Dharun Ravi Indicted in Suicide Case

Tyler Clementi and Dharun Ravi, both 18, were freshmen roommates at Rutgers University. On Sept. 22, 2010 Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after learning that his roommate, Dharun Ravi, had secretly recorded and broadcast a video of him, Tyler Clementi, and another man engaging in homosexual behavior. At the time Dharun Ravi and an accomplice, Molly Wei, were both charged with invasion of privacy. They faced a 5-year sentence if convicted. The have both left Rutger's University.

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Prosecutors have now decided to upgrade the charges against Dharun Ravi. A grand jury in Middlesex County, New Jersey, handed down a 15-count indictment on April, 20, 2011, charging former Rutgers University freshman with a host of charges connected to his roommate Tyler Clementi's suicide.

Included in the indictment are:

• Invasion of Privacy
• Bias Intimidation
• Attempted Invasion of Privacy
• Tampering with Physical Evidence
• Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution
• Witness Tampering

Prosecutors alleged Ravi not only invaded his roommate's privacy, but tried to cover it up. In addition to bias intimidation, Ravi was also charged with witness and evidence tampering for allegedly destroying evidence and sending false tweets in an effort to throw off investigators.

The parents of Tyler Clementi reacted to the indictment by issuing the following statement:

"The grand jury indictment spells out cold and calculated acts against our son Tyler by his former college roommate. If these facts are true, as they appear to be, then it is important for our criminal justice system to establish clear accountability under law. We are eager to have the process move forward for justice in this case and to reinforce the standards of acceptable conduct in our society."



Bullies and Pranksters

What is the difference between a bully and a prankster? A bully may use or threaten to use physical force to intimidate a victim whereas as a prankster's aim is usually to cause embarrassment or mental anguish to a victim while providing "entertainment" for others. Both are wrong and may lead to unintended consequences. Below are two stories involving one of each.

The Prankster

Dharum RaviTyler Clementi

Tyler Clementi and Dharum Ravi were both 18-year-old freshmen roommates at Rutgers University. One night Tyler asked Dharum if he could use their room until midnight. Dharum agreed and went to visit his friend Molly Wei. But what Tyler did not know was that Dharum had hidden a camera in the room to spy on his roommate.

When Dharum turned on the camera remotely from his friend's room he saw his roommate engaging in sex with another man. He then sent out the following tweet:

‘Roommate asked me for the room till midnight. I went into Molly's room and turned on my web cam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.’

Tyler Clementi had no idea that what he thought was a private encounter was being recorded by his roommate. So two days later Tyler again asked his roommate if he could use the room. Dharum again agreed but this time he alerted his Twitter followers with the message:

hey, it's going to happen again. Tune in.

This time Dharum streamed the live video of the two men having sex. When Tyler found out that he had been videotaped he posted the following entry on his Facebook account:

“Jumping off the GW bridge sorry.”

And that is exactly what he did. On Sept. 22 2010, three days after being videotaped, Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge.

Dharum Ravi and his friend Molly Wei have been arrested and face charges related to the death of Tyler Clementi. Dharum is currently free on $25,000 bail. They both face 5 years in prison if convicted.

Dharum and Molly

The Bullies

Tyler Wilson

Next is the story of an 11-year-old boy named Tyler Wilson who attends Glenwood Middle School in Ohio. Tyler was attacked by bullies in his school and suffered a broken arm. Tyler had a dream which some of his classmates teased him about and some took it much further resulting in his injury. Tyler says this attack will not deter him from doing what he wants to do. Tyler wants to be a cheerleader.

Studies show that 1 in 3 Middle and High school students are the victims of bullying. Tyler Wilson put it this way:

"It feels horrible that they can't accept me for who I am.....It's my choice. If I want to be a cheerleader, I'm going to be a cheerleader."

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Branded with a Swastika

An unidentified 22-year-old native American man from the Navajo Indian reservation was brutally attacked on April 29 by three white men: Jesse Sanford, 24, William Hatch, 28, and Paul Beebee, 26 in what prosecutors in Farmington, northwestern New Mexico, are calling a hate crime. The three were accused of kidnapping and branding the 22-year-old, mentally challenged man with a swastika.

"We'll explore every conceivable available avenue in charging them with a hate crime because what happened to the victim was so horribly wrong," said Chief Deputy District Attorney Sarah Weaver. "The U.S. Attorney's Office is very interested in taking the case."

Police believe the men heated a wire hanger fashioned in the shape of a swastika to burn the victim's flesh. The suspects are also accused of shaving a swastika symbol on the back of the 22-year-old victim's head and drawing degrading pictures and words on the man's body with red and black permanent markers, Farmington Police Sgt. Robert Perez said.

