Clementi's Older Brother: I Don't Hate Tyler's Roommate
Friday, February 03, 2012
The brother of the Rutgers student who committed suicide said he did not hate the roommate who secretly streamed a video of his brother on the Internet with another man days before he jumped off the George Washington Bridge.
“I hate what he did,” said James Clementi, older brother of Tyler Clementi, who died in September 2010.
Tyler was a freshman at Rutgers University when his roommate Dharun Ravi streamed a video of him in an intimate embrace with another man on the internet. Clementi leapt to his death days later.
James, who is also gay, said he had planned to counsel Tyler but he never got the chance.
"We had just started to really have that conversation with each other," James told WNYC’s The Takeaway on Friday. "I definitely thought that there were years and decades left for us to get to know each other and to talk about that."
This week, James Clementi published "Letters to My Brother" in Out Magazine, which tell the story of brotherhood cut short.
"When you were here with me, you had no idea how important you were," he writes. "It took your death to make that point. Now you are gone. How will you know how much I love you, how much we all do?"
Speaking on Friday, Clementi offered advice to young gay people thinking of following his brother's dark path.
"Never give up,” he said. “Never end your life. Your life is the most precious thing that you have. There's always hope as long as you keep fighting."
Comments [1]
Though I do not condone the roommate's actions, I do think it is incorrect to continue to refer to them as "streamed a video of him in an intimate embrace with another man on the internet."
Perhaps watching his webcam from another room is properly referred to as "streaming", but it is not my understanding that it was on the internet for all to see. What was put on the internet was the roommate's comments that he had seen his roommate (Clementi) with another man. There is misinformation about this case that NPR itself has tried to clarify. We need to be consistent, so we realize just what it is that Ravi is charged with and what he did.
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.