Box Turtle Bulletin

Tyler Clementi’s Circle of Abusers Widen

Tyler Clementi

The Daily Beast sheds some more light into the harassment that Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi likely suffered in the days leading to his suicide. Tyler committed suicide after his roommate broadcast video over the Internet of him having a sexual encounter with another man. Tyler’s roommate, Dharun Ravi, announced those broadcasts via Twitter:

Three days before Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge, known by police as “surefire” for suicides, Ravi had tweeted, “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.” Although the feed has been deleted, caches turned up the roll. On Sept. 22, Ravi tweeted, “Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it’s happening again.” That was the night Clementi was last heard from.

While Ravi and Wei purged their Twitter feeds, their friends did not. Ravi’s friend from high school and fellow Rutgers student Nikhil Mashettiwar tweeted to his friend on Sept. 20, “we should get our roommates together.” The day after Clementi apparently killed himself, Mashettiwar tweeted, “Gay kid in class: i hate when i like have to repeat myself.” Mashettiwar did not respond to requests for comment about his tweets and deleted his Twitter feed within an hour of being contacted.

How many others were in on the “joke”? Ravi’s Twitter feed reportedly had 150 followers.

Ravi and Molly Wei have been charged with invasion of privacy and face up to five years’ imprisonment. Meanwhile, the body of a red-headed young man wearing an orange watch has been recovered from the Hudson River this afternoon. Authorities believe it to be Tyler’s body, but are awaiting confirmation from the New York Medical Examiner.

ABC News Covers Recent Suicides

Here is ABC New’s extra web coverage of Dan Savage’s YouTube project, “It Gets Better”:

And speaking of “It Get’s Better,” here’s another contribution from a Muslim gay teen. He grew up in a Shia Pakistani family, and he says to hang in there. It Gets Better:

Tyler Clementi’s Final Facebook Status: “Jumping off the gw bridge sorry”

Tyler Clementi

Tyler Clementi, the eighteen-year-old Rutgers freshman who committed suicide after his roommate broadcast hidden camera videos on the Internet of Tyler having a sexual encounter in his dorm room, had changed his Facebook status to “Jumping off the gw bridge sorry” on Wednesday, September 22. Witnesses saw someone jump off of the George Washington Bridge on Wednesday evening at about 9:00 pm. Police found his wallet with his driver’s license and Rutgers I.D. on the bridge’s walkway, and his car, computer and cell phone were found nearby.

It has been a week since Tyler’s suicide, and his body had not been found. The New York Times tonight however is reporting that police say they have found the body of a young man in the Hudson River north of the bridge and were trying to identify it.

Dharun Ravi's Twitter feed, September 19-21 (Click to enlarge)

Tyler’s roommate, Dharun Ravi, and fellow Rutgers freshman, Molly Wei, have each been charged with two counts of invasion of privacy. Authorities charge that they used a hidden webcam to live stream a sexual encounter between Tyler and another man. Ravi had alerted people to the live stream via a Twitter post on September 19, saying “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.”

Ravi was charged with two additional counts of invasion of privacy for trying to set up another surreptitious broadcast on September 21, the day before Tyler’s suicide. He announced that attempt again on his Twitter feed, saying “”Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it’s happening again.” That second attempt was unsuccessful. Ravi’s Twitter feed, which had 150 followers, has since been taken down.

Dharun Ravi (left), and Molly Wei (right)

Ravi surrendered to police on Tuesday and was released on $25,000 bail. Wei, who turned herself in on Monday, has been released on her own recognizance. Ravi and Wei both had been classmates together in high school. They now face up to five years imprisonment for each count.

The New York Times notes that Tyler’s death, in addition to the horrendous tragedy that it is, also represents a cruel irony:

The timing of the news was almost uncanny, coinciding with the start of “Project Civility” at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey. Long in the planning, the campaign will involve panel discussions, lectures, workshops and other events intended to raise awareness about the importance of respect, compassion and courtesy in everyday interactions.

Events scheduled for this fall include a workshop for students and administrators on residential life on campus, called “Respect Resides at Rutgers,” and a panel discussion titled “Uncivil Gadgets? Changing Technologies and Civil Behavior.”

Tyler was an accomplished violinist who was attending Rutgers on a college scholarship from the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra for his musicianship and leadership. His family released a statement earlier today:

“Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician. The family is heartbroken beyond words. They respectfully request that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all.”

A memorial page for Tyler has been set up on Facebook. Nearly 6,000 people have joined the page as of 9:30 EST this evening.

Judge Vaughn Walker retires

From the Chronicle

The federal judge who struck down California’s gay marriage ban as unconstitutional this year announced Wednesday he is retiring from the bench after 21 years.

Lynn Fuller, a spokeswoman for U.S. District Court in San Francisco, said Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker notified President Barack Obama by letter Wednesday that he will step down in February.

