name	Tyler Clementi
birth date	April 29, 1992
birth place	Buffalo, New York, United States
death date	September 22, 2010 (aged 18)
death place	New York City, New York, United States
death cause	Suicide by jumping
occupation	Student
footnotes	}}

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 Dharum Ravi had video streamed Clementi kissing another man over the Internet without Clementi's knowledge, and this encounter was viewed briefly by Ravi and a fellow hallmate, Molly Wei. Ravi later made a second attempt to view Clementi's sexual encounters. Ravi has been charged with invasion of privacy and bias intimidation, while Wei is not being charged, in exchange for testifying against Ravi.

Background and incident

Clementi was born on April 29, 1992 in Buffalo, New York, and raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey. A graduate of Ridgewood High School, he was a talented violinist; he played with the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra and participated in the Bergen Youth Orchestra as concertmaster. Ravi and Wei both graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North; Ravi lived in Plainsboro, New Jersey and Wei in Princeton, New Jersey.

According to Clementi's instant messaging chats released in court documents filed by Ravi's attorney, Clementi told his parents that he was gay before leaving home for college. While his father supported him, Clementi said that his mother had basically "rejected" him.

Clementi had complained to his resident assistant and two other officials that Ravi, his roommate, had videostreamed him kissing another man using a webcam. He wrote in detail on the Just Us Boys message board and Yahoo! message board about complaints he filed through university channels about his roommate. His posts indicated that he did not want to share a room with Ravi.

Clementi wrote that he had asked the resident assistant for a new room after having learned about the first incident and then discovering that Ravi invited his Twitter followers to watch a second sexual encounter. "He [the resident assistant] seemed to take it seriously," Clementi wrote in a post about 15 hours before his jump from the George Washington Bridge. He wrote that he also reported the incident to two unnamed "higher-ups." According to court documents filed by Ravi's attorney, on September 20, 2010, Clementi wrote to a friend online that he was not really bothered by what Ravi had seen.

Clementi's wallet was found on September 22 on the walkway adjacent to the George Washington Bridge's New York-bound lanes after witnesses reported seeing someone jump. His car, cell phone, and computer were also found near the bridge. Police recovered a body on September 29 in the Hudson River just north of the bridge. It was confirmed the next day that the body recovered was that of Clementi.

Prosecutions

On September 28, 2010, the Middlesex County prosecutor's office stated that Ravi and Wei had been charged with invasion of privacy and transmitting a sexual encounter on the internet in Piscataway committed on September 19. Ravi was also charged on the same counts committed on September 21. Wei had surrendered to Rutgers police in New Brunswick on September 27, and was released the same day on her own recognizance. Ravi surrendered to Rutgers police on September 28 and was released on a $25,000 bail. Prosecutors added bias intimidation to Ravi's charges, which could double the amount of potential prison time served by Ravi to 10 years.

It is a fourth-degree crime in New Jersey to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual contact involving another individual without that person’s consent; it is a third-degree crime to transmit or distribute such images. The penalty for conviction of a third-degree offense can include a prison term of up to five years. Recording a student on Rutgers campus property without their knowledge is a violation of the school's student code of conduct, and Ravi and Wei face the possibility of expulsion.

On October 4, the prosecutor in the case, Bruce Kaplan, stated that he did not think there would be enough evidence to charge Ravi and Wei with a hate crime. On October 5, Wei's attorneys, Rubin Sinins and Eric Kahn, released a statement stating her innocence. The former New Jersey federal prosecutor, Henry Klingeman, commented, "There’s no evidence of Ms. Wei doing anything. I'm very curious as to why the prosecutor is holding her responsible in any way, shape, or form simply because Mr. Ravi was using her computer."

On October 31, the legal defense teams released further statements. Steve Altman, Ravi’s attorney, said, "Nothing was transmitted beyond one computer and what was seen was only viewed for a matter of seconds." Rubin Sinins, Wei’s attorney, said, "I’m unaware of any evidence of sexual contact. The statute defining sexual contact refers to nudity and private parts, and, to my knowledge, nothing like that was seen. I’m also unaware of any evidence that any video was recorded, reproduced or disseminated in any way."

On April 20, 2011, a Middlesex County grand jury indicted Ravi on 15 counts, including bias intimidation, invasion of privacy, witness tampering, and evidence tampering.

On May 6, 2011, a judge accepted a plea agreement that would drop the invasion of privacy charges against Wei. The agreement stipulates that Wei testify against Ravi and complete a three-year intervention program, including counseling and community service.

In August 2011, Ravi's defense attorney submitted further documents to the court, and requested a mistrial because the prosecution had failed to present evidence to the grand jury which, he argued, would have cleared Ravi, and had presented other evidence in what he said was a misleading manner. These documents showed that Clementi had titled files on his computer "Why does it have to be so painful" and took photographs of the George Washington bridge a month before attending Rutgers.

