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.)
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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
Cam
I am far from being a prude, but since it has already been announced that Tyler was gay, why is there the need to post pictures of him from a gay site that are NSFW? That is what you do when the media is saying that the kid wasn’t gay, or what you do to a politician who votes against gay rights. But what you are doing in this article, is taking the sad story of somebody who killed themselves most likely because of anti-gay harrassment, and doing the equivilent of sending in a camera to look under his bed and broadcast his porn collection. I don’t get the reason.
scott ny'er
I want more dirt on the douche roommate. Anything on Dharun Ravi
toyotabedzrock
WTF TAKE THAT PIC DOWN WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU SICK F*CK!!!
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Damm this is just so fucked. Based on all the new info comming out Tyler was probably just beginning to experience the freedoms that come with not living at home. He was getting comfortable in his Gay skin figuring he could meet online anonoymously. Then his asshat roomate posts his making out publicly and Tyler suddenly no longer was in control. I cannot imagine the hell this kid went through in the moments between posting “I am gonna jump off the GW bridge” and moment that he actually flung himself off the bridge………..
I remember taking baby steps in the commin out process. I as so ascared that I made up a nickname refusing for a long time to even utter my real name in any Gay enviroment. I would have freaked out had anyone blasted info for the whole world to see.
Hopefully the DA in that county will be able to file some serious charges to put a serious hurt on the roomate and the girl….
There are those who are calling this a “college prank”. Drawing a moustache on your roomate when they are passed out is a college prank. A deliberate act of broadcasting an intimate personal moments to the whole web which causes the victim to commit suicide is manslaughter…………
Aaron A.
What the hell. Take that NSFW photo down. Have a little bit of respect.
Sam
@Scott Ny’er: He’s scum. What more do you need. We need to demand that the DA ask for the maximum sentence.
Taylor Siluwé
Since just broadcasting his sex act under NJ law IS A CRIME punishable by up to 5 yrs in prison, some jail time is certainly a possibility.
Since their CRIME resulted in a death (however unforeseeable), then in my opinion they should certainly do the maximum term behind bars.
A message has to be sent that what may seem like a teenage prank, isn’t. There are consequences for silly fun and games that escalate into a teen losing his life. This Youtube generation thinks everything is funny, and any violation of privacy can become an internet sensation. This was certainly a cyber “rape”, and there is nothing sensational, prankish or funny about it. And rape victims, naturally, are emotionally distraught and irrational afterwards.
Young Mr. Ravi is a sex offender — and just as surely as if he’d fondled someone in a train station and that person fell in front of an oncoming train trying to flee, he’s responsible for that death as well (however unpremeditated or unintentional).
And I strongly disagree with those saying ‘why ruin two more lives’ on other threads – their lives can’t possibly be ruined as much as Tyler’s has been.
Taylor Siluwé
@scott ny’er: I agree.
Taylor Siluwé
Since just broadcasting his sex act under NJ law IS A CRIME punishable by up to 5 yrs in prison, some jail time is certainly a possibility. Since their CRIME resulted in a death (however unforeseeable), then in my opinion they should certainly do the maximum term behind bars.
A message has to be sent that what may seem like a teenage prank, isn’t. There are consequences for silly fun and games that escalate into a teen losing his life. This generation thinks everything is funny, and any violation of privacy can become an internet sensation. This was certainly a cyber “rape”, and there is nothing sensational, prankish or funny about it. And rape victims, naturally, are emotionally distraught and irrational afterwards.
Young Mr. Ravi is a sex offender — and just as surely as if he’d fondled someone in a train station and that person fell in front of an oncoming train trying to flee, he’s responsible for that death as well (however unpremeditated or unintentional).
And I strongly disagree with those saying ‘why ruin two more lives’ on other threads – their lives can’t possibly be ruined as much as Tyler’s has been.
Soupy
I also think that you should take the webcam capture pic down. How is that not violating his privacy?
Tony
Before you consider clicking on over to Gawker.com to get your rage on, be advised that they have revised the original posting, taking down the worst content and left “only” a very shrunken, tiny torso shot from the M4M website he was using. Crisis almost averted. Moral unfitness of gawker.com forever confirmed.
