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Dharun Ravi Trial: Hate Crime Or Stupidity?
theodp writes "After a 17-month wait, 20-year-old Dharun Ravi went on trial Friday for using a remote webcam to spy on an encounter between his roommate and another man in their Rutgers dorm room. The roommate, Tyler Clementi, killed himself days later, jumping off the George Washington Bridge and igniting a national conversation on cyberbullying and gay teen suicide. Ravi is charged with multiple counts of bias intimidation as a hate crime, invasion of privacy and hindering apprehension; he faces up to 10 years in prison and deportation. Defense lawyers on Friday argued that Ravi's actions were the mark of an ignorant teenager, not a hateful homophobe. 'He may be stupid at times,' said Ravi's lawyer. 'He's an 18-year-old boy, but he's certainly not a criminal.' The New Yorker recently offered an in-depth look at the case and the questions it raises. BTW, this might be a good time for Microsoft to retire that Hallway commercial ('Jason gets stranded in the hallway when his roommate is 'tutoring' lady friends in their dorm room. Luckily, with Windows 7, his laptop can now work like an HD DVR. So Jason can entertain himself while waiting. And waiting. Aaand waiting some more.')."
He posted the video of Tyler having gay sex on a website "for all to see and mock", and did (in fact) see and mock the video himself.
PS: I don't reply to ACs.
Clearly different from the sort of hate that many African Americans have against white people because they have been brought up to believe that all white people are slavers and want nothing more than to re-enslave the black race.
Is that what they tell you at the Klan meetings every Tuesday?
...You know what this was? This was kid who grew up in a country where being gay is illegal, who found himself living with a gay roommate, was really threatened/offended/bigoted, and decided to "out" the kid to get rid of him. Just spend a few minutes with Google - India's views on homosexuality are amongst the most hostile on the planet.
You're right. Ravi was brought up in a society that is totally hostile to homos. All his life he was taught that homo=monster. He probably could not stand to lie in his room and hear his roommate getting repeatedly rammed in the ass by some other guys dick. It probably made him physically sick. He asked for another roommate but nothing was done.
A couple of questions. Would this have happened if cultural differences are/were taken into consideration when determining roommates? Would it be a hate crime if the homo hadn't offed himself?
Well, Ratzo - I guess that your bullshit accusation makes you feel better. I don't like gays, so I must be a closet gay. Like the person I responded to above, that's just fucking retarded. Can't you come up with ANYTHING more original? More intelligent? How about simply entertaining? Noooo - just the same old idiotic homophobe bullshit. Get a life, get a mind, and stop parroting the liberal party line, alright?
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br