Thursday, September 30, 2010
Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei
Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei are scum (allegedly).
Photo: Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei - Cruelty personified (allegedly).
Ravi is the roommate from hell (allegedly). Wei was Ravi's high school classmate and a fellow Rutgers freshman.
They are horrible people, miserable excuses for human beings (allegedly).
From WPIX:
NYPD harbor units have recovered the body of an individual believed to be Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers freshman who jumped to his death after two other students secretly filmed him during a sexual encounter with another man, PIX 11 News has learned.
Sources say there was no wallet and no identification on the body.
Clementi was spotted on the walkway of the George Washington Bridge on the night of Sept 22. Earlier in the evening, the 18-year-old freshman had posted a chilling goodbye message on his Facebook page.
"Jumping off the gw bridge sorry," Clementi wrote on Facebook before jumping to his death. Sources tell PIX 11 News, Clementi's car was later discovered along the New Jersey border with both his cell phone and computer inside.
Fellow freshmen students Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro and Molly Wei, 18, of Princeton have since been charged with invasion of privacy for allegedly placing a camera in Clementi's room.
Ravi and Wei were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for using a camera to view and transmit a live image of the teen during the sexual encounter on Sept. 19.
Ravi, who was Clementi's roommate, was additionally charged with two more counts of invasion of privacy for trying to use the hidden camera to view the same student during another sexual encounter just three days later on Sept. 21.
Days before the shocking suicide, Ravi updated his Twitter account, admitting to friends that he enabled his webcam to spy on Clementi who had asked his roommate for some privacy.
"Roommate asked for the room till midnight," he tweeted on Sept. 19. "I went into Molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay."
...Ravi was released on $25,000 bail Tuesday after surrendering to Rutgers police, while Wei was released on her own recognizance Monday after surrendering to authorities.
According to Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan, it is a fourth-degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual content of an individual without that person's consent. The crime becomes a third-degree offense if the images are transmitted or distributed.
How could Ravi and Wei be so cruel?
Why would they do something that they knew would deeply hurt Tyler Clementi?
Did they think it was fun? Is bullying their hobby?
Clementi asked his roommate for privacy. Instead, Ravi allegedly violated his trust in a stunningly callous way. Ravi and Wei's lack of compassion is chilling.
According to
A month-old tweet from Ravi indicates he discovered his roommate’s sexuality based on comments Clementi made on a gay message forum. Ravi tweeted on August 22, “Found out my roommate is gay,” and linked to a post he said was Clementi’s on JustUsBoys. It’s the same forum that Clementi appears to have turned to after discovering he’d been spied on. As Gawker noted, a user on the forum by the name of “cit2mo” posted a thread “college roommate spying…..” on September 21 at 7:22 a.m.
so the other night i had a guy over. I had talked to my roommate that afternoon and he had said it would be fine w/him. I checked his twitter today. he tweeted that I was using the room (which is obnoxious enough), AND that he went into somebody else’s room and remotely turned on his webcam and saw me making out with a guy. given the angle of the webcam I can be confident that that was all he could have seen.
so my question is what next?
I could just be more careful next time…make sure to turn the cam away…
buttt…
I’m kinda pissed at him (rightfully so I think, no?)
and idk…if I could…it would be nice to get him in trouble
but idk if I have enough to get him in trouble, i mean…he never saw anything pornographic…he never recorded anything…
I feel like the only thing the school might do is find me another roommate, probably with me moving out…and i’d probably just end up with somebody worse than him….I mean aside from being an asshole from time to time, he’s a pretty decent roommate…
the other thing is I that don’t wanna report him and then end up with nothing happening except him getting pissed at me….
Other users advised him to report it to the school and make sure his roommate’s computer was closed during future encounters. Cit2mo replied:
I feel like it was “look at what a fag my roommate is” –other people have commented on his profile with things like “how did you manage to go back in there?” “are you ok?”
and the fact that the 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?
unsettling to say the least….
so I decided to fill out the room change request form….its not guaranteed that you get a change…and i don’t have to switch if I change my mind or work things out over the next week (they won’t start filling requests until next week)…but I figure I might as well as see what they can offer me….
More users advised him of the illegality of this video voyeurism. A famous case of this, of course, is that of Erin Andrews. The man who made peephole videos of her undressing was ultimately sentenced to 30 months in prison. Cit2mo responds:
oh yah, on the school website it says recording people where there is an expectation of privacy (bathroom bedroom etc) without the consent of everyone involved could….COULD…..result in being expelled
the only things is…there are too many ‘could’s ….the fact that he didn’t ACTUALLY record me (to my knowledge) and the fact that the school really prolly won’t do much of anything….
but anyway, i’ll be talking to my RA later today for sure…..
and yah, revenge never ends well for me, as much as I would love to pour pink paint all over his stuff…..that would just let him win…..
Cit2mo did end up going to the RA after Ravi’s tweet on September 21st:
so I wanted to have the guy over again.
I texted roomie around 7 asking for the room later tonight and he said it was fine.
when I got back to the room I instantly noticed he had turned the webcam toward my bed. And he had posted online again….saying….”anyone want a free show just video chat me tonight”…or something similar to that….
soooo after that…..