I detest even citing their URL. Don’t go there. By giving them hits in your browser, you’re directly giving them advertising cash. Don’t click there. They made a really bad call, and they sorta half-seem to realize it, but in any case, they don’t deserve to be rewarded for it.
That said, the remaining photo they left up is not scandalous. It’s of a young man – purportedly the victim, but face is cropped. If anything, it’s a reminder of how YOUNG he was – it just amplifies the tragedy. In measured years, he was an “adult”, but this supposed sleaze-photo of him – you just look at it and go “My God, he was just a BABY!”
It’s as heartbreaking as the photos of him playing violin.
But still, gawker sucks.
ewe
Imagine the feelings of independence the first month of college life and the bliss this beautiful talent had when he had a romantic encounter in the privacy of his new place. Perhaps his very first time. He even had the class and grace to ask this fucking monster if he could have some privacy and was betrayed for all to see. Imagine those great feelings being turned upside down in an instant. He plummetted into such crisis that he saw his own death the only option. This is an outrage, a fucking disgrace. These two scumbags had better be made an example of and incarcerated for a very long time and i mean severe felony charges not some misdemeanor bullshit.
Charlie
Please… lose the photos of the kid that were obviously meant to be viewed by people he chose. I don’t think any of the rest of us want the photos we may have up on some chat sites on a blog for the whole world to see. Also… I wouldn’t want my mother to see them… and I really wouldn’t want her to see them when I’m dead.
kyle
Wow Queerty, he jumped to his death after his roomate posted video of him having sex and you feel the need to now post pictures like this. fuck you. you guys are assholes. I will never visit this site again. you guys are scumbags.
ewe
i agree with the other commenters. Queerty should take that picture down. Why would Queerty add to the pain of his friends and family by posting that photo? I know you have no shame because neither do i but obviously you have no decency.
Baxter
Now I’m confused. The guy’s jerking off online on a public cam site, but kills himself because his roommate broadcasts him kissing a guy?
ewe
@Baxter: What is so confusing about that? Those were his own boundaries.
Tony
There’s “public” as in: fellow users of a M4M website, and then there’s “public” as in: everybody in the Dorm of Douchebags.
Perhaps Tyler was simply unschooled in how short the virtual wall is between the two (think the wall of matchsticks in that Monty Python sketch “Upper Class Twit of the Year”).
Doesn’t mean he deserves post-mortem torture from sleazy websites.
RomanHans
Queerty, if you’re set on doing something in poor taste, why don’t you rummage through Mr. Clementi’s room for porn mags and give them to his parents?
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
The story gets sadder and sadder. His family was deeply religious and had no idea Tyler was Gay. Tyler had to drive an hour from his dorm to the GW Bridge. He parked his car and walked for a mile. Climbed over a fence, paused for a moment and then made leap into abyss……….His roomate should be sentenced to a year in prison for every minute of the hell Tyler went thru on the trip from his dorm to the bridge……..
Tony
@PWWO:
How awful. To have made that whole long last trip without having even one “WTF?” moment and simply making a U-turn.
Just makes me sick to my core.
seaguy
All the bitching at Queerty for posting pics in this story that some do feel should be posted sadly is now a moot point since he is dead. So shut the f8ck up people and let’s concentrate and working to see that his roommate get’s the punishment he deserves and that something like this never happens again!
ewe
@seaguy: No you shut the fuck up. The young man was 18 years of age and as far as i am concerned, those photos may be when he was 17. How does Queerty or your sorry ass know for sure? If so, i for one am not the least bit interested in visiting a blog that promotes kiddy porn.. Bitch.
Aaron A.
@seaguy: I agree with Ewe. Shut Up.
Thanks, Queerty, for finally showing some respect.
Taylor Siluwé
I understand people concern over the sexy pics, but SEAGUY is right, it’s aside the real issue here. What happens now is the point; what will the repercussions of this cyber-rape be?
Beside, I doubt Tyler’s family is surfing online threads in the midst of being devastated by what Ravi wrought upon their son and having to identify his body.
