Jim - I tend to agree with you for the most part. I'm not in any way in favor of the Gay thing but, what these two people did was just so gratuitous, so designed to inflict harm on another, that I'm as outraged as any about what they did. The fact that their actions resulted in this tragedy does not affect the purpose for which they did this. It was to invade another's privacy, subject them to ridicule and pain for the purpose of their own and other's amusement - Something akin to animal torture for pleasure. For that motivation alone they deserve severe punishment. That the victim of their selfish, cynical behavior took his own life in response only makes the very bad crime that much worse.

It hardly matters whether the victim (Tyler) was mentally fragile or not. People have different levels of tolerance for being shamed and embarrassed. He was flat-out victimized - mental and emotional violence was done to him. His response was one choice among many - unfortunately he chose one that cannot be reversed.

Think about it - he was studying to be a musician, probably hoping to end up in a large city situation like a symphony or philharmonic orchestra. Prospective employers do look up potential employees on the Internet these days. What do you think his chances of being hired would be if there were a tape of him having a homosexual encounter available for anyone to see?

My opinion is that Ravi felt insulted at being stuck with a gay roomie and this was his way of getting revenge, or maybe he thought if he embarrassed poor Tyler enough, he'd move out. Young people have a sense of entitlement now that previous generations didn't indulge in as much. Maybe Ravi felt "entitled" to a heterosexual roommate, with whom he would have more in common.

He probably never expected his victim to kill himself, not in a million years, but life brings surprises all the time, and when you're intentionally cruel to someone, the backlash can be ten times more destructive than you ever expected.

The bottom line is to always practice kindness toward those around you. Deliberately setting out to embarrass and shame your roommate is hardly a kindness, on the contrary, it's base cruelty. Ravi at the very least should be ashamed himself, and at the most needs to spend time in prison so he can think about better choices he could have made.

Jim - I tend to agree with you for the most part. I'm not in any way in favor of the Gay thing but, what these two people did was just so gratuitous, so designed to inflict harm on another, that I'm as outraged as any about what they did.

Who asked for your favor ? I'm not in favor of bigots either, but there's a whole hell of a lot of them out there. Keep your "outrage" too. You're full of it up to your eyeballs, if you think you actually care.

If this was a heterosexual encounter the outcome would probably have been the same for the victim on tape. It had nothing to do with Tyler being gay or ashamed of his sexuality.

Maybe you would like to be spied on in your most private moment and then have it posted for the world to see. You wouldn't be totally mortified ? Let me know you're mindset and how you would react. That's right. You can't. Don't even pretend to know who Tyler was or what he was thinking in his last moments.

Bullying and tormenting others has been around for as long as there have been men & women on this earth. Its just the way it is. You cannot say those two kids killed Tyler. They didnt, Tyler killed Tyler. So looking for prison time for a bully? Really? Thats just silly.

This whole attitude of "oh no, the bully!" that is developing now is pathetic. Kids need to learn to cope with this. There are people that are bullies. There will ALWAYS be people that are bullies. Thats life. People being bullied need to either A) learn to defend themselves and stand up to said bully or B) grow thicker skin.

If the school wasnt doing anything about it - you then go to the school and say - "i want you to know - you havent acted to resolve this issue- so im oging ot resolve it myself." Then go beat the snot out of the bully. If hes bigger than you, bring a bat, take him out at the knees. Its not like you'll get in trouble - with all the people crying for the blood of these 2 bullies- you'll have a sympathetic jury.

The two who did this to the individual should be charged with invasion of privacy, involuntary manslaugher, and sexual assault. And potentially a hate crime depending on NJ State law, though I'm not necessarily a fan of hate crime legislation... either way, anyone that did this to a non-gay couple and caused this to happen should be charged with the same. This is deplorable behavior that should not be tolerated, and harshly punished.

A prank? What the heck did YOUR parents teach you? My mother taught me that a prank is something that would be harmless and that is what I teach my daughter. I also work in IT and the first rule is that nothing you put online ever really goes away. I've also taught my child that too and all the kids who work for me. Anyone who has been living for the last 5 years would easily understand that putting out this kind of video on the internet is egregiously harmful for the future life of a person. So, either you are incrediably stupid or you are in a purposeful state of denial.

You're a moron. Yes he chose to "diddle" a guy and he was "found out". Had that been the way it happened fine, but it wasn't. He was SPIED on and his roommate deliberately shared the feed live on the internet where anyone in the WORLD could see it.

If as you say he overreacted and the path he chose is the path he chose then your same logic applies to his roommate and the girl. The "path they chose" was to spy on this kid and it resulted in his death. Could they have known what would happen? No. Did Clementi know that he was being spied on? Not until after the fact.

These two should go to jail and if it is a hate crime, whether you believe in hate crimes or not, then they should be charged with that too. They chose to broadcast this and that's what needs to happen. If you disagree with me then you're more than a hypocrite.

How would anyone on this board, like their sexual encounters, whether heterosexual or homosexual be put online for the world to see, without permission from the other partner? This was an extortion of a person's mind and soul.

This man was not sick; he was tortured by 2 unscrupulous people with no concern for a human being. Suicide was his only choice.

Bullying once again. The Schools and Universities MUST get involved. Must, because it is a matter of life and death, seen too many times now and before.

Think of Clementi as "your" child.

Let's say that we tape you having sex when you are 20 and then 25 years later, you are running for President. Is it a prank any longer?! Things like this do not dissappear. And if you don't think your boss, future bosses, potential mates, etc aren't checking the internet, you are completely dilusional. This was not a prank. This was criminal.

Go back to your cave.

I am a straight female. You are a Neanderthal - but that may be insulting to Neanderthals. Grow up and act like a real man. Real grown-ups don't laugh at others' pain.

Fortunately, the two who were in cohesion about putting Clementi's encounter online, will have a Red Badge on them for the rest of their lives.

No one will hire them for work, no one sane will deal with them as friends, etc. They committed their own sentence, by ostracizing themselves from society.

Dukie - You are so off base, but I'm sure this is a familiar state of affairs for you.

Don't like my post? Tough. Don't like my preferences re: Gay/Straight? Tough. You are as bigoted as the most of your type - The "my view is the only view" and if someone disagrees in even the slighest fashion you throw out the Racists/Bigot card. Look in the mirror before you type further. Pathetic.

Does it matter if I "like" or "dislike" your post ? I never said such a thing.

Yes, I am bigoted. Against bigots. If the shoe fits, well, you know what to do.

Jimmy boy, if he weren't harassed about his sexuality he wouldn't have had any reason to do anything. If it's like the friend of Ravi said "it would have been the same if it were a girl" this voyeur has a serious sex disorder. Imagine he taped you and a chick having sex in a dorm room. I myself wouldn't have hurt myself, I would have broken this punks body into little pieces. This, whatever heritage he is, is a spoiled sick f*ck that needs to learn a lesson really bad.

So Jim Bo, don't blame an 18 yr old that was experimenting with his sexuality. Many young people do that. The only people that is responsible here are the voyeuristic freaks that think they won't be made to pay. THEY WILL PAY A HEAVY PRICE! They have a sexual disorder. They must be made to go to treatment, like most sex offenders should.

It was a horrible college prank. The pair should be disciplined. This is not a hate crime. I don't much believe in "hate crime" legislation anyway. That logic says that if this were a heterosexual guy that killed himself, he's not important. That's bigoted.

Unfortunately emotially vulnerable kids sometimes kill themselves. Parents and friends wish it not to happen and it still does. The kids pulling the prank are probably devastated. If they commit suicide, should the venemous posters with hateful speech on this website be sought out and charged with a hate crime? Seems like a lot of bullying going on here too. Maybe MSNBC should be charged for sponsoring the bullying and kangaroo court on display here.

Maybe you folks need to start looking in the mirror.

Alright, enough of this BLOG MOB who wants to break into the jail and drag these two young people through the streets before hanging them upside down in the square. This was a college prank. No different than the pranks we laughed so hard at when we were kids ourselves. If you've never been the butt of a prank then you probably are a social recluse and you want revenge on this kids because you never had a life to begin with. HOW MANY OF YOU LAUGHED AT THE MOVIE AMERICAN PIE! Answer: All of you I imagine! That movie was full of pranks. The reason it was funny is because those pranks were pulled on us or we know of people who had experienced them. It was the reality of it that made it funny! These are 18 - 19 year old kids. Yea, yea, yea they are adults according to the law, but we know they are really kids! Kids can be cruel and do dumb things and in this case it probably was hilarious until the gay guy ended up in the river. Well, this kid obviously had problems far beyond somebody seeing him getting a scrotum scratch. This kid obviously had a lot of social issues and is why he was turning to the nameless and emotionless internet for solutions to his daily life crisis'. This two kids who did this prank will get expelled from school and they will probably get some other form a legal punishment, but this blood thirsty thread on this and other Blogs is disgusting! I didn't see this many people upset and vengeful after 9/11 when 3000 lives were taken without their ability to control their fate. Bottom-line, the kid had other options and should have called home before typing onto the internet! The only reason this is garnering this much attention is because he was gay! If this would have been a straight guy who played football at Notre Dame, nobody, especially the gay community, would give a damn! This is all a political correctness power grab game at this point and serves no one especially the deceased. You know a girl killed herself here in my state last year because of pictures her exboyfriend took of her and plastered it on the internet. How much coverage did it get? None outside of the local paper in two articles. How was her live any less worthy then this guys! The only difference was she was straight!

I'm always amazed at the cretins on this planet I share oxygen with. I'm straight. This was a horrific thing to do to someone. I don't give a rat's ass how any of you feel about gays, this was an action meant to hurt and it was obviously effective. I hope they get the two on other charges.

I can't say it enough; some of you are as revolting as the two that did it. In fact I would guess you would have been happy to be the ones streaming.

I'm not a "Politically Correct " kinda guy nor am I a Bigot, Racist or Homophobe but I can't understand why Homosexual conduct is somehow special and to be protected.

This kid couldn't face the fact that his conduct had been exposed and took his life rather than face the music.

jessiecruz9090...I feel bad for you. Wow! To assume he was scared of his parents is ludicrous. To say he was ashamed is an understatement. We don't know what makes people kill themselves, but far too many young people do. Everyone handles things differently.

Hate crime...you bet. His comments "He's making out with a guy" or whatever they were state the true cause behind the video; to create shame.

As for Christians in Texas or anywhere being okay with this; WRONG! I am a Christian and targetting someone in this way for being different is not okay. This young man was a person, with a good future, and sometimes it takes only one thing to make someone snap. The two who did this should be disciplined.

Jim in Dallas you are soooooo wrong, sooo completely wrong. These two did NOT do a PRANK but were maliscious. Then posting it on the web. talk about immature Asian individuals who decided to prey on another human being, invade the young man's privacy and leave him exposed and open to ridicule and humilitation. I think incarceration of the two immature Asian teens is not enough; they should be punished to the highest; and what shame the two immature Asian teens brought on their respective families because of their arrogance, selfishness, crass inhumane behavior.

The will find out in prision how their prison mates take advantage of them and then the two immature Asian individuals, now expelled and humiliated for life I hope, now those two will understand for being such pigs at Rutgers.

College prank my ass....God I hope you all do not procreate....This went way beyond a college prank and these two will pay the piper one way or another! I mean really just who in the hell did they think they were to videotape someone without thier knowledge or consent and then to blast it out on the internet...what were they thinking.....that they'd humilitae the guy and get away with it that's what. This is what the hell is wrong with our society today...oh just a prank...they broke the law you morons and they should pay the full price....get your head's out of your asses before you smother yourselves.

I've never seen American Pie, and from what I've heard, I really don't ever want to. Way to many of these invasion of privacy incidents have happened involving both straight and gay people, and they have all received media attention. When I first read this story the day it was released it didn't even mention that he was recorded with another man, just that a sexual encounter was recorded.

This is not funny. I do not know anyone that has had a sexual encounter secretly recorded and put on the internet. I have not been secretly recorded and put on the internet. And I think anyone who thinks such an invasion of privacy is funny is a depraved idiot with no regard for his fellow man.

I'm amazed that people can hear about this and then call it a "prank"!! This in no way resembles a prank to me. This was a pervy little voyeur who was hoping to get his roommate on video having sex. I'm quite sure he thought it would be funny as hell to film another person having sex, any kind of sex, with any one, male or female and then stream it live for the world to see. These two, especially the guy, should absolutely be punished for this, I hope the little prick goes to prison. Nobody should hove their intimate encounters filmed without their knowledge and then shown to the world. It would be very humiliating to say the very least. I can't even imagine how horrible I would feel if something like this happened to me, especially at the age of 18. This isn't about gay or straight it's about right and wrong. The moral compass of these two individuals just doesn't work and they sure as hell shouldn't be around other students, who knows what else they have done or what else they have up their slimy little sleeves. Talk about taking 'peeping tom' to the next level!'

