Friend Defends Sex Prank Suspect

A friend of Dharun Ravi, the Rutgers University student accused of live-streaming the gay sexual encounter of his roommate Tyler Clementi, later believed to have killed himself by jumping of the George Washington Bridge, said that he did not consider the accused to be a homophobe.

According to the New York Daily News, neighbor and former classmate Michael Zuang said of Ravi, "I think he's a good person. I don't think he's a homophobe. It would've been no different if it was a girl in the room."

Ravi and Molly Wei, both graduates of Windsor-Plainsboro High School in New Jersey, were charged with invasion of privacy for broadcasting the sexual encounter of Clementi with another male student on September 19. Ravi wrote about the episode on his Twitter page, and later attempted to draw viewers to another broadcast on September 21, which failed.

Clementi, a Ridgewood High School graduate, is presumed to have jumped to his death off the bridge that connects New Jersey to New York City one day later in response to the trauma of having his privacy violated.