Tyler is gone. Almost everyone has a profile like that, somewhere; so shouldn’t we care more about the person or persons who caused this tragedy rather than expressing moral outrage over a dime-a-dozen sex profile?
ewe
@Taylor Siluwé: I can do both Taylor.
Taylor Siluwé
@ewe: Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they took the picture down, as it wasn’t essential to the story. But at the same time I wasn’t offended by it either; maybe being immune to such profiles and having the knowledge that every horny guy has one.
If I’d discovered the story that Gawker did, I would have thought twice about posting the pic, but certainly would have told the story and linked to the profile. Like it or not, its out there. We all know, even teens, that when we put things out there its forever. This is hardly the ‘Leave it to Beaver’ generation we’re dealing with.
But I do understand the call for modesty, considering. Still, I’d rather talk about all the many reasons why Ravi should pay to prevent future cyber-sexual assaults from happening again.
hephaestion
This Dharun Ravi and his friend need to have their lives ruined for a while, with as much prison time as the law allows, to think about what they have done.
Wolff
Someone should track down some NSFW shots of the roommate.
Plaster his little cocktail frank all over the web and see how he likes it.
Taylor Siluwé
@Wolff: I so agree. I’ve been looking but can’t find any.
David Iha
I read this thread when the spying first happened, he didnt seem sucidal at all, just upset about the whole thing.
ewe
@Taylor Siluwé: I agree with you but perhaps you personally were not offended by it is because it is not you and perhaps you would feel differently if it was.
Taylor Siluwé
@ewe: I understand how you feel, Ewe, but I wouldn’t care. Maybe its my exhibitionist nature, but I really wouldn’t give a damn if I willingly put the pics out there.
What Ravi did surreptitiously was a criminal assault, as opposed to the millions who expose themselves online willingly every day.
But all this is beside the point anyway….
ewe
@Taylor Siluwé: I am glad that you understand. Now you can afford that sentiment to the young man who jumped off the bridge and support not putting up naked photographs of a dead gay man who killed himself because of other people looking at him against his wishes. Which brings us to the original point regarding your comment about SEAGUY.
Rob Moore
Did anyone read his posts seeking advice. There were two who gave him really bad advice in my opinion. ALJALON18 and ALTLOVER85 made comments on 22 September that would have been the last ones he could have read. When I first read them, my first thought was these guys are twits saying things that sounded like telling a rape victim just to forget and don’t make a fuss. If Tyler was dealing with depression, and I think it is pretty clear he was, those sorts of comments would be like salt in an open wound. This is why amateurs should not be dealing with someone who is likely to be in a vulnerable emotional state. I don’t blame them for his suicide, but those comments would not be helpful. By that point, the thread was turning into some sort of academic debate over whether or not laws covered this sort of situation and rules of evidence from people who appear to be surprisingly ignorant of how the internet works.
If something went out on an open network, which most universities have, deleting the tweets or removing streamed video from a server is like putting a genie back in a bottle. All that video exists on other servers, in the internet cache of just about all the computers that broadcast it, on servers for mobile devices, and so on and so forth.
This guy Ravi strikes me as a social idiot who might not have many opportunities to reproduce after this.
B
No. 14 · Baxter: “Now I’m confused. The guy’s jerking off online on a public cam site, but kills himself because his roommate broadcasts him kissing a guy?”
… the identification in not certain – it could be someone else who simply looks similar. That of course requires a coincidence but the NY area has a very large population. You’d really have to do some work to estimate the probability of a false match.
There’s no need to speculate. If he was using such sites, it will come out during the roommate’s trial – they’ll check his computer if only because the defense will subpoena it to see if there is anything else that the suicide can be blamed on.
ewe
@B: oh yeah and i can’t wait to see what the hell is on Ravi’s computer too. Can you imagine? Probably some cams going up unsuspecting female dresses on an escalator to start. YAY….
Shavonne
Fix the spelling errors in this article. Sheesh!
vann wilson
bullying laws are stupid you need to learn totake up for yourself to we are being forced to accept the fag lifes up for yourself i don’t like fags its their chosen lifestyle and shouldn’t be a hate crime i think the parents should be charged too for allowing him to fall into the fag lifestyle bullying law and the ones that enforce/pass them need to be charged to for forceing us to put up with such foolishment