerability and exploited it; advertised it and broadcast it – all for his own pleasure. My expectation is that in desperation Ravi will claim he was helping Tyler come out for his own good. Ravi is a despicable human being.
TheRealAdam
@Kev C: I understand the anger, but, I really don’t think he understood the gravity of the situation or the crime he was committing. Keep in mind that he and that bitch Molly are barely legal teenagers, and there haven’t been many, if any, legal precedents like this. It’ll be interesting to see how the courts handle this case.
Still, I don’t see how wishing him personal harm will do any good. I think a fair and just trial should be enough justice. Remember, he didn’t actually physically push Tyler off that bridge. The responsibility for Tyler’s life, in this case, was in his own hands. That being said, obviously Ravi and Molly can’t be removed from this situation.
Kev C
@TheRealAdam: I would like to think you were right, but I’ve seen it more than enough times. He probably laughed, smirked or shrug his shoulders when he first learned of Tyler’s death, because he really seems clueless, insensitive and lacking all empathy or remorse. Just an empty, chucklehead pscyho.
Aussie Col
@TheRealAdam: I agree a just trial is all that is needed, but this kid is no angel. He tried to delete tweets and texts and all sorts of stuff. It’s sad that we have these twisted individuals that will try to avoid justice by tampering with witnesses and evidence. I forgive him, in as much as that counts for anything. But the full vileness of his crime must be displayed, and he needs to pay the full legal price. That’s all.
Shannon1981
the guy is a psychopath. If he isn’t locked up, he’ll just do something else. They never stop.
Shannon1981
@TheRealAdam: Tyler is dead. Eye for an Eye IMO. Throw the book, and let these people see what anti gay acts will get them. Make it worse than the lynchings of blacks during slavery. Obviously despicable on a different level, in a different way. But make him suffer. It will be to the good of many. It’ll silence the homophobes. Make them keep their anti gay shit to themselves, and it’ll show everyone bigotry is bigotry and WILL NOT be tolerated.
TheRealAdam
@Kev C: Maybe you’re right. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.
@Aussie Col: I completely agree with you. I was only trying to indicate that his motive, I’m assuming, wasn’t to actually kill Tyler or see him die, so it seemed a little harsh to wish harm upon him in prison. It’s not as if Ravi went out and beat Tyler to death in an attack. But, he’s involved and arguably responsible for the suicide because of his homophobic actions.
@Shannon1981: I agree. Like I said above, I wasn’t trying to dismiss Ravi’s homophobia and anti-gay attitude/actions, and the fact that he tried to cover his shit up by deleting his texts and what not, shows that he had no remorse and was only trying to save his own ass. I don’t want the courts to go easy on this case, because examples need to be made of this type of anti-gay behavior. I just don’t think he was smart enough or wise enough to understand how serious his actions were.
Tommy
@Shannon1981:
Oh for fuck’s sake, it was a prank. A tactless, cruel, homophobic prank, but a prank all the same. No one held a gun to Clementi’s head. The kid flipped out and reacted unpredictably. Holding someone accountable for someone else’s decision to commit suicide is absurd. What next, are we going to start prosecuting people whose exes take things too far and kill themselves? Prosecuting professors whose students can’t deal with failure? Further, has anyone considered the implications of enshring suicide as a means of retaliation into the law? Every unstable jerkwad with an axe to grind and a delusion of persecution is going to be offing themself now.
Ten years is just vindictive. This poor kid is a classic example of someone who is being sacrificed to appease the velvet mafia. “Eye for an eye” is appropriate here, let the media string this loser up so that he can’t find gainful employment or friendship in any reputable sector of society again. That’s already been done. Sending him to prison for a decade is totally excessive. The fact that you pathetic self absorbed queens are even comparing Clementi’s freakout to a “lynching” shows how ignorant, self-absorbed and oblivious you can be.
TheRealAdam
@Tommy: You aren’t paying attention to the intent behind Ravi’s actions – it was his hatred and disgust with gay people. Surely that counts for something and there needs to be consequences for that.
Ten years isn’t vindictive at all. Relative to Tyler’s life, it’s a drop in the bucket – Ravi would be out of prison before he turned 30, and even before that if he was let out on good behavior or some sort of parole. You try telling parents who just lost their son due to the cruel and narrow-minded actions of a bigot, that ten years is vindictive.
Also, Shannon is a black lesbian. I think she’s entitled to make such comparisons to lynching, and she also clearly stated that racial bigotry and bigotry based on sexual orientation are different, and that these circumstances are different.
Cam
@TheRealAdam: said…
“@Kev C: I understand the anger, but, I really don’t think he understood the gravity of the situation or the crime he was committing.”
_________________________
Possibly, but I have a feeling that if he had broadcast a female in the dorms showering and walking around her apartment naked, nobody would be claiming that it was a prank or that he didn’t understand the gravity.
Armand
@Tommy: I actually agree with you.
Ravi is a young homophobic man who needs counseling and time in prison.
To apply the an “eye for an eye” maxim is barbaric and crude. Giving Ravi capital punishment won’t bring our gay brother back to life.
Tommy
@TheRealAdam:
What exactly was the “intent”? Do we have proof that he INTENDED for Tyler to kill himself, or merely that his motivation in humiliating Tyler was based on Homophobia? I’ve no doubt that to even get this guy into the courtroom, there is some exotic legal construction at play. In the real world, you’re usually only held accountable for someone’s suicide if you intended to push them that far, not if they flipped out and acted unpredictably.