Jim:

I am shocked that anyone would say what you have. Do you feel good inside that you are superior to a homosexual man?

God made him as he did you. In my opinion if He makes mistakes, you are the mistake, not the homosexual. I practiced medicine for years in NYC . I saw the damage you and your kind of bigots did to sick people who could not care for nor defend themselves. I give thanks to God that the younger generation, even in Texas, see your kind of thinking for what it is. If you need to dehumanize, a group of God's children, you will go to hell if there is a God and I believe their is.

Say what you like. The last time I read Jesus' Beatitudes i saw nothing about hate thy neighbor. Is it "as thyself"? Yes, this is a case of self loathing on your part. You doth protest too much, sir. You need to move to Lithonia Georgia with your kind of "Bishop".

Robert Pearson, M.D.

what is your real name if you are so proud?

The most "embarrassing" thing I do on a regular basis is masturbate. Having sex is not embarassing unless you are having sex with someone for which you aren't proud. If someone video taped me masturbating and broadcast it on the web I'd probably be pretty pissed; however, I wouldn't go off the deep end and jump off a bridge. This kid killed himself, end of story. His shame and guilt with his actions should have little carryover to the kids that filmed it. The only way someone can be shamed is if they are caught doing something they think is wrong.

Suicide is not murder. Let's try to keep it that way.

Gays don't get terrorized for being gay? What cave have you been living in?

Privacy is private, you are wrong. Homosexuality after all of the years of effort to give it acceptability still carries a "stigma". It may change eventually but regardless. your "being pissed" if a tape of you jerking off were to hit the net. would change if that tape were to affect your getting a job, or your relationship with your gal. You don't know how you would react to the ripple effect of one stupid act. Seriously think about it. What if pictures of your wife or girlfriend naked were shown on the net? No I don't think you would shrug it off.

they broke the law you morons and they should pay the full price....get your head's out of your asses before you smother yourselves

Yeah, you want that FULL price don't you!!! You don't even know all the facts and you want the FULL price! Lynch Mob!

Laws were broken that led to the death of another person. They will be prosecuted as they should be, most severely. If someone secretly taped you jerking off and put it on tv, you might be upset too.

When was the last time someone burned a cross and terrorized someone for being gay? Name calling and some stupid pranks certainly don't equal hangings and lynchings.

Will this do?

Or this?

Or this?

Those are just from page 1 of a Google search of "murdered for being gay."

Jim in Dallas:

Why doesn't it surprise me that you're from TexASS - The supposed Christian stronghold. He jumped not because he thought what he did was wrong, but because of the bigotry and bias that he would have to endure and being harrassed about it his life from Idiots JUST LIKE YOU!!

So it's perfectly OK to stereotype an entire state and an entire religion? I personally think what was done in taping that student was horrible, no ifs ands or buts. I'm not from Texas, but I hate stereotyping because it only leads to hatred. I am a Christian. I hate what a lot of people are saying about this student who committed suicide; but it does not by any means represent every single person who practices Christianity, I don't think it represents the heart of who Jesus was, and it most certainly does not represent me!

i do believe this was a prank that wasnt intended to result an anything more than some fingerpointing laughs. what the 2 did was a little too far, however they did not kill anyone. the young man took hs own life, noone is responsible for that other than him. it is a mighty political grab to get media coverage as such, as many have said, had this been a strait person filmed doing something with a woman and was embarrased it most likely wouldnt have even made news any further than the local channel. because the kid was gay this has turned into headlines and labeled as a hate crime. that is just rediculous, the gay community fights vigorously to be openly gay, this kid got his chance to be openly gay, he was overwhelmed with guilt, shame, or both and made a choice himself to end his life, the 2 whom filmed and posted it did not sentence him to death,he did. now the mobs want these 2 hung for a privacy invasion? the kid was obviously weak in the mind and had some issues or he wouldve dealt with the situation much differently. people get picked on and such all the time for all sorts of things, some can deal with it some cant. but to want the lives of these 2 idiots whom invaded his privacy and nothing more is insane. just remember folks, that if you trully look at homosexuals just like anyone else, than you cannot involve the fact that he was gay in your emotional conviction of the 2 whom invaded his privacy. his sexuality matters not, and it wouldnt even be a thread on newsvine if he was a strait kid.

I'm hoping for a charge of manslaughter. Granted, Tylers committing suicide was his choice. But the two voyeurs that posted his activities live instigated the events that led directly to his choice. That was something only a very sick mind would consider. I doubt that either of those sickos would be much use to society anyway. This was, whether you like it or not, a hate crime. It wouldn't have happened if they had been heterosexual, clearly. I doubt very much that Tyler was 'ashamed' of his lifestyle, but, in knowing how it would be treated in the rest of society on a day to day basis, I can see how in the short term he became desperate. All of you closet homophobes, can be grateful that another light has been taken from the world. Who knows what joy his music could have given us.

I do feel that the victim’s mental state or sexual preference are minimal facts in the full story. It's a Huge tragedy that the victim chose to end his own life. What those two teens did to him, without his consent, was NO prank. They clearly broke laws and one was a Hate crime. They should be expelled from the college and serve jail time. Since it seems to matter on this post, I'm a Christian and heterosexual...but I would still be mortified (especially during my high school or college years) if someone made a video of me have any type of intimately private moment. Add to that issue, these teens then put the unauthorized video on the internet! These teens gave no consideration into what ramification that can have on an individual’s life today and in their future. Oh how my empathy goes out to Tyler’s family.

Here's the deal, "Jim" : When someone drives drunk and is pulled over by the police, they get charged with driving drunk. When someone drives drunk and kills someone, they are charged with driving drunk AND with killing someone. (are you going to say that, in this case, the victim shouldn't have been out driving anyway, so it's the victim's fault? actually, why am I asking that? OF COURSE you'd say that!)

Now, when someone spies on someone else and is caught spying, they should be charged with spying. If their spying directly leads to the suicide of the victim, then the perpetrator should be held accountable for that death. If the perpetrator's spying doesn't lead to suicide but to deep emotional distress for the victim (which should certainly happen unless the victim has a fetish for getting spied on) then the perpetrator should be charged with causing deep emotional distress. It's called taking responsibility for your actions, an idea which I suppose is quite foreign to you. Don't fret though, it's quite a simple concept if you just put your brain to work on trying to understand it.

I know that you, "Jim", like to live in a world where a perpetrator is only charged for the thing he/she did but not for the actual consequences of his/her actions, but unfortunately for you the majority of us were taught better by our parents. If you're going to do something, be prepared to man-up to whatever happens as a direct result of it.

What these kids did was asinine and they'll have to live with it for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, there are MANY in our society that voyeuristic and lack a sense of respect for others.

That said, this lynch mob calling for hate crimes is ridiculous !

By your standards the taping of THE OTHER GUY he was having sex with should be attempted murder. Be real !!!

I also agree with the others that say that this wouldn't get any attention if he wasn't gay.

Once you cross a line and cause someone harm it is no longer just a "prank". This was plain malicious.

I hope the court throws every charge they possibly can at the two subhumans responsible. I hope they end up in prison where they can enjoy the lack of privacy they don't believe belongs to anyone else.

Instead of just telling people to grow thicker skins, I think it is way past time that bullies start being held responsible for their behavior and suffer consequences for it.

My sincere condolences to this young man's loved ones.

No....Jim is a bigotted A$$! I hope he gets nailed.

Thank You, TYLER!!!!

Have you ever heard of empathy? Having feeling or compassion for someone else and what they are going through, the ability to imagine yourself in their position...You lack empathy...you only see your view...look at this situation from all angles and maybe your feelings and understanding will become more clear, and you will realize the full gravity of this situation. What these students did was, to say the least, heartless, idiotic, and selfish. The only ones they were thinking of were themselves and their immediate gratification. They wanted a laugh, they wanted to be the big shots who caused a sensation among their friends. They never gave a thought about the repercussions of their actions. They put Tyler Clementi's private life on display, his most intimate moments recorded, as if they meant nothing, and played this for the whole world to see and judge! Quite a statement on what our society has become! The very last thing they were thinking of was how this would really affect Tyler Clementi, because they just didn't care! All they wanted was a reaction! Well they got one, didn't they? These students are a prime example of a significant part of our society. Self involved, narcissistic, selfish, immature, irresponsible and unaccountable! How unfortunate! This may have started out as a prank in their minds, but what they actually did went far beyond and elevated to criminal behavior. Ravi needed an accomplice so he went to Wei and she was only too happy to help. They could have taken a minute and rethought what they were about to do, but they didn't. Wei could have said no, but she didn't! I hope they find the evidence to charge them with a hate crime, because clearly these students focussed on Tyler's homosexuality and wanted to out him, harass him, abuse him, embarass him, make fun of him, expose his private moments in a very hateful way! They were successful in their intent, to the point of causing thisyoung man's death! Tyler was gentle, quiet, gifted and talented. By all accounts he was a happy person. I hope the prosecutor takes his time in finding every shred of evidence to support prosecuting these two to the fullest extent of the law!

So, its okay to invade someones privacy no matter what the outcome or the consequences of that act? Good luck trying to explain that to your kids, God forbid you have any.

Jim,

You are a disgusting human being.

Jim the one thing I have learned in my very, very long life is the one thing God does not like is someone else playing God. You are judging something you know nothing about. Your judgment of this young man is going to get you in a lot of trouble when you meet your maker.

By the way Jim is just ignorant, has nothing to do with being a Texan...I am a Texan and am eons away from Jim's attitude.

When Phoebe Prince killed herself because of bullying at school, people were calling for her tormenters to be jailed and expelled. When Megan Meier killed herself after another girl's mother lied to her on facebook, people were saying she should be put on sex offender lists and jailed as well.
Now, with the death of Tyler Clementi, the many of the same people who stood so indignant before are saying that this is "political correctness" or that Tyler was somehow the sole one responsible for his death. These people are hypocrites of the highest order. I'm rarely disgusted by things on the internet, but to devalue the impact of this suicide because the boy was gay, or to lay blame on him rather than those who drove him to this decision, is absolutely horrible. I won't name names, but you should be ashamed of yourselves.

When will bullying end?

jim in dallas i don't agree with the gay thing. but r u kidding me so its ok to set up a hidden camera and send it out to the net? what ever happened to privacy , Hypothetically what would you do if it was your daughter sleeping with a black man and it was sent over the net and she committed suicide cuz you are a racist would that be ok too?(Hypothetically)

now i hope these two teen's???? there adults they don't live with mommy and daddy i hope they get the max for invasion of privacy and anything else they can get these @!$%#s on lets hope they work for fastfood when they get out of jail

bernie-1036132: Gay people today are the new Black people of the pre-civil rights era. No rights, bigotry, hatred and being killed like this boy and the Shepard boy.

You were on your way to making a great arguement until you posted that crap. One has nothing to do with the other. People that think it does should really consider a rethink.

I have to wonder about those who blame the victims and defend the perps.

PLEASE read post #302. I hope most will agree. Thanks.

Good LORD. Not everyone in Texas is like Jim in Dallas and I'm someone who lives in a RURAL community in Texas. His comments are revolting and mind boggling. Gays have been persecuted in our society every bit as much as racial minorities, yes they have beaten and killed for being gay. I can't think of another minority group that has organized religions branding them as sinners destined for hell because of who they are.

This incident is revolting. And yes it was a hate crime. The Twitter posts made by Ravi make it pretty clear he was invading his roommate's privacy because he was gay. I hope those two get prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and yes tag on that hate crime multiplier. Anyone defending their behavior is out of their minds and totally devoid of empathy, one of the biggest problems in society today.

I would hazard a guess that most people who make excuses for this kind of behavior are often guilty of having done something like it at some time. Call it a prank, or a stupid mistake if you like, but there was no mistake in their planning this and nothing unintentional about the pain and humiliation they were trying to inflict.

Often those that harass and bully others like this tend to lack any form of empathy for the destruction and pain they inflict, or else they would not be able to perpetrate such a crime. It's all about the thrill of power over another's life and their own entertainment at another's pain. It's sick.