I ran to the nearest RA and set this thing in motion…..
we’ll see what happens……
I haven’t even seen my roommate since sunday when i was asking for the room the first time…and him doing it again just set me off….so talking to him just didn’t seem like an option….
meanwhile I turned off and unplugged his computer, went crazy looking for other hidden cams….and then had a great time.
Cit2mo’s last posting to the site on the morning of September 22nd indicates that he emailed an RA a paragraph about what had happened. Though he seemed calm and collected in his postings to JustUsBoys, that night, he posted “Jumping off the gw bridge sorry” to his Facebook, and committed suicide.
Clementi's postings indicate his struggles with Ravi and his feelings of powerlessness.
Ravi and Wei are conscienceless cyberthugs and hopefully they will pay for their criminal behavior. No slap on the wrist for these thugs if they are found guilty. They must suffer the consequences for breaking the law. Without question, they should be expelled from Rutgers.
I deeply regret that today we learned from the family of one of our students that they believe their son has committed suicide. We are profoundly saddened by this report, and our hearts and prayers are with the parents, family, and friends of this young man, who had started at Rutgers this semester as a first-year student on the New Brunswick Campus.
While there is a lot of information being communicated, we don’t have all the facts in this case.
This young man was reportedly the victim of an incident that took place in one of our residence halls last week. Two fellow Rutgers students have been arrested and charged with invasion of privacy for their actions in that incident. If the charges are true, these actions gravely violate the university’s standards of decency and humanity.
The case is being investigated by the Rutgers University Police Department. The students—like all who are accused of a crime—must be presumed innocent until proven guilty. The case is also being investigated by the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs under the code of student conduct. Please know that while Rutgers does not comment publicly on the specifics of cases involving active criminal investigations and allegations of student conduct, the university is taking this case very seriously.
We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the family during this most difficult time. While I did not have the privilege of knowing this young man, I have learned that in addition to his academic abilities, he was a gifted musician. Our university community feels the pain of his loss, and I know there is anger and outrage about these events.
Rutgers is a community that is extraordinarily proud of its diversity and the respect its members have for one another. In fact, we have just launched a two-year dialogue focusing attention on civility in the context of one of the most culturally and racially diverse research universities in the nation. I ask that all members of the Rutgers community honor the wishes of the family by providing them with privacy during this painful time and by committing to the values of civility, dignity, compassion, and respect for each other.
Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Of course, Ravi and Wei have to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The cybertrail will be easy enough to trace. (See postings from "JustUsBoys.") I trust it won't take long to determine if they actually did what they are accused of doing.
The WPIX report states that sources say Clementi had asked to have his room changed, but Rutgers denied that request.
If true, that refusal to move Clementi was obviously a terrible mistake.
When it comes to taking one's own life, ultimate responsibility lies with the individual. Clementi made the choice. He chose to die, but arriving at that decision certainly speaks to Clementi's unbearable anguish, being only 18 and not wanting to live. His suffering probably went beyond the clash with his roommate. The tragic unknown in all of this is whether Clementi would have made the choice to live had Ravi and Wei not treated him like the star in a freak show.
It's heartbreaking that Clementi determined his best option was to jump from the George Washington Bridge.
Rutgers can't be blamed for Clementi's death but it may be responsible for failing to address 18-year-old Clementi's serious problems with Ravi and buddy Wei.
Ravi and Wei didn't kill Clementi, but they're accused of illegal activity that had to be torture for him. His suicide may have been precipitated by their bullying.
Bullying in the Internet age takes on a whole new dimension. Thugs can use the Internet to compound the agony for the victim.
Ravi and Wei didn't push Clementi off the bridge, but they have blood on their hands.
________________
Here's video of Danielle Birnbohm. She lived in the dorm room next to Tyler Clementi and Dharun Ravi on Busch Campus at Rutgers.
Forbes, Ravi discovered that Clementi was gay from comments he made on a gay message forum, "JustUsBoys," and Clementi was aware of Ravi's video voyeurism.Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick issued a statement on Clementi's death.
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3 comments:
DW said...
This is one of the saddest stories I've ever heard. That poor child. I pray that the people are prosecuted, and that Rutgers expels them and uses this as a teaching moment (sorry to use that overused phrase, but this is a perfect time for it). These kids are just evil, but I bet a whole lot of other kids saw the video and laughed and laughed.
Universities are not good about listening to students who have real problems with roommates in dorms. A Jewish friend's child went to a very good East Coast school, and was thrilled to get in, and then had a roommate who was such an anti-Semite, that she made life miserable for this girl. She looked for help, and asked to be moved, and was told to stick it out for the first semester. She couldn't put up with the abuse, so she came home instead. A better result than this one (she's still alive anyway), but what a waste to move all the way out there, be in a fantastic Ivy League school, and have to give it up due to abuse, and the University not allowing her to move before the next semester.
Sam Offs said...
Interesting that ravi and wei are both minorities. Perhaps they targeted another minority, a gay person to relieve the sting of their own feelings of being a target for prejudice. Ironic, they've become the monsters, they themselves would like to be rid of...
Don said...
The one thing we've lost since the '50 is the need to avoid the stigman of conformity. It seems that kids find it more necessary tham ever to fit in.
Unfortunately, this sort of pressure is an obsenity visited on all three of these youngsters. The interval between childhood and maturity proves lethal all too often.