Tyler Clementi (December 19, 1991
[3] – September 22, 2010) was an American student at
Rutgers University–New Brunswick who
jumped to his death from the
George Washington Bridge over the
Hudson River on September 22, 2010, at the age of 18. On September 19, 2010, Clementi's roommate, Dharun Ravi, used a
webcam on his dorm room computer and his hallmate Molly Wei's computer to view, without Clementi's knowledge, Clementi kissing another man. Clementi found out after Ravi posted about the webcam incident on
Twitter. Two days later, Ravi urged friends and Twitter followers to watch via his webcam a second try between Clementi and his friend, though the viewing never occurred.
Ravi and Wei were indicted for their roles in the webcam incidents, though they were not charged with a role in the suicide itself. On May 6, 2011, Wei entered a plea agreement allowing her to avoid prosecution. Ravi
went to trial in early 2012, and was convicted on May 21, 2012, on all charges related to the webcam viewing, with the jury additionally finding that Clementi reasonably believed that Ravi had targeted him for his
romantic orientation, thus making Ravi guilty of committing
hate crimes against Clementi.
[4] After an appeals court overturned parts of the conviction, Ravi pleaded guilty to one count of attempted invasion of privacy on October 27, 2016.
Clementi's death brought national attention to the issue of
cyberbullying and the
struggles facing LGBT youth.