I think at the very least they should be required to go into intensive psychotherapy to assess any further danger they might be as well as help them to address, face, and fix their obvious mental issues.

typical homophobic response. blame the victim...what buttholes you people are. you don't have to be gay to realize this was a very hateful thing to do to another. if it was straight sex with the same results, it would still be wrong to victimize someone. there are boundaries in this life and the two students violated them..

Jim,

Lets try to be more logical to this. If this was your daughter (same age) with a guy and same scenario was done. Will you say the same thing? Will you think the same about these two guys? Why aren't you neutral and think for a min that these two kids did wrong. You arent his age to think like he did or why he did it. Different ppl different mentalities. Please use yours.

As a double Rutgers alumnus, I am shocked, horrified, and totally disgusted by Tyler's death. I'm very sorry that no one was there to help him. As many young people today, he may have been far too dependent on the Internet. People, you need to re-define your self-worth without the freakin Internet--or your lousy peers!

BTW, if Wei attended West Windsor public schools, she wasn't from Princeton but from another, nearby town. That aside, as an over-burdened Princeton taxpayer, I am outraged that we pay enormous amounts of real estate taxes to the public schools which obviously do not have the ability to teach their students the word "character". Yes, this human refuse are just another product of their self-centered, self-absorbed parents, and I realize that the local public schools aren't 100% at fault, but I'm sick and tired of funding the education of this garbage. All the money in the world will never make this crap into human beings. Stop wasting my hard-earned money on this garbage!

You're a sick S.O.B. Don't pretend to be human being. The idea that you believe that taping another persons sexual activity show's you are sick. Another Texan removing all doubt that Texas is full of haters and bigots.

Now, when someone spies on someone else and is caught spying, they should be charged with spying. If their spying directly leads to the suicide of the victim, then the perpetrator should be held accountable for that death. If the perpetrator's spying doesn't lead to suicide but to deep emotional distress for the victim (which should certainly happen unless the victim has a fetish for getting spied on) then the perpetrator should be charged with causing deep emotional distress. It's called taking responsibility for your actions

What you're suggesting sounds more like taking responsibility for someone else's actions. How the other person takes your actions determines what the crime is? Their actions, after your actions are what determine the legality of your actions? You could commit a crime accidentally! Do you really think that's a fair approach?

Charging Ravi with manslaughter?? That's the hate crime.

He only streamed a video thru the internet. It was wrong, yes, since He knew what was going to happen (gay encounter), so charge him on privacy invasion, not manslaughter. The loss of life was Clementi's choice.

Some of you clowns are pathetic, gays do not choose to be gay , people like Jim are just flat-footed bigots , who can't see past their Puritan bull ...This was MURDER !!!

I agree Jim

this was not murder he took his own life because of bullying, mommy and daddy never let him build his own backbone. He was weak minded and chose his path.

Gays do choose to be gay. Its a life style choice. why put reproductive organs on something or someone if their not going to use them? Either by God or by nature?

Protected minorities? Those who say " let us be us" I would stand to protect. But thats not what we are talking about here. Any Agenda that say's, tolerate me, accept me, support me, think like me, teach my way of life to your children as acceptable (no matter your belief)then protect me OR ELSE! sounds like a hi-jacked religion to me. If any one of you knew the laws attempted to be passed every year in the name of gay rights pertaining to sexual age limits, you would shudder.

Thankfully and sadly these that practice this have to currently go to other countries to sleep with boys.

You are wrong in thinking that the loss of privacy is a minor matter. This is Big Brother (open a history book) and thousands have been driven to suicide due to this type of mental torture/surveillance. Countries have collasped as a consequense of Big Brother surveillance. If you were the one who had experienced this horrible treatment you would understand. If you had half a brain and a dash of empathy you would understand. Try to think and feel for a moment, maybe you'll get it. Good Luck

I really can not believe some of you, college prank, mentally unstable, because he is gay...seriously, It is wrong to video someone having sex not matter who or what the are unless you have their consent. Imagine having your room mate doing such a thing and posting info about it...and then having to live with him, you can not pull yourslf away from the situation cause they are there in your face..i dont care how mentally strong you are, it would have an effect on anyone of you....you say he shouldnt have looked online for help, please that is how it is now a days exp people in that age group. By the sounds of it he got good answers and directed in the right way to try and resolve this issue...unfortantly he was pushed to far mentally by his roomate.

No one should bully someone because you want to prank, the reciever has to be willing to want to play the prank game...not all people think it is funny, exp when the are on the recieving end, the two people doing the so called pranks should have been pranking each other, trying to make sex tapes of each others as they think this is fun...but i bet if they where on the recieving end of such a horrible act, they would be crying foul.

I hope they get all possible punishment, no matter how severe, a life was lost by their actions, they pushed this boy to jump, weither this was their intent or not.

Jim in Dallas... The point here is EVERYONE has the right to privacy! I am not Gay, but I would be very angry if someone had done this to me. If it had been me, I would have dumped ALL of my roommates video equipment in the river, not myself!

Bernie...this boy was not killed. He killed himself. Any rational human being would willing admit that what happened to this boy was deplorable, illegal, and despicable. With that being said, everyone over a certain age has had to deal with humiliation in some way, shape, or form. Let me give you a short example. When I was a young 20 year old boy in the Navy, me and my then girlfriend decided it would be sexy to take naked Polaroid pictures of each other. There were no digital cameras in those days. We did, and sure enough I accidentally left my locker open one day and my "buddys" found some of them. It was bad enough they found hers, but what was worse, they found the ones of me! As I'm sure you can imagine, pictures of me in all my glory started turning up on walls everywhere on the ship. 2.5 more years on that ship, and I never did live it down. I was hurt. I was angry. Above all, I was absolutely humiliated! However, I can assure you, the thought of taking my own life never even fleeted through my mind!

jim i do not believe that it is a matter of being embarrassed about it. there are stupid pranks, then there are stupid people. this is a case of stupid people. Clementi found out what they were doing via twitter. as did how many other thousands. so now the HARRASSMENT just went beyond control. This boy led his life, by his own accord. the other two decided to make it public knowledge. He asked for it to stop, reported it, and asked for a room change. Since this was just a school prank it was not looked as seriously by the school, just as well by you. They is a reason what my husband and I do are called private moments. WE ARE ALLOWED TO CHOOSE THAT RIGHT. this boy did not. his right was stollen from him because he choose someone of the same sex. The prank ended when the couple decided to illegally tape him again for their own personallly satisfaction. At that point it became harrassment, hazing, illegal porn, and yes I feel it conspired to his death. not going to say murder, but conspiracy most definately.....................I feel for this boy and his family, this is just the beginning of a long ordeal. In the end I pray his family will be able to have the last laugh.

You people are making this too complicated.
Lock em up.
Throw away the key.

I was under the impression dorm rooms were shared? If so it's safe to say there is no privacy in a public institution. I myself would not sleep good at night knowing a homosexual was in the same room. If this guy was so ashamed of being gay, then maybe he should not have acted on his homosexual urges. I think often times people make bad choices and with all this BS about "Hate Crimes" it's quite clear the people that are giving into temptation are finding ways to punish the folks who refrain. I guess we all could be flaming homo's if we wanted to be, but wouldn't that bring about the end of the world if people were all gay? From a baby making perspective anyway...

If someone took a video of me having sex with my woman and put it on the internet I would be pissed because it was a violation of my privacy, however I would not be embaressed and then kill myself because I was ashamed. See that right there proves this guy and many other homosexuals are mis-wired, and can not even stand the truth. Instead of this guy living to see justice for his envasion of privacy, he is dead, because he was ashamed of himself.

Lesson - If you are going to be ANYTHING, gay, straight, or whatever; you had better be PROUD OF IT, if not you too make be taking the plunge. Is it right for people to invade others privacy? No! Is it right to even talk about hate crimes in a situation like this? NO!

Just how private is a shared dorm anyway? If this video had been take of the kid tooting cocaine and then passed to the authorities do you think they would consider it invasion of privacy? Hell no, it would be "Okay to invade someones privacy". The video tapers would be considered a "Hero!".

Is it not true that homosexuals are at greater risk for getting HIV/AIDS? And isn't it true these homosexuals also flip flop between homosexuality and hetrosexuality? Thus spreading the virus, much like a drug dealer selling drugs?

Too much sympathy for the kid who could not cope with people knowing he was a homosexual. It's possible this kid could have been denying that he was a homo, and thus his roomates had to procure PROOF so they did not look like they were lying. Homo's have to be up front with people that they are gay, because it is a hetrosexuals right to not want to assosiate with a homosexuals. We hetrosexuals are losing our rights to hate crimes bills when it comes to exposing people.

How many of you parents in here would want your daughters having sexual relations with a guy known to have homosexual relations? JUST THINK ABOUT THAT FOR AWHILE.

The two who did the filming are at fault. They should be brought to justice. It doesn't matter what you do in the privacy of your own bedroom as long as it's not hurting someone. Kids and teens are mean...and don't blame it on conservative or liberal. This was a kid/teen thing. Actually, a lot of mean kids grow up to be mean adults.

Has anyone thought to ask~why? Was Tyler not only upset how this was going to affect him and his life going forward BUT what about his partner in the video? This is affecting him too. BOTH of these young men had their privacy violated. The guilt that Tyler may have felt may not have been over the encounter but over the fact that his roommate stole an intimate secret that Tyler had been asked to keep to himself. Think about your most private intimate secrets, do u like s&m? did you experiment in highscool or college? were you once a drug user? These are things that people want to share IN THEIR OWN TIME!! NO ONE has the right to steal that information and throw it out for the world to know... I applaude the writer who pointed out the drunk driving example.. Yes, Tyler killed himself but would he have done that without the emotional encouragement? We charge people all the time with unintentional manslaughter...this fits that bill....the 2 involved in the recording and posting may not have intended Tyler to die but the sure pushed him to his decision. And what about the other man? Should there be no consequences for his loss of privacy, his emotional duress, his life changing concerns??

Jim in Dallas and his ilk: you strike me as serious homophobes who have issues you need to work out. The fact that you could think that this young man committed suicide because he felt guilty or ashamed for being gay and being "caught" being gay obviously signals that you think he had reason to feel ashamed or guilty for being gay. Right there, you are starting from a seriously flawed premise. And the fact that you could so summarily gloss over the atrocious conduct of these two idiots as a "prank" signals that you do not perceive gays to be an oppressed group. (When I was in high school or college, we toilet papered people's houses for a prank. We didn't tape classmates having sex and then give the video to others. The fact that you can't see the difference means you are truly out of touch.) I can only hope that your kids, should you have any, are more evolved in their thinking than you. I also hope that you begin to ask yourselves the question of why gay people evoke such a viscerally negative reaction from you.

For those who believe that Ravi and Wei aren't responsible for Tyler's death, it is probably true that under criminal standards, it would be difficult to convict them of manslaughter. However, Tyler's parents could certainly sue the two of them for wrongful death or intentional infliction of emotional distress or other civil causes of action and they would probably win, at least on some counts. As a very general rule, the law holds you accountable for all of the consequences that flow from your conduct, whether intended or not. The fact that Ravi and Wei didn't know that Tyler was mentally unstable is of no consequence. If his death was at least partly attributable to their conduct, his parents could probably hold them responsible in a civil suit.

I also have to take issue with those who believe that kids should just grow a thicker skin with respect to this type of bullying. Look, people, bullying has changed since we were kids. This is Bullying 2.0. Kids today have the internet and other tools at their disposal to harass and torment one another to a degree that none of us ever had to experience as kids. Hormones, growth, and the search for identity make it hard enough being a teenager. Research has even shown that the brain is not fully developed until a person is 25 years of age and that this can be linked to the impulsive decisions that kids make. As some have pointed out, Tyler's privacy was forever violated the moment that video hit the internet and it could have had lifelong consequences for him. That is more than any of us had to deal with in our day and as we are seeing, the effect this new level of bullying is having not just on normal kids, but especially on those kids who are particularly vulnerable due to depression, etc., is quite serious. Moreover, I hardly think the right response to situations like this is to lecture the bullied to thicken their skins. True, in the real world, kids will have to learn to shake off hostility or nastiness from others, let things slide off their backs, and maintain their composure. And that is a noble thing to teach kids. But kids who bully also need to learn that they cannot flippantly go harassing and tormenting others. They need to be taught to treat others with respect. And if a tougher stance against this type of bullying is what it takes to wake them up, so be it. Bullying has been around since time immemorial, but this type of bullying is not something that our society should accept. We must be clear that it is unacceptable and will not be tolerated, period. That will go a long way to reducing the incidence of this type of bullying.

