Suicide of Tyler Clementi

Suicide of Tyler Clementi

Clementi's Facebook profile picture[1]
Date	September 22, 2010; 13 years ago (2010-09-22)
Location	Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Type	Teenage suicide, suicide by jumping, drowning
Motive	Homophobia (Ravi)
Deaths	Tyler Clementi, aged 18
Accused	Dharun Ravi Molly Wei
Convicted	Dharun Ravi
Charges	Ravi: Invasion of privacy (2 counts) Attempted invasion of privacy (2 counts) Bias intimidation (hate crime) (4 counts) Tampering with physical evidence (3 counts) Witness tampering Hindering apprehension or prosecution (3 counts)[2] Wei: Invasion of privacy (2 counts; dropped in exchange for community service and testimony against Ravi)
Trial	New Jersey v. Dharun Ravi
Verdict	Ravi: Guilty on all counts (2012; overturned in 2016) Pleaded guilty to one count of attempted invasion of privacy (2016)
Sentence	Ravi: 30 days in jail (paroled after 20 days), plus 3 years probation and 300 hours of community service Wei: 300 hours of community service

Tyler Clementi (December 19, 1991^[3] – September 22, 2010) was an American student at Rutgers University–New Brunswick who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River on September 22, 2010, at the age of 18. On September 19, 2010, without Clementi's knowledge, his roommate, Dharun Ravi, used a webcam on his dorm room computer and his hallmate Molly Wei's computer to view Clementi kissing another man. Clementi found out after Ravi posted about the webcam incident on Twitter. Two days later, Ravi urged friends and Twitter followers to watch a second encounter between Clementi and his companion, though the viewing never occurred.

Ravi and Wei were both indicted for their roles in the webcam incidents, though they were not charged with a role in the suicide itself. On May 6, 2011, Wei entered a plea agreement granting her immunity and allowing her to avoid prosecution. Ravi went to trial in early 2012, and was convicted on May 21, 2012, on all charges related to the webcam viewing, with the jury additionally finding that Clementi reasonably believed that Ravi had targeted him for his romantic orientation, thus making Ravi guilty of committing hate crimes against Clementi. After an appeals court overturned parts of the conviction, Ravi pleaded guilty to one count of attempted invasion of privacy on October 27, 2016.

Clementi's death brought national attention to the issue of cyberbullying and the struggles facing LGBT youth.