Clementi Webcam Peep Breaks Silence: 'I Never Thought He Would Find Out'
Following his conviction in the webcam spy scandal that preceded gay Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's suicide, Dharun Ravi has broken his silence. "Energized" by the verdict, Ravi plans to fight his conviction. He maintains that he didn't commit a hate crime, and adds that he doesn't think he contributed to Clementi's death. "I was an insignificant part of his life," Ravi tells 20/20's Chris Cuomo in an interview that will air tonight. "That's what's giving me comfort now."
"You're the face of the bully!" Cuomo shouts. "We want answers! When gay kids die! For bad reasons! We want to blame people! Because a lot of people! Get away with it!" Is Chris Cuomo in some kind of agitated state, or was this preview clip just edited strangely?
Anyway, Ravi also gave an interview to the Newark Star-Ledger. Excerpts:
I'm never going to regret not taking the plea. If I took the plea, I would have had to testify that I did what I did to intimidate Tyler and that would be a lie. I won't ever get up there and tell the world I hated Tyler because he was gay, or tell the world I was trying to hurt or intimidate him because it's not true.
I didn't want to upset him. I never thought he would find out. I figured I would tell him later and we would laugh about it.