Dharun Ravi blames immaturity – not criminal-level hate – for his actions leading up to the tragic suicide of his former Rutgers roommate, Tyler Clementi. “I was 18 … I did do things wrong and I was stupid about a lot of stuff,” he tells ABC News of his 2010 actions. “I was a dumb kid not thinking about it.” Ravi, who many feel indirectly drove Clementi to throw himself off the George Washington bridge, was found guilty of invasion of privacy and hate crimes . He insists he is not homophobic, however. ” I didn’t act out of hate and I wasn’t uncomfortable with Tyler being gay,” Ravi claims in a separate interview with New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger newspaper. “I won’t ever … tell the world that I hated Tyler because he was gay, or tell the world that I was trying to hurt or intimidate him because it’s not true.” In death, Clementi has become a cause celebre of sorts, stirring passions, controversy and heated debate over bullying, particularly of gay youth. Dharun Ravi says he realized his roommate, also 18 at the time, “had bigger problems” that may have contributed to his decision to take his own life. “Before I went to school I thought my roommate would be my best friend and we would hang out all the time,” he tells The Star-Ledger . “But Tyler wasn’t like that.” “He was very quiet and every conversation we had just hit a dead end.” Whatever his intentions, Ravi, who allegedly used a camera to spy on Clementi kissing a man in their dorm room, then publicized that fact online, may face prison time. On Friday, Tyler Clementi’s family released a statement commenting on the jury’s findings against Ravi. Tyler’s father, Joseph Clementi, said: “Our family believes the jury reached a correct verdict. They reached their decision based on the facts shown by the evidence. At the conclusion of [Ravi’s] trial, the defense’s explanation of what happened was simply not believable.” Jane Clementi, Tyler’s mother, said: “We have become all too aware of the consequences suffered by people who are singled out for being different. We’ve learned that LGBT teens, especially, suffer pain, embarrassment and ridicule which is made worse by improper use of electronic media.”
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Tyler Clementi Case: Dharun Ravi Admits Immaturity and Stupidity, Denies Hatred
