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| tyler clementi |
The criminal case I found to investigate is about a suicide of a Rutgers student following his roommates secretly broadcasting a sexual encounter he had privately in his room. The student who took his life was Tyler Clementi. Clementi was 18, and killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. His roommates, Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei are facing charges of invasion of privacy and possibly more. Ravi is alleged to have tweeted and broadcast Clementi's sexual encounters through remote access to his web cam from Wei's computer. Clementi updated his Facebook before he took his life saying that he was going to jump off the bridge and that he was sorry. This article not only focuses on the issues surrounding the suicide but also issues of nonacceptance of the LGBT community from the student body at Rutgers. It was addressed not only by the media but also by the president of the school that the campus at Rutgers may be less than open if not intolerant of the LGBT community.
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| Dharun Ravi Twitter Page 1 |
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| Dharun Ravi Twitter Page 2 |
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This story definitely has appeal to the media not only because of the involvement of the still (disappointingly) sensationalized LGBT community, but also because the victim was an attractive young man and it is an example of college bullying. Any time something tragic happens on a college campus the media is immediately interested and looking for more information based on the recent history the country has had with college campus tragedy.
This story could very easily influence criminal justice policy and is already written in a way to rally awareness about intolerance toward LGBT community. It will not be hard to throw the story in a way that if the campus had more information and organizations educating and promoting awareness and acceptance of the LGBT community and influence policy change. It is already being considered that if the campus had been more reactive to the actions taken by Ravi and Wei against Clementi, that Clementi's life could have been saved.
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| Tyler Clementi's final FB post |
As a person who has experienced the suicide of a family member, I find it hard to read any of the details...I hope his death at least brings more attention to the high suicide rates among the LBGT community.
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