Well like the kid looked up invasion of privacy by recording is an automatic expulsion Lets hope they stick to their guide lines clearly they're not mature enough for college

They should be sent to prison. What they did led directly to someones death.

ALL involved need to step up to the plate, and do what's right. This incident indeed opens a can of worms. Mostly, I'd like to see people grow a heart, and display some common sense, and put themselves in the other persons shoes.

To me, this is a HATE crime and there is no doubt that the two idiots that filmed this, did not intend for this kind of out come. Regardless of what their intent was, what they did was WRONG, UNKIND, VICIOUS, MEAN, and was certainly meant to DO HARM and SHAME the victim, which it did. Now the two will have to wade through the $%#T.

jessiecruz9090

Nope...no second chances....they know what they did was wrong...now it has led to someones death...expulsion from school is nothing but a slap on the wrist...they need jail time...they are over 18...they are adults...accessory after the fact...gee...I'll bet their parents are proud.

jessie, obviously your comment is imbiscilic, even immature, which is what you are showing, not to mention highly ignorant. But, you are not one of the educated citizens of society, no doubt. So I dont have much faith in anything you have to say. Too bad they let you vote !!

The punishment should fit the crime. If they are sent to jail or get probation they will never be able to get financial aid from the feds. Their life is ruined. The poor kid who committed suicide done it for other reasons. He only had this cloud for only a few days.

Yeah the should both should be video taped doing something very intimate with someone else in private and then it should be broadcast for others to see and then lets see where there shame leads them. They ruined someones life, now theirs should be too.

These two twats need to be charged with reckless endangerment, if not involuntary manslaughter. This cyber-bullying crap has got to stop.

jessiecruz9090 - what are you smokin'? How dare you minimize this as a "prank". Would you feel the same way if you were streamed all over the net without your knowledge??? Sounds to me like you're sorry you didn't see it...or did you?????

Lawrence - stop, just stop!!!!!!!

I guess bullying really doesn't stop at high school.

Jessiecruz9090 - what a sick perverted post. These two made you laugh? Are you serious? If someone taped you in the nude then broadcast it to the world to see I guess you'd have no problem? What these two did to this young man was not funny, cute or "no big deal." They should be expelled, prosecuted and every company they apply to for a job should look at their reckless and criminal behavior, then move on to the next applicant. These are two disgusting human beings.

Hmmm, when it was done on "American Pie" it was funny. Now in real life people are in an uproar and demanding blood.

What happened was tragic but lets not go to the extreme and say just because someone does something that leads to anothers suicide they should be charged as if they killed the person. Where does that stop? Knee jerk reactions rarely accomplish anything positive.

Violating a person's should have a charge and that is what these people are liable for, they have to live with the rest of it for life.

jessiecruz9090 have you lost your mind!!! What gives you the right to validate this kind of behavior. This is way beyond a crank and I feel that these students should be punished to the extend of "hate crimes". They are spoiled little kids that expect mommy and daddy to take care of things; this is a problem besides the fact that they were not mature enough to be in college and what they both needed was a Little tough love from mommy and daddy to begin with. How would you feel if this was brother??? You need to stop and think beyond your ignorance.

Some of the killing in Pulp Fiction was funny too. Do you laugh when murder occurrs in real life too? Can you not see the difference between a movie and real life?

This was no prank, this was a crime just like when any other perv spies on women in bathrooms or locker rooms. The fact is that a death directly resulted from their crime. They should be in jail.

I think the possibility that this kid wasn’t actually gay and perhaps he got caught up in a moment of experimentation should be considered. Many people have had certain encounters sometimes to discover for themselves their true nature/orientation. If this was truly the case and he really didn’t consider himself to be gay, promoting this video for all to see would be extremely devastating.

Perhaps a good reason to keep any such activity in fantasy, instead of reality?

Definitely a sad situation and a very unfortunate outcome, but you have to keep in mind these are all college freshman. Not the brightest bulbs of the bunch and certainly not a group of people who would be thinking everything through all the way. In 2010, you have shows like Jackass and Tosh.o glorifying this type of stuff and it is far from uncommon to see someone post another person's sex tape online and share intimate pictures without the other person's knowledge.

They should be punished, definitely, but you can't act like they pushed him off the bridge themselves. He was obviously conflicted and thought this was the end of the world, when it didn't have to be.

Rutgers is a good school. I wouldn't call the freshman class "not the brightest bulbs of the bunch." It's a lot of work getting into a good school, and a lot of thought goes into thinking things through and consequences of actions. These two students showed they DIDN'T CARE about the consequences, not that they didn't understand them.

It's not only an issue of expelling them. No other college should admit them. What they did should hang around their shoulders. They ought to be treated like lepers. Would you want them in your school or at your job? I wouldn't. How could you ever trust them?

@ O'Really: Completely disagree. Having aptitude and high enough test scores to get into a good school is an entirely separate matter from being mature enough to weigh out the consequences of one's actions.

A mature person wouldn't have filmed his roommate having sex in the same way a mature person wouldn't have jumped off a bridge over it.

So people who film others having sex and people who commit suicide are just immature, is that it? I guess no mature adults ever did either of those things.

These KIDS are adults. Old enough to send to war, old enough to vote, but not old enough or mature enough to realize they shouldn't commit crimes.

I am heartsick for the family of this young man. Also how callous of the two

I am a grandmother who is heartsick for the family of this young man. I cannot understand the mindset of the two perpertrators of this horrible crime. How could they be so cruel?

Michael,

When I read this article, I got the impression that the President of Rutgers speeches after the fact may have been somewhat hypocritical, let's-cover-our-ass speeches. If those posts on JustUsBoys.com were really Tyler's, he said that after speaking to the Resident Adviser, he sent emails about the matter to the Resident Adviser (RA) and his superiors, but that he did not believe they would really do anything about it. Why not? Is that the sort of atmosphere that exists on that campus? Now they're making speeches about how everyone is welcome and how everyone should be treated equally. But what became of those emails, and why did they not do anything about it until it was too late?

Wet Willy,

It's certainly a possibility that Tyler was just "experimenting" to find out if he might be gay. That sort of thing happens, as you mentioned. But if he was corresponding about this on a gay blog, JustUsBoys.com, I think he most likely already realized he was gay. Of course we do not know for a certainty if that was him on that blog.

For the love of God would you idiots stop chalking this up as being a prank. WHo cares if American Pie did it. It was a FICTIONAL MOVIE and in real life the guy would be prosecuted too. Filming someone without their consent is a CRIME, not a prank. Airing out on the internet is an even bigger crime.

I dare any of you who still believe this is a prank to go out and try the same thing yourself. Then let me know who you've hired as your attorney if you get caught.

BeachBum-977209

I guess bullying really doesn't stop at high school.

No, unfortunately it gets a lot worse with adults. Sad fact is that bullies aren't age or gender specific either. The only difference is: When you are an adult and try to report a bully, rarely is it taken seriously. Trust me I have been on the job and saw it first hand. When ever I would intervene, I would hear things like:

"He/she was probably just messing with him/her"

"not my fault he/she's so thin skinned"

"Man what a cry baby"

And this came from supervisors.

What happened was tragic but lets not go to the extreme and say just because someone does something that leads to anothers suicide they should be charged as if they killed the person

What happened was tragic but lets not go to the extreme and say just because someone drives drunk they should be charged as if they killed the person.

What happened was tragic but lets not go to the extreme and say just because someone fell asleep at the wheel they should be charged as if they killed the person.

What happened was tragic but lets not go to the extreme and say just because someone didn't mean to kill someone else they should be charged as if they killed the person.

See my point? Just because you didn't MEAN to lead to someone's death, doesn't mean you aren't implicit in it. All of these cases I changed your statement to carry at LEAST an involuntary manslaughter charge.

@ O'Really. You could spend about 30 seconds on YouTube and find any number of videos of 18 and 19 year olds doing ridiculous things that could easily disfigure them for life or even kill them. Are each of them just as culpable, or is it just when something goes wrong? And I'm pretty sure every 18 year old in America has used the "i'm old enough to go to war and vote" argument when complaining about not being able to buy booze, but that doesn't mean we need to liquor up highschool students and college freshman. There is a reason those laws exist, most kids are stupid.

I think this would be a totally different argument if the two who filmed him were in their 40's, but they weren't. They were kids, who now already have to live with this for the rest of their lives. They should certainly be punished and made to make some sort of good out of this tragedy, but I don't think they should have their lives ruined by lengthy prison time for a dumb decision.

They didn't shove the kid off the bridge, nor did they think "hey, if we film him...he's going to off himself!"

The young man should have seeked some help to cure him of his homosexual malady so that he could have a chance at eventually living a happy life. Sodomizing one another and other unnatural relationships with the same sex never yields true happiness and often leads to death inflicted by self or by repercussions of that risky lifestyle (such as AIDS, etc...)

Let this be a stark lesson to those considering such a path down the slippery slope of homosexuality and the sad lifestyle that goes along with it.

There is still time to change your misguided and confused ways... Sexuality resides in one's brain and is learned in adolescence, and when the wiring is wrong due to nurture or unfortunate events such as abuse, a person is by definition ill and needs psychological help... One must learn to live in accordance with nature and one must embrace all that is natural and logical, not sodomy and homosexuality, being that the aforementioned is the road to perdition...

Dee-bunch of numbers

I agree with you... except on the no sex before marriage part, that's Victorian, not today's world.

kpokeefe:

There is one difference re your call on this tragedy/ Prank as a college "kid".

Did you have computers at the time you went to College/School where everything can be put out there for the world to see. (You Tube), etc. Forced humiliation to committing suicide. Hasn't this happened several times this year, including a Mother who assisted her daughter for revenge on another girl.

A college prank and using the internet to display cruel jokes is committing "murder" to the other person who is innocent.

@ Bobo the Clown:

Tyler was working on becoming a musician. Employers nowadays probably wouldn't hire a gay man in the stead of someone "straight", especially if the gay man has gone public with his affairs. Tyler must have believed his dream was ruined...and it probably was. Someone stained his slate for him, and he couldn't seem to wipe it clean. Some people can only take so much humiliation, and if your dreams were crushed, you too may have decided that death was your only escape from a lifetime of slandering. "Sad...truely sad" you say, indeed. Truly sad that you don't seem to care. Get a heart before you comment on something tragic like this.

And, those two "kids" are completely elligble for charges such as hate crime. What they did was purely wrong, even if Tyler didn't kill himself. They probably didn't think of the consquences, and probably didn't consider that almost everything posted on the internet becomes permanent. Also, bickering with me won't change anything, so don't start a fight.

What a sad, pathetic individual you are "Bobo".

People have been bullied for years, the ones that dont have mental issues, dont kill themselves

And you're familiar with this "bullying" how? When was the last time your most sexual, intimate moment was captured and broadcast live for the world to see?

Are you familiar with the phrase "walk a mile in their shoes?" Well, until you have walked that mile, I'd refrain from judging his state of mind or his action as a result of his being videotaped.

You speak as though gay bashing/bullying doesn't result in suicide. Do you read a newspaper or watch TV? Gay teens are 4 times more likely than str8 teens to commit suicide. Why? Because of

a s s h o l e s like you.

Randy from Maine.

"It wouldnt have happend if the kid didnt kill himself."

I think that may be one of the dumbest things I have ever read. Let's step back one square- "He wouldn't have killed himself if his roomate hadn't gone out of his way to elaborately set him up in order to humiliate him as much as possible in front of the entire internet watching world."

Who knows what his mental state was? I can assure you I wouldn't have killed myself, I would have been too busy tracking down my roomate in order to beat him senseless. Neither reaction is good, but that's the point, we're talking about a dirtbag who invaded someone elses privacy, with the express intent of humiliating him and creating an emotionally charged situation.

Anyone who thinks what they did is ok probably has serious mental issues themself.

Tyler killed himself. HE is responsible. Yes it was tragic- but the only person who can hold blame, is the one that killed himself. If he couldnt take it anymore - thats still on him. If he stood up for himself, he wouldnt be bullied.

EVERYONE suffers humiliation and embarrassment - its part of life. You have to learn to cope with it. Just about everyone has been bullied. They bully you, because you let them. Tyler was bullied because he let them. When i was bullied - i fought back. Sometimes i won, sometimes i lost- but the bullies didnt mess with me any more- because i wasnt going to take it laying down, they moved on to easier prey. Kids need to learn to cope with being bullied, embarrassed, and humiliated. Its part of life. Cope or dont. Tyler didnt, and made the choice that he would rather kill himself. That was his choice, noone elses.

