Piscataway, New Jersey: A college student jumped to his death off a bridge a day after authorities said two classmates surreptitiously recorded him having sex with a man in his dorm room and broadcast it over the internet.
Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi jumped from the George Washington Bridge last week, said his family's attorney, Paul Mainardi. Police recovered a man's body Wednesday afternoon in the Hudson River just north of the bridge, and authorities were trying to determine if it was Clementi's.
ABC News and The Star-Ledger of Newark reported that Clementi left on his Facebook page on September 22 a note that read: "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry."
Two Rutgers freshmen have been charged with illegally taping the 18-year-old Clementi having sex and broadcasting the images via an internet chat program.
Steven Goldstein, chairman of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said in a statement Wednesday that his group considers Clementi's death a hate crime.
Heartbroken
"We are heartbroken over the tragic loss of a young man who, by all accounts, was brilliant, talented and kind," Goldstein said. "And we are sickened that anyone in our society, such as the students allegedly responsible for making the surreptitious video, might consider destroying others' lives as a sport."
On the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, there was dismay over Clementi's death and the circumstances that led to it.
In response to Clementi's death and others, the group Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays said it would issue a "call to action" on the topic.
Are you concerned about cyberbullying affecting your children? What do you do to protect their online presence?