I hold to my assertion that this is excessive punishment. Ten years is ridiculous. Unless there is an indication that Ravi wanted Tyler to commit suicide, he shouldn’t be held accountable. What next, are we to prosecute people when they off themselves over bad grades or an ended relationship? Tyler Clementi, indeed MOST of this “it gets better” crap is really a low point for the gay zeitgeist. There are REAL issues that affect homosexuals, from the nonexistant funding for an HIV vaccine and the collapse in Aids Drug Assistance funding which promises to kill tens of thousands to the fact that you can still be fired for your orientation in many places. Why we’re trying to reassure a bunch of hysterical teenagers that “it’ll be better” is beyond me. If these kids are such basket cases that they can’t make it through a spat with their homophobic roomates now, what are they going to do in five years when they’re routinely denied employment or told they’re going to die from a disease that they “brought upon themselves”?
For the record, “Eye for an eye” merely stipulates that the crime you visited upon others be visited on you. Even the most draconian laws don’t typically hold that you be held for unintended consequences. Thats utterly ridiculous, but then, so is the state of gay politics in America. Shannon’s race doesn’t grant her a monopoly or entitlement on use of the phrase “lynching” either. Ya’ll are being childish here. The sad thing is that in numbers, your childishness has political gravity. Too bad you can’t be motivated to actually do something other than make a martyr over some teenager with an overblown sense of embarassment.
Shannon1981
@Tommy: We are not self absorbed. A bright young man is dead because of homophobic hate. How many kids have to die while their tormentors go on with their lives before we realize that punishment is the only way? People are free to be bigots. They are not free to harass others into suicide.
Yes we are angry gays! We have a right to be outraged! Call it self righteousness, but these bigots need to fry. I’ll for every day these fuckers spend in jail where they belong. They don’t deserve to live happy lives when they essentially murdered others with ignorance.
Shannon1981
@TheRealAdam: Thank you. I think, for me- can’t speak for others- for every kid who survives the bullying, how many kill themselves? Furthermore, how many others are fucked up for life? This stuff isn’t harmless, like some here seem to think. Let the homophobes rot in jail.
And yes, he is not at all remorseful. He tampered with evidence. Slap that charge in there too. Let him do the max. Ruin his life.
Riker
@Shannon1981: I don’t think tampering with evidence necessarily speaks to his intent or remorse. When people get caught doing something wrong, or realize what we’ve done, our first instinct is to run. out of adrenaline-fueled desperation, we may say or do things while in damage-control mode that we wouldn’t normally do.
When you see the flashing lights of a police car behind you, doesn’t some part of you want to try to get away? The futility of running from the cops overpowers that instinct for 99% of people, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Then again, is is possible that he doesn’t feel remorse. Without being inside his head, we just don’t know for certain.
Shannon1981
@Riker: I think he’s a sociopath, TBH, and as such, should rot. But obviously, as you say, I cannot KNOW that.
Tommy
“Murdered with ignorance?” The dumb shit wasn’t murdered, he KILLED HIMSELF because he was embarassed over a nudie film on the internet. The fact that you even rally around him shows how inexperienced you are in life and in the real issues that affect homosexuals. Real gay bashings, with real violence, resulting in real horror, are REALLY happening somewhere, probably in this country, but you stupid brats actually think that high school bullying and a college prank constitute a crime worthy of the full brunt of the law. Absolutely pathetic. “No agenda but the gay one?” Do you even know where the phrase “the gay agenda” comes from?
Tyler Clementi is a sad story, but the tragedy lies in his inability to cope, not the wrong that was visited on him by others. When I was his age, I might very well have overreacted in a similar manner. My sympathy goes to him and his family. His death isn’t worthy of the attention its getting though, and I suspect it has more to do with the fact that he was an attractive, upper-middle class caucasian that the “average gay” could identify with than the fact that he was a victim of anyone more than himself.
Whatever though, keep dancing girls, keep dancing. Wear your “No H8” duct tape labels while people who don’t have the good fortune to live in a place as progressive as New Jersey are beaten to death. Tell yourself that “It Gets Better ™” while your friends die from an epidemic spread through the intentional neglect of our political establishment. Better yet, tell yourself that it “can’t happen to you” because you’re so AWARE and so SMART and you just KNOW that the drug companies’ extravagant advertising is the result of all this ignorance. Pretend that you’ve found salvation through queer self help columnists that google recommends for you, join your campus gay org and read about Ellen Degeneres’ veganism in The Advocate. Because it does get better…as long as you can tune out the real issues that you face in favor of this bullshit.
“Angry Gays”. LMFAO!
Marcus
Well, if Ravi does end up in prison, he’ll certainly know what, in the words of the warden from the film ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, it feels like to be ‘f**ked by a train’. A certain irony…
Marcus
Post hoc sed non propter hoc: after but not because of. It is by no means uncontentious to suggest that Ravi ’caused’ Clementi’s death. If Ravi was a bully he deserves punishment. But ‘hate crime’ I’m not so sure about… And a custodial sentence of five or ten years? Ridiculosly severe.
Scott in NYC
Tommy is 100% correct. No decent person would have anything but sympathy for Tyler and his family…but this needs to be said: He clearly had issues that extend far beyond this one incident. It was nasty and humiliating to do to someone…but an obvious precursor/genesis to him jumping off the GW bridge? Come on. That is not fair to put on this kid…no matter how ill-advised and cold this prank was.
He should be punished. 10 years? Ridiculous. There’s simply no way he could have ever predicted that this would have driven Tyler to take his own life. We all mourn his death..but you can’t let sympathy cloud fair judgment. This kid does not deserve what he’s getting.
jaxi
Ravi…rot in hell.
You are evil personified….
I think you will know the love of a man in jail…You will know it…I hope someone posts it online.