In 2010, Dharun Ravi, an 18 yearold Rutgers student, secretly recorded his roommate Tyler Clementi while he was with another man and posted it on the internet for everyone to see. For the next two years this is what the world was told by every media outlet, politician, activists worldwide and we accepted it as the truth. He was prejudged.
Two years later, we know none of this is true, nothing was ever recorded, nothing was broadcast over the internet. Yet Ravi was robbed of one of the most fundamental rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution: presumption of innocence. No one treated Ravi as though he was innocent until proven guilty.
The prosecutor's office has taken advantage of a faulty law that can prosecute any citizen for the thoughts of others along with misplaced political pressure from activist groups to convict Ravi on Bias charges, a law that even the judge admitted was muddled.
He now faces up to 10 years in jail.
Every single witness testified unequivocally that Dharun Ravi had absolutely no hatred towards with gays/homosexuals, however the prosecution decided that he did, they decided what was in his mind despite all the evidence saying otherwise.
This is not the precedence we want to set.
Instead of drawing lines in the sand and taking sides, let's come together as people and prove that we can make tough decisions and show some compassion, understanding, and sympathy.
Please sign this if you believe that equality and tolerance should be achieved through honest, open communication and not through a vicious and vengeful prosecution that only serves to fuel tempers and alienate us even further.