TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today called the suicide of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi an “unspeakable tragedy,” but said he would let Attorney General Paula Dow figure out how to prosecute the case against two fellow students accused of recording him in a sexual encounter. Clementi, 18, jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge last week. His...
Tyler Clementi's Facebook photo. TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today called the suicide of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi an “unspeakable tragedy,” but said he would let Attorney General Paula Dow figure out how to prosecute the case against two fellow students accused of recording him in a sexual encounter.
Clementi, 18, jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge last week. His roommate, Dharun Ravi, and friend, Michelle Wei, had allegedly live-streamed a sexual encounter between Clementi and another man a few days before, then tried unsuccessfully again two days later. The two have been charged with multiple counts of invasion of privacy.
“Well, first of all, as the father of a 17-year-old, I can’t imagine what those parents are feeling today – I can’t,” said Christie. “You send your son to school to get an education with great hopes and aspirations.
Christie would not say whether he thought the case should be prosecuted as a hate crime, as some have suggested, because he did not want to interfere with Dow’s work.
“I think it’s inappropriate for the governor to get involved in instructing the attorney general in areas of criminal prosecution,” he said.
Christie said his feeling on the case as a father “overwhelms whatever feelings I have as governor” and that he didn’t know how Ravi and Wei could sleep at night “knowing that they contributed to driving that young man to that alternative.”
“That kind of stuff is just unacceptable,” he said. “And you don’t know the feelings of the person on the receiving end of that …There might be some people who can take that type of treatment and deal with it. There might be others, as this young man obviously was… much more greatly affected by it.”
Previous coverage:
• Message board thread on gay website parallels situation of Tyler Clementi
• A.M. Top News: Tyler Clementi's death sends shock waves across Rutgers, N.J.
• Rutgers student's suicide shows dire consequence, ease of bullying in digital age
• Tyler Clementi, Rutgers freshman, commits suicide after secret broadcast of sex encounter
| Rutgers students react to the suicide of Tyler Clementi after his sexual encounter was broadcast online |