I agree that they should be charged with invasion of privacy - i just dont agree with Hate Crimes. All crimes are hatefull when they are like this. Was this crime hate filled? Yes- but no more than any other crime like this.

Hey Bobo, when your kid beats up the cripple kid, are you going to take him out for an ice cream?

You're right, there was other things going on in this kid's life. He was in college, probably away from home for the first time, he didn't have his support network, trying to make new friends, trying to figure out who he is; then WHAM! his roommate pulls this stunt, making his new environment uncomfortable, living with someone who violated his privacy and probably had limited places to turn in his mind. I agree with you, the other two kids, probably didn't think that this would happen (actually they didn't think), but you don't know what someone's going through. There's a lot of homophobia going around these days, just read the comments on MSN, and it will probably get worse as the gay community fights harder for equal rights, and anything teasing that this kid had was possibly magnified by things in the news, and the knowledge that there is so much negativity being thrown at the gay community, including from our government, in his mind, he probably didn't see anywhere to turn. He wasn't weak, he was overwhelmed. Maybe if society would stop treating homosexuality like it was something to be ashamed of (and for a young person coming to terms with their sexuality, it takes life experience to go against what society has ingrained in you, to say "F-U, I'm proud of who I am"), and if his roommate didn't turn his sexuality into sideshow exhibit, this kid would have found another way to deal with this, everything seems more dire when you're at that age.

The world needs more violinists, hopefully we can all learn from this and stop harassing people just because they don't fit into your definitions. (I'm including race, size, style, sexuality, etc in this statement).

And for the record, I don't think these kids should be charged with murder either, but involuntary manslaughter, yes. And a hate crime, Yes.

Randy-

"And you're familiar with this "bullying" how?"

Because i was a kid. I was bullied as well. You know how i stopped being bullied? I fought them. Won some, lost some. Some i found alone at a later date, and let them know - dont mess with me.

"When was the last time your most sexual, intimate moment was captured and broadcast live for the world to see?"

Broadcast - never- but i did have a horde of people walk in on me and a woman friend in High School and college during a party. Was razed for months about it. You learn to deal with it - there isnt really an alternative.

"You speak as though gay bashing/bullying doesn't result in suicide. Do you read a newspaper or watch TV? Gay teens are 4 times more likely than str8 teens to commit suicide. Why? Because of a s s h o l e s like you."

Actually, what i said was - the bullies didnt KILL him, he killed himself. The fact that Gay kids kill themselves more isnt my problem. Yea, people are mean and pick on those that are different. Thats life - Deal with it, or dont. Tyler didnt.

And how am i responsible for anyone killing themselves? Because you dont like my opinion all of a sudden im the reason some kid cant cope and kills himself? Sure man, if it makes you feel better - i can be your heel. Opinion of random internet dude really doesnt bother me.

So, Bobo, you make it sound like bullying is okay? Some people can take on bullies; some can't. My daughter was bullied and never told anyone. She had our support at home that made her stronger, but she still felt humiliated.

Bullies actually have major problems, usually they are insecure and/or bullied themselves at home. You are right. Not everyone is strong, but we should not for a moment think we should teach our children bullying is a way of life and they should learn to accept it. No way!

And the kid wouldn't have killed himself if these two perverts hadn't done what they did. They should pay.

Bobo you are SO wrong. This "everyone is bullied" crap is new. When I was in school and I will admit that was in the early 1960's "bullying" was NOT allowed. Teachers would send the bully home, and the kid could NOT come back to school until there was a nice long talk with the parents, teacher and principle, and this was in the Los Angeles School system. Children back then were taught to be RESPECTFUL of everyone. Maybe it was because our parents were people who had been on one side or another of WWII and knew the face of hatred first hand, maybe because there was social shift going on in this country at the time, where it was no longer okay, to use derogatory racial slurs. Or maybe we were just lucky to be raised by people who knew what manners, respect and basic decency really were.

If this kid had decided on revenge of some sort and the situation had become even uglier, then everyone would be saying something like, "so they recorded him, that's not such a big deal." What they did is disgusting and very symptomatic of what is wrong across this country. A lack of respect, decency and manners. These two brats deserve to spend some time giving to society, instead of being the parasites they are, I think they should spend a few months working in an AIDS hospice, after Rutgers kicks them out. A few months taking care of the dying might just give them a better understanding of the preciousness of ALL life.

As far as people being mean, and that being life, I have a few historic events you should go look at, Auschwitz, Khmer Rouge, Rwanda, and let's not forget NY City 9/1/2001. That was people being mean, and I guess that's life...too now isn't it. Hatred starts small and can grow very large very fast. "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." (Edmund Burke) We used to know that as a country, it's a pity we've forgotten it.

Of course Bullying is not ok. Nor did i say that, i said its a fact of life. There will ALWAYS be bully's, just as there will ALWAYS be hate. Thats life - you cant change that.

Bullying is a way of life- and i was taught, and teach- that when bullied- you fight back. If they are too strong, then you get friends/family and fight back. Still to strong, get a bat and follow them home one day. Bully's are weak, they will go find easier prey. If you fight back at every turn and every opportunity - they will move on. If they dont, you hurt them, hurt them to the point where they just say - it isnt worth it to continue messing with that kid. He/She is crazy. After a few attempts, i was no longer bullied. My kid and nephew - the same. I teach my kid to respect himself enough, to not let others bully him. I teach my kid that it doesnt matter what others think, and while i know that sometimes it will get to him, in the long run - he will realize, as i did, my brother did, father did - the only people whose opinion's actually matter - are those of friends/family/and those you respect. Otherwise- it simply doesnt matter.

Should we teach our children bullying is a way of life and they should learn to accept it. Yes. Because to teach them otherwise its to blatantly lie to them. Bullying was/is/and always will be a part of life, if you feel otherwise - your only decieving yourself, and sadly, your children.

Jim,

You are so right. This is the fault of the mentality of the news media who proclaim "the public have the right to know", them and stupid shows like Jerry Springer who use the public's stupidity as a spring board to fame should be put up against the wall and shot. And this mentality would discourage others from invading privacy. I have nothing against personally proclaiming your preference or activity but what makes this news? This poor guy had every right to expect privacy, and these two idiots should be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Where did these assailants get their morals from? The garbage can? I find it hard to believe that this is what their parents taught them this was OK to be a bully... If so then the parents of both of the assailants should be prosecuted also, as accomplices. And the school officials... they were just wrong in not acting (re-acting) quicker. If there had been appropriate action taken perhaps this young man would still be alive. I don't believe in taking every thing to court, but if these administrator are only galvanizeed to acting with the threat of a suite, then by God nail their asses to the wall every time until they get the message. There are limits to what the public has a "right to know", freedom of the press is one of the most abused rights. Stop they need to stop and think about the effect of what their actions will have. This young man was not a threat to any one. His actions were between two consulting adults. that is the end of the statement.

Did no one read the post the roomie put up? He was happy the kid was getting laid. He posted the video on a gay network. What they did was wrong, and illegal. But a hate crime? Only the radical fringe gay groups and the media are saying so to get attention. Forget the media headlines - it was not a sex tape. Cleminti said where the camera was, they could only see him kissing. If that is sex, then there are thousands of people who have public sex every day. Lock them all up. If the roomie was homophobic, he would have asked for a new roommate, or asked to be moved. While seeking an education, these two displayed uncommon ignorance. Book learning and common sense are two different things.

Did no one read the post the roomie put up? He was happy the kid was getting laid. He posted the video on a gay network. What they did was wrong, and illegal. But a hate crime? Only the radical fringe gay groups and the media are saying so to get attention. Forget the media headlines - it was not a sex tape. Cleminti said where the camera was, they could only see him kissing. If that is sex, then there are thousands of people who have public sex every day. Lock them all up. If the roomie was homophobic, he would have asked for a new roommate, or asked to be moved. While seeking an education, these two displayed uncommon ignorance. Book learning and common sense are two different things

Finally, a voice of reason on this website! Watchout though they, msnbc, will delete it! Good job!

I don't think it was a hate crime. If a person hates gays, he's going to go out and injure/kill one, or publicly denounce the lifestyle. This is another instance of parents not teaching their children basic common sense and respect for others. Who taught these kids it was okay to intrude on someone else's private life? To broadcast it to the public (even on a gay network) without the participant's permission? No, they didn't kill the kid. He killed himself. There were other ways he could have handled it, including to sue the pants of those kids for invasion of privacy, and when the video pops up in the future, shrug it off, say it was a cruel trick but at least he's rich now because of it, it got him the money to record his first album, paid for new equipment, paid off student loans, whatever. Murder charge? No. Manslaughter, sure. He didn't mean the kid to die, but it happened as a result of his actions, I can see that argument. But I'm sure they feel bad enough without all the public denunciations. They should feel bad; but they sure don't need any of us making them feel worse. I just hope they learned from this, but they won't if you take such an extreme stance that they can just write you off as ridiculous or out of line. Their crime was not hate or murder. It was invasion of privacy (and possibly manslaughter), and that's what they should be punished for.

And their parents seriously need to have a talk with them about the appropriate way to treat others. I don't care how old they are. Your job's not done yet, Mom and Dad.

Bobo - You don't really have a clue, do you? Just because you were bullied and someone walked in on you having sex does not make it alright! So you were razzed for a while - the net is whole new game with a new set of rules. Walking in on someone during an intimant act is nothing like having being filmed and put on display...

Do you think before you ink?

oldman young eyes - People who kiss in public are fully aware of the fact that they will be watched, the comparison ends there. Secretly taping someone is just wrong on so many levels and these young people should be punished for what they did.

Right on Emma-1453588 you nailed it!

So, posting vids on a web page that would only be seen by gay males is not so bad. He was aware of the camera so he let it happen. He could have just covered the camera. Why don't we hear from the guy he was doing it with.

I was asked today "In the future, say there are many new races "aliens" if you will. Would being call human be an insult?". I didn't even need to think about it, it already is.

I'm starting to think people are only short sighted and never looking at the consequences of their actions, as well.

Well, I guess I'll start calling people human instead of idiots.

Emma- i didnt say it was the same. Randy asked what my experience with having that intimate moment broadcasted was. That was my experience with it.

Again - the roommate is guilty of invasion of privacy - but not a hate crime. Nor is he guilty of murder, or manslaughter, or any other death related crime. The fact of the matter was, Tyler was embarrassed and killed himself. He may have had other issues in life, and this pushed him over the edge, but it was still his choice to kill himself instead of trying to work through the issues. That was HIS call, and HIS decision. Noone elses. If he couldnt handle that embarrassment, the responsibility still falls on HIM.

Humans are not nice things. We have warred, killed, tortured, humiliated, beat, and maimed since we have been here. Its part of our nature. Hate is a big part of that. No other species alive that we know of, can Hate for the sake of Hate. We can teach a dog to hate a man if we beat it, and treat it horribly. Mongoose (mongooses?)kill snakes, not by hatred, but by natural order. Only Humans can hate for the simple fact of hate. Its what we do, its who we are. Humans will always hate - its our most human emotion. The only way for us to stop hating each other, is to find something else to hate. we NEED hate. Its what makes us human.

Bullies will always be around, war will always be around, mean, nasty, evil will always be around. Thats life.

BoBo the Clown,

You are missing the most important point, which is when you were bullied it was not filmed and shown worldwide. In our new world we have to understand how to think and act on a grand scale and think twice before we do, write or say anything.

Peace & understanding to all.

This would be a Bias (Hate) Crime even if the young man had not committed suicide.

They invaded his privacy and had malicious intent to "out" him and humiliate him for their own amusement (and that of their social networking "friends" and "followers").

Getting expelled from college will be the least of their worries.

Ravi will learn the true meaning of "invasion of privacy" when he has to sit on the toilet in full view of his prison guards and fellow inmates.

Bobo-

You say that bullying is just a part of life, that we have to accept it. You're right. So are consequences, and these two get to accept that.

this incident is soooo sad, it is an epidemic in this country, i just wish people just leave people alone, this is a true hate crime, my son who is 15 yrs. old experienced the same thing bullying and invading his privacy even though he is not gay was hit on his private area, beat up big time and the school did not do a thing because they don't care, instead they rewarded this bully by letting him play football and make my family look bad, the authorities did not do a thing because of politics, in this small town if you talk and complain a lot they think you are crazy and stupid there is no justice in this town at all and i felt soooo sad with what happened to this kid hopefully congress and senate do something about bullying/invading somebody's privacy and make it stiff penalties with these bullies and let school be accountable for any bullying.

