tragedies

Tyler Clementi Reached Out to The Web Before His Facebook Farewell: ‘Jumping off the gw bridge sorry’

Having seen his dormmate Dharun Ravi tweet about turning his webcam on to broadcast him getting intimate with another guy, Rutgers student Tyler Clementi appears to have taken to the forums at JustusBoys.com to see what the Internet community thought he should do about it. Reading his posts there are eery; they’re likely some of the last messages he sent before jumping to his death off the George Washington Bridge.

After Ravi allegedly framed his camera at Clementi’s side of the room just enough to catch him kissing another guy (and, Clementi posted on the forums, nothing more), the freshman asked his fellow web users what recourse he could take. Posting under the username “cit2mo,” Clementi wrote about his Ravi’s tweets, “People have commented on his profile with things like ‘how did you manage to go back in there? are you okay?’ and the fact that people he was with saw my making out with a guy as the scandal, whereas I mean come on… he was SPYING ON ME…do they see nothing wrong with this?” And: “I feel like it was ‘look at what a fag my roommate is.” Which seems like a message aimed directly at Molly Wei, who was also charged in the stunt.

Clementi then posted to say he notified his RA (resident adviser) about the situation, and put in writing exactly what happened — meaning Rutgers at least tacitly was made aware of the situation. He was also informed by other forum users his dormmate’s actions weren’t just creepy, they were illegal.

(Another cit2mo account exists on Cam4.com, the gay sex camming site, and includes NSFW photos of Clementi, or somebody who looks exactly like him.)

What’s missing from the postings, which are screenshotted at Gawker, is an indication the entire fracas caused him such despair or embarrassment that he was going to take his own life because of it. Even in the posts he left on the morning of his death, the tone was frustration, not necessarily deep sadness.

Which isn’t to say his feelings of shame didn’t grow deeper, or simply weren’t evident in his web posts.

But that must have been what happened. On Wednesday Sept. 22 at 8:42pm he posted on Facebook, “Jumping off the gw bridge sorry.” At around 8:50pm, he leaped. NYPD recovered a what’s believed to by Tyler’s body from the Hudson River last night.

EARLIER:
Gay Rutgers Student Jumped To His Death After 2 Students Broadcast Intimate Encounter Online

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated