A Rutgers University student committed suicide by jumping off of George Washington Bridge after his roommate secretly filmed a “sexual encounter” in his dorm room and posted it on the Internet, live.
Tyler Clementi’s roommate Ravi Dharun, and Molly Wei, have been charged with two counts each for invasion of privacy after police learned the camera had been placed in the room without Clementi’s knowledge.
They face up to five years in prison.
Paul Mainardi, the attorney for the Clementis commented for the family.
“…The family is heartbroken beyond words.
They respectfully ask that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all,” Mainardi said.
A Facebook memorial group was established in honor of Clementi, and already has hundreds of members, many being fellow high school graduates from Ridgewood High school in New Jersey, where Tyler graduated from this last spring.

This tragic story about a gay, young college student sheds light on a growing issue in America: Intolerance towards gays.
A recent study found that nine out of 10 gay kids report being harassed, and gay kids are four times more likely than straight kids to commit suicide.
Although we have come a long way since the times of racism, this incident sheds light on the intolerance present in our society towards gays.
This is especially demonstrated by the controversy over the issue of gay marriage, with many advocates across the nation against it.
This tragedy also brings attention to the amount of influence and hurt cyberbullying can bring, pushing this young college student to the edge.
In my opinion, this occurrence is unbelievable.
The fact that the students roommate would video tape and broadcast what a person does in the privacy of his room is ridiculous and immature.
If Clementi wanted to have a “sexual encounter” with a person of his own sex in the privacy of his own room, let him.
There is absolutely no explanation for broadcasting it live on the Internet.
Things like this shed light on the menace and cruelty of society these days, the seemingly universal view to shame gays or, as a matter of fact, anyone outside what is considered normal is truly daunting to me.
Everyone deserves the right to make decisions for themselves, and all should respect these decisions instead of jeering and teasing them.
More importantly cyberbullying needs to be put to an end because it obviously has real consequences.
Clementi seemed like a bright young man with a promising future, but we won’t be able to see that now.