Marsha- what difference does that make? So a whole bunch of people you dont know say your gay? Whoopity-doo. Again - thats his/your curse if you care what random person you dont know thinks about you.

Jr- I never said otherwise. I just find it ridiculous that they would be hit with a Hate Crime or murder. Those two should be punished, and expelled.

Emma,

They will be punished for what they did. What they did was invasion of privacy. I hope they are punished for it. However, I think most of the people posting on here are on a witch hunt. They want them punished for a hate crime ( whatever the hell that is ) and murder/manslaughter. I'm sick of this whole hate crime business. If I shoot some one because I want his money, is his life somehow worth less than if I would have shot him because he is black, gay, or some other protected group? If you're making it a more serious crime (hate crime) then you are indirectly...hell directly for that matter saying that persons life was worth more. IE assassinating a president or killing a police officer is clearly looked upon by society as a more serious crime than shooting some poor schmoe in a hold up. So why is killing somebody who is gay more serious than killing someone in a hold up? Both lives are snuffed out needlessly. At least it could be argued that cop killing and assassination lead more directly to the breakdown of civilization. I said it could be argued, I did not say I agree. If someone shoots and kills me, I want my family to know that they will not be getting out of prison in 20 years just because it so happened that I'm not gay.

People, let's try and understand what a hate crime is in NJ. The "hate crime" tag could be applied to a crime that is shown to have been committed out of animus for a particular minority. Therefore, the hate crime here would not be Tyler's death, but rather the crime of invading his privacy (videotaping him without his consent). The FEDERAL hate crimes law would not apply because neither of these kids intended to cause violence to Tyler. So, yes, under NJ law, these two idiots qualify for hate crime sentencing based on their invasion of his privacy, so long as the animus can be shown.

I also don't think that you can pin bullying on the bullied as if they allow themselves to be bullied. Maybe some don't fight back and that encourages bullies. But many others do, and STILL got bullied. Bullying occurs to varying degrees and different kids respond differently. Moreover, this was not a kid committing suicide because another kid threatened to beat him up at school. This kid committed suicide, I can only assume, because he was humiliated by the egregious invasion of his privacy that could potentially remain on the internet for the rest of his life. Big diff.

@ Bobo:

Do you know when to stop? Would Tyler have killed himself if he hadn't been taped in his most private and intimate moment? Of course he wouldn't have! Even if you consider these two bullies' ill-intentioned deeds 'minor', they are still the root cause of Tyler's death. Yes, he chose to jump off a bridge, and yes, he killed himself! But not because he was mental, but because he was emotionally distraut and publicly humiliated. I'm sure he felt that his only escape from being spat on for the rest of his life was death. Not only that, his hopes of becoming a professional musician were probably dashed! This happens so much nowadays, and to call it simple, survivable 'bullying' is sensless and absurd. Like I said, get a heart. I don't see any emotion in your comments. Obviously you don't feel bad for this kid, only for the bullies that helped kill him, thinking they don't deserve charges.

If these 2 d-bags had incited him to kill someone else, they'd be up on murder charges. So why is it when they incite someone to kill themselves, they get off scott free?

Did the roommate push him off the bridge? Did the roommate drive him to the bridge and throw him off? No, The kid went to the bridge on his own and jumped. The only one responsible for his DEATH was him.

Was it cruel and evil to do what the roommate did - of course. But beyond invasion of privacy - what crime did he commit? He should be punished for that invasion, and should be expelled. But beyond that, he didnt do anything. Tyler killed Tyler, end of story.

We don't know what was going on in this kid's family, but often homophobia on the part of the parents is part of the problem.

Bobo... it's called involuntary manslaughter..... Which means if your actions result in the death of another person YOU are then responsible for that persons death.....

in NJ it carries a maximum life sentence.... more likely 10-15 years.

This boys roommate KNEW that video taping this kid and plastering it on the internet could do emotional harm to this boy....the roommate just didn't care... he wanted to get his jollies by watching the 'gay sex'.... that is malice aforethought....

You say that one should 'beat a bully up'.... Well in today's world if you do you get arrested and they ruin your life.... if you don't and go to authorities and no serious consequences occur the bully gets angry for you 'ratting' on him/her and proceeds to make your life miserable....

ravi and wei need prison time..... just like you would students caught hazing other students.... it's cruel, it's illegal, and it's definitely NOT a harmless prank.....

This is actually worse then when you hear about freaks who put cameras in the womens restroom or the freaky pervert landlord that puts a camera in the bathroom or bedroom of his female tenants. It wasn't a prank. It makes me wonder what is wrong with the two that did this? how screwed up do you have to be to think something like this is ok?

BoBo---

Your thought process and your posts scares the hell out of me!

BoBo the Clown

What an appropriate name for you.

Well, most bullies are going to be underage- in that case- go to town on the punk. If your older, then you need to be sneakier about it. Find the young adult when he is along, and break his knees. If they hurt you, you hurt them worse. Soon, you wont be bullied anymore.

T.L. - im a laid back guy. I just dont take crap from people. I dont have faith in the system, i have faith in myself/friends/family. And we have/do/and will ALWAYS look out for each other, and woe the person that does one of us harm, because you WILL be hurt, and worse than what was dished out.

Its amazing though, once a few people realize that we were like that, we were ghosts. Noone messed/messes with me, i dont mess with anyone - and everyone goes about their life without problems like that. The problems like that i see, are happening ot the people that wont stand up for themselves, and rely on others to teach a bully not to bully.

Punked, Scare Tactics, Revenge of The Nerds, American Pie, MTV Reality TV, Prime Time Reality TV, The Virginity Hit..... See the pattern here? Millions, if not Billions of dollars prove that invasion of privacy through electronic voyeurism is considered ENTERTAINMENT at the victims expense.

As a culture, we are ALL responsible if we have participated in laughing, watching, and paying for this kind of entertainment. Tyler is the victim.. Only this time, instead of rejoicing in his new found popularity - as entertainment would script on TV, Tyler ended his life.. NOW we KNOW - BEWARE - no more excuses.

All of those shows get consent before airing. They have to, or it would be invasion of privacy. If you have Spanish programming, you should check out "Infarto" (Heart Attack). One of the "pranks" I saw was they hid the woman's BABY and smeared the walls with BLOOD before drawing her in there. That show is F**KED UP!

I think BoBo is a homophobic under his Clown suit and wishes all gays would just jump off bridges.

Bobo - you're an idiot....

I don't agree. Bobo is extraordinarily ignorant.

"Well, most bullies are going to be underage"

that's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. I know PLENTY of adults who are bullies. They were bullies as kids, and are bullies as adults--a leopard doesn't change his spots, you know.

Bobo—

Your mentality sounds like you may be a cop or a convict------

My Mentality is i look out for myself, my friends, and my family - and to hell with everyone else. I thankfully was raised to not give a rat's ass about anyone or their opinion that isnt important to me. There are days when im helping the little old lady across the street, there are days ill step over the guy bleeding on the street. I try to live my life and not bother anyone, and hopefully, they do the same. I'm not a cop, not a convict - but by no means to i claim to be a saint. If people think im a homophobe, evil, bad, ignorant, etc etc - more power to you - whatever helps you get through the day - i can be your villian if that makes you feel better, doesnt affect me one way or the other.

The kid killed himself - he made that choice. He decided that he couldnt continue. Noone forced him to kill himself. If you disagree- rock on- i guess we will agree to disagree.

bobo the problem is that you display a psychopathic point of view, as well as an essentially "survival of the fittest" view. In some ways, I actually agree with you. However, it comes across as callous disregard for other human beings. Your view is quite unenlightened / primative, and is a good example of the type of attitude that results in so much harm to others.

Should the roommate and his lady friend be charged with a hate crime? Of course not. It's ridiculous to even suggest it. That doesn't mean these two should get away with this with a slap on the wrist. We need to send a message to the would-be bullies out there (and far more importantly their parents) that mankind is sick of their @!$%#, and that there will be consequences.

Bobo-

You're definitely "out there" buddy.

Find the young adult when he is along, and break his knees. If they hurt you, you hurt them worse. Soon, you wont be bullied anymore.

Is that a sincere suggestion? You don't recognize this as felony behavior? When this kid follows your advice and ends up in jail, are you so sure that he "won't be bullied anymore?" I don't think you've thought thru any of your posts...

Bobo- You are a sick twisted human being. I was raised the opposite of you, be kind,generous and respectful. Treat all people with Dignity! I work hard , I don't let anyone play me like a Wurlitzer. My son has Aspergershe has been bullied so badly in the past by children, a teacher and by the cretins of society. The incident was resolved quicklywhen I threated to call in the media. Also I have taught my son to be his own advocate without violence. Never wish ill on anyone. You have no right to judge the emotional stabilityof the young man.Remember evil begets evil. The 2 students who designed and implemented this act of degradationshould be charged to the maximum extent of the law. They are not kids ,they are of legal age to make informed decisions. Please note : Hitler behaved the way you describe yourself. Compassion is neede in this day and age.

Jr - if a kid follows my advice and gets caught - then yes, he will pay the price. If i got caught growing up, i would have had to pay the price as well. I didnt, therefore it worked just fine for me, and i never got bullied.

I very much have a survival of the fittest attitude. If i dont look out for myself/friends/family and they dont do the same who will? Noone, thats who - so yea- it can be viewed as callous or unenlighted - it works for myself and family - we are quite happy - if people dont like that, dont live that way - more power to ya.

aswiftmom - i dont mess with anyone. I try very hard to go about my day and life and just be left alone. I personally grew up fighting. I was a scrawny white kid in the Bronx. I learned to fight fast. I came to OH - beat up a few bullies, and lived the rest of my life relativly bully free. It worked for me - if it doesnt work for you - then dont do it. If you want to resolve the issue through other means - go for it. I resolved the issue on my own, and you know what? It worked a lot better than all the other kids that were bullied and didnt fight back. Again - if that doesnt work for you- then dont do it.

Just because it works doesn't mean it solves anything. It's like a computer that overheats. You can take off the cover and it will reboot less, maybe not even at all, but the root cause still remains and will grow worse over time because you don't do anything about it.

That's what you're doing here, Bobo. You're saying screw everyone else if I don't have a problem with it no one else should either. That doesn't solve anything. As a species we should be enlightened enough to work through these problems rather than sticking our collective heads in the sand.

Zaxxon - i get your point man, i really do. The thing is - i dont care about someone elses problems - thats their issue - not mine. I care about my issues, my wife's issues, my parent's issues, my friend's issues. When these bullying type situations came up - i solved them for me and mine. Yes the bully moved on to an easier target - again - that is now the new persons issue.

And no, im not saying "screw everyone else if I don't have a problem with it no one else should either." Im saying - if i dont have a problem with it - then it isnt my problem. You can care about anything as much as you like - i never said otherwise or knocked someone for feeling otherwise. Im simply stating if it doesnt affect someone i care about, then it isnt my problem. You can care about whatever your heart desires.

Bobo: Well, this is hardly the place for you to put on your cold-hearted a-hole act. Go away.

Lala- did i hit a nerve? If you dont like what i have to say- ignore me, dont read my posts, otherwise- deal with it - i can post here just like anyone else.

Here is the thing about BoBo. Most of you probably agree with him, you just don't like being slapped in the face with it. Allow me to explain my point. If you're a Christian, and therefore by proxy, a creationist, you probably believe Genesis' version of creationism. However, if you're an evolutionist you probably believe in Darwin's theory of evolution...you know, the scientific version of how it all went down. If you believe in Darwin's theory of evolution, then you do believe in "the survival of the fittest." You do believe that the strong are destined to survive and, for the good of all species, the weak are destined to fail! I bet a lot of you, thinking that you are oh so clever, go around spouting Darwinian theory at every available opportunity. Well, I've got bad news for you; if you do spout Darwinian evolutionary theory, than what happened to this poor kid is just the natural "evolution" of things...the weak being eliminated for the good of the strong. It just sucks when it's put into context for you by means of a tragedy like this. It makes you question, on a visceral level, your own beliefs. I, for one, am a creationist and choose to believe that we are created in Gods own image, and in being so should be held to a much higher standard of accountability. I

Here's another thing about this BoBo the Clown - he doesn't understand or is aware of a sense of privacy and likes to take simple living as a huge challenge and tackle it rather than live it. While being able to stand up to bullies is good, not everyone and every bully situation permits that, not to mention, most of us that respect others do not live watching out for bullies and planning on how to over-power them rather than do our studies and live our lives like we are in a mostly civilized society. What was your suggestion for this victim that was being video taped in his own room (gay-sex, straight-sex or whatever his own private thing he preferred to do in his own private space) and put it out on the web adding his own sick comments? Device and execute a plan to sneak a video of him in the bathroom and put it out? What will that end up in - 2 roommates wasting their time and energy snooping on each other and 'entertaing' the ones online?