Reaction

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network stated, "There has been heightened media attention surrounding the suicides in New Jersey, Texas, California, Indiana, and Minnesota." Notably, in the same month, Asher Brown, 13, Billy Lucas, 15, Raymond Chase, 19, and Seth Walsh, 13, committed suicide, in each case after being taunted about their homosexuality, though Chase's brother does not believe the suicide was brought on by bullying.

Government

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie stated that the incident was an "unspeakable tragedy ... I don't know how those two folks are going to sleep at night." He subsequently called for a full investigation and added, "...as the father of a 17-year-old, I can't imagine what those parents are feeling today—I can't." New Jersey General Assembly representatives Valerie Vainieri Huttle and Mary Pat Angelini made a joint statement saying that they planned to introduce a bipartisan "Anti-bullying Bill of Rights" in response to these events. In November, 2010, an anti-bullying bill sponsored by Huttle and others was passed on a 71–1 vote in the New Jersey Assembly and a 30–0 vote in the New Jersey Senate. US Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey stated that he intends to propose federal legislation to fund anti-harassment programs and to require schools that wish to receive federal funding to establish anti-bullying procedures and codes of conduct. The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution to provide a safe environment and equal opportunities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning students. "We are lucky we have not had a situation here in San Diego, but we don't want to have to wait (..) to have a tragedy," San Diego Board of Education President Richard Barrera stated. Delaware Governor Jack Markell referred to the suicide of Clementi as an event that moved residents and spurred legislative action. In a speech supporting legislation to make civil unions legal for same sex couples in Delaware, Markell said of the incident, "It was a moment for heartbreak – to hear the story of so much potential wasted, so much thrown away, so much anguish focused so fully on one person that suicide seemed to him the easier choice than having to live with hatred directed at him because of his sexual orientation." Tyler Clementi's suicide, along with the suicides of several other gay teens who had been harassed, moved President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to express shock and sadness and speak out against any form of bullying.

Other

Rutgers University students planned a "Black Friday" event to commemorate and memorialize Tyler. Rutgers president Richard Levis McCormick stated "We grieve for him and for his family, friends and classmates as they deal with the tragic loss of a gifted young man..." In the weeks following Clementi's suicide, schools around the area of his residence held vigils in memory of his death. Students at Hofstra University gathered for a candlelight vigil, and students and staff at Pascack Hills High School in Bergen County, near Ridgewood where Clementi lived, wore all black to mourn his death. A commemoration called "Spirit Day", first observed on October 20, 2010, was established in which people wear the color purple to show support for bullying victims amongst LGBT youth. Clementi's suicide inspired establishing Spirit Day, and the day received widespread support from GLAAD, Hollywood celebrities and over 1.6 million Facebook users. Ellen Degeneres stated that "I am devastated by the death of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi. If you don't know, Tyler was a bright student at Rutgers University whose life was senselessly cut short." She went on to advocate for gay youth to find help instead of taking their own lives: "Something must be done. This month alone, there has been a shocking number of news stories about teens who have been teased and bullied and then committed suicide; like 13-year-old Seth Walsh in Tehachapi, California; Asher Brown, 13, of Cypress, Texas; and 15-year-old Billy Lucas in Greensberg, Indiana. This needs to be a wake-up call to everyone: teenage bullying and teasing is an epidemic in this country, and the death rate is climbing." The Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy organization, released a plan aimed at increasing awareness of gay-related suicide and harassment around the country. Beginning in the 2011/2012 school year, a Rutgers University pilot program will be instituted that permits students to choose their dorm roommates, regardless of gender. Members of the university's LGBTQ community told the administration that gender-neutral housing would help create a more inclusive environment for students. On March 9, 2011, the Point Foundation, the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBT students of merit, announced that it had created the Tyler Clementi Point Scholarship to honor Tyler's memory. Clementi's parents said they hoped the scholarship would "raise awareness of young people who are subject to abuse through malicious bullying." Rise Against released a song on their new album ''Endgame'' called "Make It Stop (September's Children)", which mentions the name of Tyler Clementi, along with four other people who committed suicide due to being bullied for their sexual orientation. Tyler Clementi's parents, Jane and Joseph Clementi, announced plans to start the Tyler Clementi Foundation in a statement released to the ''Star-Ledger'' of Newark in March 22, 2011. The foundation will focus on promoting awareness of bullying, particularly cyber-bullying.

See also

Cyber-bullying

It Gets Better Project

The Trevor Project

Suicide of Megan Meier

Suicide of Phoebe Prince

Suicide of Ryan Halligan

References

External links

The Tyler Clementi Point Scholarship

Category:2010 deaths Category:College students who committed suicide Category:Deaths by person Suicide of Tyler Clementi Category:Suicides by jumping from a height Category:Suicides in New York Category:LGBT in New Jersey Category:People from Ridgewood, New Jersey Category:2010 in New York Category:Rutgers University alumni

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