The words "White Power" were written on the back of the victim's neck and two horns were drawn with red marker on the victim's face above his eyebrows, an electric beard trimmer was used to shave the swastika into his hair. Video and photographs were also taken on a cellular phone to record the incident. Police took the victim to San Juan Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

Jesse Sanford, one of the accused men, told police that on April 29 the victim came into the McDonalds restaurant on East Main Street, where all three suspects work, looking for a place to stay. Sanford claimed the victim, who wanted a haircut and a tattoo, "wanted the swastika design because it was a tribal symbol," according to court records.

Investigators believe the victim was coerced into a vehicle and taken to an apartment on 28th Street where the attack occurred. After the incident they kicked the victim out of the residence and he went to the 7 to 11 convenience store at 710 E. 30th St., for assistance and a store clerk there called 911.

Police obtained search warrants to search the apartment and vehicle. They found evidence to suggest that the accused were white supremacists.

"We haven't identified this as a gang-related crime, that is still under investigation," Perez said. "But they appear to be associated in some fashion to the white supremacist movement."

Sanford was being held at the San Juan County Adult Detention Center for misdemeanor charges related to a motor vehicle crash at the time the warrants were issued. Beebe and Hatch were arrested Friday night. All three men were charged with: First-degree felony kidnapping, Second-degree felony conspiracy to commit kidnapping, Third-degree felony aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and Fourth-degree felony conspiracy to commit aggravated battery, according to Sgt. Robert Perez. Beebe also faces fourth-degree felony tampering with evidence. All three men are being held on a $150,000 cash-only bond.

The hate crime law in New Mexico results in a sentencing enhancement of one year for each charge. The suspects face 35.5 years in prison, including a mandatory 18 years for the first-degree felony kidnapping charges, if convicted of all the charges and the hate crime enhancement. Beebe faces an additional 18 months for the tampering with evidence charge. Federal charges may also be filed.

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Jose Pacheco Pleads Guilty

Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant was stabbed and killed on Nov. 8, 2008. His attackers were 7 teenagers - all between 16 and 17 at the time. They were all students at Patchogue-Medford High School in Long Island, NY and were out ''beaner jumping,'' a derogatory term used as a euphemism for attacking Hispanics.

Jeffrey Conroy is being held on charges that include second-degree murder as a hate crime, manslaughter and gang assault. Prosecutors have said that it was Jeffrey Conroy who did the actual stabbing leading to Marcelo Lucero's death.

See the details here and here

Charged were: Jordan Dasch, Nicholas Hausch, Kevin Shea, Anthony Hartford, Christopher Overton, Jose Pacheco and Jeffrey Conroy. See the indictment here

Jose M. Pacheco has followed the lead of Nicholas A. Hausch and pleaded guilty to gang assault as a hate crime, conspiracy and three counts of attempted assault as a hate crime. He faces 5 to 25 years behind bars when sentenced. The others have all pleaded not guilty.

Jose Pacheco, the son of a black mother and a Puerto Rican father, is the only Hispanic in the gang of 7 and, as part of his plea deal, will be expected to testify against the others. Pacheco admitted that he had participated in other attacks on Hispanics. He said they often used racial epithets when confronting victims.

Dressed in a dark suit, with his hands shackled behind him, the 18-year-old Pacheco was asked by prosecutor Megan O'Donnell, "Were all seven of you walking the streets looking for an Hispanic man?" "Yes," Pacheco responded, his head bowed.

"These were marauders," Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said, "bent on attacking Hispanics."

"It confounds me," Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said of Pacheco's involvement in attacks on Hispanics. He was one of the ring leaders, I can't understand why or how he could possibly do this."

Joselo Lucero, the brother of Marcelo Lucero, was in court when Pacheco admitted to participating in the racially-motivated attack. He said the second confession made the case against the others much stronger. Speaking of Pacheco he also said:

"This is unspeakable," Joselo Lucero said in broken English. "I don't understand how you can attack someone of your own kind. Just because you were born here doesn't make you no better than nobody."

Suffolk County has seen thousands of Hispanics settle there in recent years. U.S. Census figures show the number of Hispanics has nearly doubled, from 7.1 percent of the population in 1990 to 13.7 percent in 2008. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center issued a report in September titled "Climate of Fear; Latino Immigrants in Suffolk County," cataloguing a litany of anti-immigrant attacks dating back a decade. they found “a pervasive climate of fear in the Latino community” in Suffolk County.

Many victims have been reluctant to contact the police, fearing that they would be asked about their immigration status. However, at the Marcelo Lucero funeral, the preacher encouraged any other victims of these kinds of attacks to come forward. Many did. Prosecutors were able to charge the gang of 7 with eight additional charges because of their cooperation.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer has said officers don’t ask victims whether they’re illegal immigrants. He assigned a Hispanic officer to command a local precinct after the killing.

Pacheco will be sentenced in January and faces 5 to 25 years in prison. His lawyer said Pacheco has "deep regrets" about what happened.

"There are only losers here, no winners," said attorney Christopher Brocato.

 Joselo Lucero agrees but says he will be present for all future court dates for the remaining five defendants.

"I need to be here for my brother," Lucero said. "To see justice."

 

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