The two offenders in this case and offenders of any other such snoop video recording and/or broadcasting that is ever reported and verified must be brought to public attention and severely punished - whether that resulted in a suicide or just simply reporting and carrying on. This kind of low life behavior, that is a result of careless raising, should be discouraged in the strongest possible way. These 2 should be disallowed to own any device with any sort of recording capability; they can use the school computer for any study-related work they use a computer for, once they get out on probation.

And throwing poor Darwin's (natural selection) theory to defend such bullies as these operating in a 'civilized society' is to kill both the theory and the civic society. When there are certain set of rules that most follow in a civilized society, calling its violators the 'fitter' ones is sick. darwin did not take into account all these extra bindings of a social living into account when he formulated his natural selection theory. You might call someone shooting me at the back in a parking lot and running away with my wallet a fitter one than I am. Deeming following the rule as weakness is scary!! Leave Darwin alone please, till you actually learn what it says.

Thank you Tes! Divepro is totally taking Darwin out of context. "Survival of the fittest" as Bobo means it has NOTHING to do with how Darwin meant it.

I'm not taking it out of context at all. You're just struggling to rationalize it. Seeing it applied to a monkey with five fingers, you can accept. Seeing it applied to something so heinous makes you question your own beliefs. NOBODY likes to question their own beliefs. Oh, and Tes, Darwin obviously did not take a lot of things into account. People swallow every word he wrote like tripe when they can compartmentalize it into a nice neat pretty little package. However, when people see the uglier side of it, all of the sudden "he didn't take things into account." As far as me not understanding that Darwin believed as random mutations occurred within a species gene code, the useful mutations were preserved because those mutations would aid in the species chance of survival, I do understand it Tes. "Survival of the fittest" is a synonym for Natural Selection Darwin borrowed from Herbert Spencer in his book "The origin of the Species." Darwin meant it, not as in the best shape or physically strong, he implied it meant the best adaptive to a local environment. That is precisely the context in which I was using it. Some people face ridicule, embarrassment, stress, and trauma and they adapt to it and ultimately overcome it. Some people do/can not. Using his theory was not in any way proposed to defend the bullies, it was proposed to identify the victims reaction to the environment he found himself in. As a side note...I never ever said I agree with any of Darwin's theory's in the first place. If you'll recall, I also mentioned creationism and the fact that we may all be created in a higher beings image and thus we should be held to a much higher set of standards. Please don't just pick out a sentence of two that you don't like and go to town on it. Read, and ultimately try to understand, the entire post.

I don't think it's that hard to figure out really. Anything that's on the Internet will stay on the Internet forever. He knew that in the future potential employers would look up his name and find this video. He knew his life was essentially over. A lot of people would choose suicide over the life of poverty this person was now destined to live. It's not fair to him or to anyone else, unfortunately it's one of the many negative externalities of the Internet that we have to adjust our lives to.

We also don't know what the situation with his family was. What if his parents are completely anti-gay and he was concerned that they would somehow find this on the internet? To some degree, you can call suicide a selfish choice. But at the end of the day, most people who commit suicide are not doing it because they want to. Rather, they do it because they see no other choice to deal with their pain.

Punked, Scare Tactics, Revenge of The Nerds, American Pie, MTV Reality TV, Prime Time Reality TV, The Virginity Hit..... See the pattern here? Millions, if not Billions of dollars prove that invasion of privacy through electronic voyeurism is considered ENTERTAINMENT at the victims expense.

As a culture, we are ALL responsible if we have participated in laughing, watching, and paying for this kind of entertainment. Tyler is the victim.. Only this time, instead of rejoicing in his new found popularity - as entertainment would script on TV, Tyler ended his life.. NOW we KNOW - BEWARE - no more excuses.

Those two kids knew exactly what they were doing. And to think it was funny is beyond the pale.

Bo-Bo, I do believe that the reason you only trust your friends and family comes from some selective inbreeding? Am I close?

Or perhaps the reason he "only trusts his friends and family" is because he actually has NO FRIENDS and his family has turned their back on him... he actually trusts NO ONE but can't bear to admit it.

Most people would be far more moritifed to have committed a taboo act and had it posted on the Internet, and for most it would be enough to commit suicide. You get your culturally accepted heterosexual video out there and you'll be pretty embarassed, but laugh it off and move on. You wouldn't feel even remotely close to the level of despair you would feel having a homosexual encounter out there. Your life would be RUINED.

Zaxxon23, gay sex video is on youtube and everywhere you can imagine.. It's actually popular in most other parts of the world.

Im touched you all care so much about my personal/daily life.

Mag, people who voluntarily participate in gay sex to put on video generally do not try to seek professional employment afterwards. Those people who do wish to have professional employment don't want ANYTHING out there that could damage their reputation. This is career management 101 stuff.

It is not against the law to be gay, and every person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. This kid had his privacy violated and his life ruined when it should not have been. Of course he did take the wrong way out imo. I would have sued those two in civil court for their lifetime earnings and never worked another day in my life.

Bobo, I can give you this. You honestly don't seem to care what others say about you, so you appear to be walking the walk. I also have to commend you for responding civilly to most people who respond to your comments. That's what having a discussion is all about.

In the end though, I have to disagree with most of what you say. While I agree that one should take personal responsibility for one's self, and while I agree that it is useful to teach our kids to stand up for themselves, I don't think this gets at the heart of the problem of bullying, nor will it solve the problem for everyone who experiences bullying. Since you said that you don't really care what happens to others, I guess you're not really concerned about eliminating bullying in society. But I think your premise that every bullied person should be able to stop the bullying is flawed because everyone encounters different circumstances and everyone is wired to respond to them in their own way. One size just don't fit all in my book. We can't judge Tyler based on his suicide. Nor do I think we should. I say let's instead focus on the two heartless douchebags that harassed him.

Sure Beth, It says in the article: Molly W. Wei, of Princeton, 18, has been charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy.

This may go back to The Constitution of The United States of America.

I think she assisted in the capture and transmission of the video. The set-up was in the room but the feed was apparently captured on her computer, in her room, using video chat software.

Therefore, it was her connection, her video chat account and her computer equipment that facilitated this horrible, selfish act.

All of that and the fact that she was present and probably operating the equipment, laughing all the time. Don't think she's laughing so hard now though.

It was Molly's computer the other student used to access his web cam. It sounds like she is being viewed as an accomplice/enabler rather than the main perpetrator.

she provided the other idiot the means to hook up to his computer, that would be considered an accessory. Get it now?

Bobo - stop, just stop...you're rambling again!

Mr. Cool, it was an honest question she asked. Is there really a need to be such a sarcastic wanker?

conviction of what? Invasion of privacy - Yes.
Murder - No.

You forgot reckless endangerment.

Vernon, you are kidding me, right? Although I find homosexuality wrong, they were in their OWN room, not forcing anyone to view their intimate moments. My question for all you gay bashers our there, why did straight guys find this sexual encounter so interesting that they might have gone back another night to watch. Maybe they are on the down low....maybe the roommate was jealous it wasn't him.

Bobo sounds like maybe he has done his share of bullying in his day. Hmmm. That would explain a lot.

So Vernon, would this be wrong if it were a boy and girl? would you feel different about the fact that someone hid a camera and filmed them having sex, without their knowledge? then decided that viewing it wasn't enough and they should send it out to the world? Maybe if the one who jumped was the girl? because she was so humiliated and felt her trust of her own roommate had been completely violated?

Vernon, I don't care what other people do in their private lives. The fact that you do care reveals how shallow your intellect is, and you can take your self righteousness and shove it!

@ macdeezy, after checking on the legal definition for reckless endangerment I don't think this falls under it. Even if a lawyer feels as if it fits, why would they waste their time on a charge like this considering it is only a misdemeanor for it to be a felony a weapon such as a gun or knife, etc would have to be involved and would be associated with certain felony charges.

To automatically throw in what happened as a "hate crime" is stupid considering how the law to consider a crime a hate crime is so unclear. According to the law any crime against a person can be a hate crime and it you look up what is considered to be a terrorist it will fall under the same idea. The idea that if a person assaults another person any person can say it is a hate crime, the person assaulted a homeless person, white person, Mexican, sexual orientation, religious believes...etc. it still considered a hate crime. The same goes for the definition for a terrorist. By definition it is the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes. An assault or attempt to assault (use of violence) for personal gain such money or a car (coerce). You do not need a political purpose for it to be it.

Macdeezy....case closed huh? You would vote for a conviction! Glad to see you've managed to bypass the entire judicial system and wrap this case up after reading an MSNBC article. You are the exact reason I don't believe in the jury system. People like you get on jury's and go into the trial already convinced of exactly how you're going to find the defendant.

Divepro - actually, most defense lawyers would screen people expressing Macdeezy's view out during jury selection. That's why you have jury selection; to ensure that what you are afraid of doesn't happen.

I truly hope you're right GR04.

No, Hate crimes only protect the minorities. Apparently there was no hate in the crime you mentioned. His death wasnt as bad, so the 2 men wont get the extra "hate" time added to their sentence.

Hate crime is a joke. Why is it worse of 2 guys beat a gay man to death than if 2 guys beat a straight man to death? Why is the gay man's death worth more punishment? Pretty sure both crimes were pretty hateful.

So what happened in Alabama? You seem to indicate the 2 gay men weren't charged with anything, is that right? (That sounds about right for Alabama!)

However, because you found an opposing situation, are you now convinced that 2 wrongs make a right? Or are you angry because the minorities you seem to despise actually have equal rights? And if it takes even a larger government to protect those rights, blame yourself for larger government!

Hate crimes legislation is state by state, but it normally makes no mention of whether a minority is the victim. The hate part of the equation simply says that the suspect perpetrated the crime due to the race, sexual orientation or religion of the victim.

JimBob - EQUAL RIGHTS would meant just that- EQUAL. The example detailed above would be EQUAL if both parties received the same sentence, if both murdered victim's crimes were treated EQUALLY.

Equal - Having the same quantity, measure, or value as another.

The situation above - is not that. If it was equal, the gay man being murdered would not get extra prison time over the straight man that was murdered. That would be equal. The Hate Crime Law- does not promote equality- its the epitome of INequality. A crime is a crime- end of story.

Hate crime laws only work if they are applied properly. The best way to implement them is to apply the law in cases where a person was picked out for a specific reason, and only that reason. So if someone was walking down the street and was assaulted ONLY because they are black. Or if a store is vandalized ONLY becuase it is a Korean Deli. Crimes that have no other motivation than to specifically harm a person who has a certain characteristic.

Even then your example wouldn't be a hate crime, since they killed the kid for saying "no" rather than for being straight.

Alabama isn't in New Jersey...

it is not really in this country is it?

~BoBo

Like it or not, our justice system cares a great deal what the motivation is behind a particular crime. For instance, murder in the heat of passion can carry a penalty that is quite disparate to murder for, say, pecuniary gain. The reason they do this is percentages- a woman who kills her abusive husband in the heat of the moment is probably less likely to repeat this offense, because of all the extenuating circumstances surrounding the event; ie: she probably won't just kill anyone off the street. But a person who kills someone for monetary gain would find that opportunity with virtually everyone; this makes the person a higher risk for repeat offense.

So when you have someone who commits a crime (no matter the degree) for reasons that are based in irrational, unprovoked and unmotivated anger, it is more difficult to predict their future behavior. It's similar to having an antisocial personality disorder- there is no rational motivation and generally a disproportionate instigation/reaction- in my opinion, this profile is far scarier than a typical offender. So arguing semantics for "hate" crimes is missing the point of why these types of crimes were singled out in the first place. No one is arguing that a murder isn't a horrible, "hateful" thing to do- we are arguing the mental profile of the person who committed the crime, and how quickly we want this person back on the streets associating with the general public again.

@Bobo, I agree, some laws differ depending on sex, like your example, two gay guys killing a straight guy and two straight guys killing a gay guy.

However, if you are not concerned with other's problems, I don't understand why you are taking the time to talk about a tragedy.

Anyways, I think that the reason people want to call this a hate-crime is because, chances are, they wouldn't have recorded him if he wasn't gay. I could be wrong, maybe it didn't matter. All these could have, would have, shouldn't have, if's, and's or but's don't mean anything. Do you know why?

Because he DID kill himself, he WAS with a guy and the DID post it on the internet. What happened, happened. It's tragic and sad. I'm not sure if they LEGALLY can be charged with a hate crime. But they deserve all the punishment they can get. If you can pin something else, DO IT. I'm sure if it were any of your daughters, you would blame the person who pushed her over the edge, anyone who claims they would just say "no,no, they didn't KILL my daughter, she did it herself. Don't punish them" I have to say to you that that is complete bull.

These kids are supposed to be representing a good college and they did just the opposite. Pin them for what they can. You all would say the same about anyone else who committed a crime against you. You would all say the same if it was YOUR kid. If they did this to him, I could only imagine what they did to others. it's called karma.

AND you guys are acting like he saw the video, stayed in his room, then jumped off a bridge. Saying it was stupid of him to commit suicide. But you don't know what happened. he still had to go to school. I can only imagine the torment that his peers gave him. Even if it was in a short amount of time. People may have said things to him, sent him messages or come knocking on his door. You don't know what he went through.

basically, pin them, and let it be done.

Bradley, please use your brain. When was the last time you heard of people being attacked, abused or killed for being straight? And how many times have you heard of gay people being attacked, abused or killed for being gay? The reason the classification "hate crime" exists is to protect certain classes of individuals who have traditionally or contemporarily been the subject of systemic bigotry, discrimination, prejudice and hate. Straight people are not of that class, and as a poster above points out, it doesn't even sound like the crime you mention was even motivated by hatred for straight people. If you want to be against gay people or the gay lifestyle, that's your choice and, while I vehemently disagree with it, I respect it. But don't spout such blatantly fake moral outrage.

The story didn't hit the media until after he killed himself.

Are you sure ? I thought I had read about it the day before he killed himslf. If not, I stand corrected.

Yeah, I heard the story before he killed himself. Not sure if it was the day before or just earlier in the day.

DQ? reacted normally? He jumped off the GW Bridge! That is a lot of things, but normal is not one of them.

In a young person's life, the slope of despair is a slippery one and it seems very easy to go down it. Once the slide starts, you hit bottom fast. I know a young man that committed suicide on Father's Day in his own room, so his dad would find him. He was a strong young man, but felt he could never be good enough to please his father. Did he have problems, for sure? Would you have thought he was weak? No.

We do not ever know how another human being will react to any situation. Also, we have no idea how a young gay man would deal with it. This boy was within ear shot many times, I am sure, of deragotory comments about gays. Righ there his self esteem is based on what others think. Sad, but true. Look at young girls that are size 10 - normal - but ridiculed because they are not a 4 or 6. Young people can be cruel and often look to the parents. they are either like that, or did nothing to stop their "precious" children from treating others like crap, so now they think it is their right.

I keep going back to the mother that placed a fake profile online and then she and her daughter sent messages to a young girl. The intent of the messages was to make the girl think a boy was interested in her. They dragged it out and eventually the "boy" started verbally abusing her online.

As far as I'm concerned, that woman should have had a good 5 year prison term. I've worked in a prison and she would not have been popular with female offenders.

Punked, Scare Tactics, Revenge of The Nerds, American Pie, MTV Reality TV, Prime Time Reality TV, The Virginity Hit..... See the pattern here? Millions, if not Billions of dollars prove that invasion of privacy through electronic voyeurism is considered ENTERTAINMENT at the victims expense.

As a culture, we are ALL responsible if we have participated in laughing, watching, and paying for this kind of entertainment. Tyler is the victim.. Only this time, instead of rejoicing in his new found popularity - as entertainment would script on TV, Tyler ended his life.. NOW we KNOW - BEWARE - no more excuses.

Eye for an eye would be to have Ravi and Molly kill themselves. As unfortunate is the situation is, I believe family history has something to do with the outcome.

Honestly, in this day and age, what would be so wrong with a little eye for an eye? You kill someone, you die. You steal, you only do it 2x cuz we cut off your hands. You rape, you'll never do it again.....

I think just the fear of these punishments would stop a good deal of crime. Add to that public executions, and viola.....crime rate drops drastically.

We need to stop being so worried about the rights of people who would just as soon kill you as look at you. Screw the criminals. Screw the bullies. Try sticking up for the rights of the good people first.

Punishing these two people is NOT wrong. However, since they enjoyed it so much, I suggest we simply video THEM at their hearing, arraignment and jury trial and put it on all the pertinent web sites and let them enjoy the effect it will have on their lives.

The odds are that they will recognize their lives are over, but rather than commiting suicide they will return to their native countries and blame Americans.

You have made multiple bad assumptions.

1. You assume that only people with a diagnosed mental illness kill themselves.

2. You assume that that mental illness is Bi Polar disorder.

3. You assume that people didn't know he was gay.

4. You assume he wouldn't have killed himself if people had known.

It would also do you good to get an updated copy of the DSM, the book that outlines mental illnesses and their symptoms. Homosexuality was taken out some time ago, by people a heck of a lot smarter and more educated than you are.

Dude - This is Collage. Pranks happen all the time and you are ASSUMING they knew he was gay. Seeing as he killed himself when it came out I doubt they did.

Had they pushed him over the bridge then yes. But to say they caused him to commit suicide you are flat wrong. A person does NOT commit suicide on a whim. They have thought about it a long long time before they do it. They also usually have emotional issues above and beyond what pushed them over the edge (figuratively speaking). Most are Bi-Polar.

Sure it was a joke that went bad but they didn't murder him, didn't slander his being gay. They setup a webcam to STREAM him. Sure they should be punished for invading his privacy but nothing else.

Dear little Marie,

I'm well aware that homosexuality was removed a long time ago by people (a lot smarter is debatable). I question it for sure as it is (by definition) a disorder as it goes against the norm but that is for another debate.

Let me ask you. Have you ever had anyone close to you commit suicide? I have. My best friend growing up did it. When he did it was sad. But when he did with hind sight NOBODY was surprised. Even his mother and father who I claim as my second mother and father were not surprised.

Not all suicides are bi-polar no. However, I'm a firm believer the majority are done due to a mental disorder most common being bi-polar or manic depressive. The ones that are not are spur of the moment and usually associated with alcohol or drugs. However, the ones like by friend are directly related to an emotional issue. We didn't know what Bi-Polar was 20 years ago like we do now. I would guarantee my buddy was bi-polar, no question.

Anyway, assume that I'm an idiot...don't care.

You are making generalizations about the world based on one experience, and a narrow view of mental health disorders. There are numerous mental health disorders that can lead to suicide, not just Bi polar disorder. Depression (including Major Depressive Disorder and Postpartum among others), Schizophrenia, Eating disorders (Anorexia has the highest death rate of any mental health condition)...I could go on.

There are also acute incidents where stressors suddenly overwhelm a person's coping mechanisms, which can lead to suicide without a underlying mental health disorder, or even drug or alcohol use.

....well serial killers and bi-polar people are born that way but they are classified with a disorder....

Paul - That is the first I've heard of this, that serial murderers are born that way, as are bipolar people.

Could you perhaps be making things up, and stating them as facts?

College....not collage. Poor spelling further indicates your ignorance.

dman, the chromosomes: XX, XY and upbringing have alot to do with this.
ever hear of Arthur Shawcross?

joanne - I did not until today have any particular memory of his name, although I may have heard it. I see from the Wikipedia, the mcdonalds of on-line research and see that he was a serial murderer whose crimes were particularly gruesome.

I saw nothing in the Wikipedia article to suggest he was a product of bad genes.

So, I don't dismiss the possibility that there is a genetic input to the creation of a serial killer, or other mental disorder. But I've yet hear of any hard evidence.

i can accept this as a college prank. but come on the girlfriend went to Princeton. they do not let just anyone into school there. She knew what she was doing was wrong. If it had been your freshman daughter having sex with a boy would it justify bullying, interefernce, hazing, illegal use of porn... The bottom line is these two were smart enough and old enough to know what they were doing was wrong. It just didn't matter to them because the joke was not on them. As far as suicide goes. Majority of teenagers committ suicide on a whim. Yes, majority are depressed, but the bullying and harrassment does not stop just because that person is sad. It comes to a point when no one cares and they are better off without me. I do not feel they killed the boy. But, cigarettes did not mean to kill the cancer patients either. But, it sure as hell gave the push....

There is a huge difference between his roommate walking in on him and his actions being streamed live online. Someone in a non public space has a reasonable expectation that they are not being secretly recorded. Dorm room or not, he had a reasonable expectation of a certain level of privacy.

Sorry Loki, but I think the guy with the webcam had a pretty big problem with sex in general. After all he hid a camera and filmed his own roommate having sex. Even if it was to watch all alone and beat off to it that is pretty screwed up. But no he went even further he filmed it and showed the world. This is so far from just making fun of someone and socialization that I cant even believe I read those words. This is the result of a twisted mind with a camera.

There will be a boat load of new rules, regulations, and laws that will spawn off each tragedy as they occur. But it's ironic how we can be entertained about the same type of activity on prime-time TV, yet condemn it after tragedy results in reality.. The genre of "reality TV" is riddled with this kind of privacy invasion. MTV has numerous shows that spy into the intimate lives on young adults. Shows like "Jack-Ass" and "Punked" attracts both adults, young adults, and young children. The whole intent is to expose reality and be entertained at the victim's expense..

I also find it ironic that there have been millions, if not billions of dollars made in the movie industry with the SAME exact scenario of electronic privacy invasion in shows like Revenge of the Nerds, American Pie and the currently released movie, "The Virginity Hit." In these teen to college age targeted movies, students all gather around to electronically spy on their peers having sex... Unfortunately, the only consequence the victim experiences is a nonchalant wisp of irritation, and grander reputation of welcomed popularity...

In short, I'm not surprised that there are students that initially deem this funny..that is, until the victim commits suicide.. Yet in reality most of the time, privacy invaders are rewarded - not arrested or jailed.. They make deals with online distributors, who turn around and make a profit after digitizing the video for easy download.

I believe that we have a whole generation of electronically savvy people that didn't know that doing this was in any shape or form, a crime.. That is, until now!! YouTube, beware..

Jim in Dallas: Are you kidding me? This has nothing to do with gay sex, and everything to do with invasion of privacy! How would you like to be videotaped (unbeknownst to you) while having relations with your wife, in the privacy of your own home?? And then having the deeds posted for the world to see? Isn't that the same thing that happend here? Would you enjoy having co-workers, strangers, whomever - seeing all things you may do when you think you are alone? It's a crime and the two deserve to pay for it. Someone DIED as a result and the world needs to take a close look at this case and start changing the way kids, people, the human race - tape, bully, and discuss private details and post for the world to see.

Lokio it was murder... see we still disagree, and the 2 students should rot in jail.

MagNet odd logic for finding what happened OK.... or so it seems in your post.

steven-791492.. On the contrary.. I find secret electronic voyeurism completely wrong. It is NOT OK or FUNNY.. But as a culture, why do we consider it entertainment on TV and the big screen? In my opinion, these "adult kids" were acting out what they considered to be popular entertainment... The unfortunate good news is that this tragedy will help raise our consciousness to how WRONG it is..

loki0, you are what is wrong with the world. How disturbing that you find this justifiable. Anyone who finds what that psychotic Ravi fellow, and his whore friend did, acceptable should jump off the GW Bridge as well. This has nothing to do with Gay, Straight, whatever. This has everything to do with humiliating someone for your own sadisitic pleasure. Getting off on other peoples pain and torture are tendencies of Serial Killers. So keep that in mind you fools who can find a reason why this was "ok".

The two people who did this should be locked up for a long time.

Hey, wait a minute. Aren't they both minority students? OK, let them go free.

MagNet, these are still very bright students in a top tier collage ..... knew better.

That isn't necessarily true, a number of straight kids have killed themselves after embarrassing pictures or video of them have been put on the internet.

Ok if it's not a hate crime how is it not a sex crime? Isn't being a peeping tom a crime? someone standing in my yard watching through the bedroom window? cant they be arrested? this is worse isn't it?

It's a hate crime because the roommate commented that what he found laughable/mockable/(insert adjective here) was his roommates gay encounter. That's when it became a hate crime. The roommate, in fact, violated this kid's civil rights (ya know, life-liberty-and the pursuit of happiness).

I think ms is right. Hate crime aside, this sure seems like a sex crime to me. The guy was a voyeur with the intent of capturing intimate moments on that webcam, and then he streamed it online. I am pretty sure that's a sex crime in at least a few states in the U.S. (unsure about this one). If so, being forced to register as a sex offender and follow the insane amount of rules and regulations under that program will probably impact this guy more than anything.