This should have no impact on Perry v. Schwarzenegger. I wish Judge Walker a peaceful and fulfilling retirement.

Michigan Assistant DA Andrew Shirvell: raging homophobe, stalker, dumb as a box of rocks

When Thomas Monaghan, the founder of the Dominos Pizza Chain, sold his business for $1 billion in 1998, he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to advancing his faith.

Unfortunately his faith is Catholicism of the Papa Ratzi / Mel Gibson variety, strong on bronze age moralism and devoted to making you follow the rules that Monaghan is sure that God wants you to follow. He is passionate about abortion issues and believes that one of the best ways to achieve a nation that obeys the Church is to create an army of lawyers who will fight for the views of the Church.

So Monaghan founded the Thomas More Law Center, an anti-gay, anti-abortion activist organization. He also funded the Ave Maria School of Law, a Catholic law school with teachings that are “in fidelity to the Catholic Faith as expressed through Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the teaching authority of the Church” and which would send out graduates “equipped for leading positions in law firms, corporate legal offices, the judiciary, and national, state, and local government.”

As Ave Maria is fairly young and is among what is generously referred to as “second tier law schools”, I haven’t learned that much about them. While I knew that they included as friends and supporters Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, I’ve not yet had much opportunity to see what caliber of person they are unleashing on the nation. Until now.

The public has recently been introduced to what must be among Ave Maria’s highest profile alumni, Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell. Now how Shirvell came to be qualified for his position can be debated, but as Attorney General Mike Cox is also a conservative Republican Catholic, I suspect that Shirvell’s hard-core extremist Catholic ideology did not count as a liability.

And Shirvell has made his mark, though for work performed outside of his job qualification. And quite a mark it is.

You see, Andrew Shirvell has been, in his off time, writing a blog. And this blog is dedicated to one subject: exposing the “radical homosexual agenda” of the University of Michigan student body president Chris Armstrong. And let me tell ya, it’s quite the blog.

Welcome to “Chris Armstrong Watch.” This is a site for concerned University of Michigan alumni, students, and others who oppose the recent election of Chris Armstrong – a RADICAL HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVIST, RACIST, ELITIST, & LIAR – as the new head of student government.

Prior to Armstrong’s March, 2010, election as president of the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA), Armstrong served as chairman of MSA’s LGBT commission – a commission that solely focused on utilizing the student government to promote the radical homosexual agenda, including gay “marriage” and adoption “rights.” As chair, Armstrong also succeeded in lobbying for the annual Midwest LGBT College Conference to take place at U of M in 2011. This conference has a notorious reputation for promoting decadence, including illegal drug use and public sex acts.

Andrew Shirvell is like Peter LaBarbera, but with a real job. A very powerful job. And one that his boss, Mike Cox, seems to have no interest in rethinking. (Detroit Free Press)

“All state employees have a right to free speech outside working hours,” Cox said in a statement today. “But Mr. Shirvell’s immaturity and lack of judgment outside the office are clear.”

But this goes beyond “lack of judgment”. It is obsessive, abusive, and perhaps illegal – though when you work for the state Attorney General, “illegal” is a subjective term.

But while Cox’s lack of judgment in hiring an extremist wackadoodle is disconcerting, it is also troubling that he hired – with taxpayer funds – a bumbling fool. Now having been exposed to just what kind of lawyer that Monaghan is making, we can see that his business model hasn’t changed: put out the lowest quality in town.

I mean, if Shirvell was a pizza, there would be no detectable meat-product in his pepperoni. I’m talking cheese so processed that Shirvell was willing to go on Anderson Cooper’s 360 and show the world just what kind of sauceless crust he is:

Well I guess the good news is that we have less to fear from an army of idiots.

Malawi VP: Addressing Gays Crucial In Fight Against HIV/AIDS

Malawi’s Vice President Joyce Banda urged a gathering of religious leaders in the commercial capital of Blantyre to address the needs of LGBT people in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Banda’s remarks were delivered to a meeting of the Malawi Interfaith Association, which is meeting to discuss the increasing HIV infection rate among the clergy:

Banda said same-sex liaisons are a reality in Malawi saying there were Men Having Sex with fellow Men (MSMs) and that there were also lesbians, – Women Having Sex With Women.

“I am of the opinion that MIA is strategically positioned to bring faith leaders together to debate on how faith response to HIV and AIDS should reposition itself to tackle the issue of homosexuality without necessarily compromising moral integrity of faith institutions,” Banda a devout Christian said.

She said gays and lesbians are vulnerable groups and that they need to be paid attention by the clergy in the national response to fight HIV/Aids.

Is unclear how clergy might “pay attention” to LGBT people, given the fact that homosexuality is illegal in Malawi (punishable with up to fourteen years’ imprisonment) and widely condemned in society. Malawi gained worldwide attention with the arrest and conviction of Stephen Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga following a traditional marriage ceremony earlier this year. The couple were finally pardoned by President Bingu wa Mutharika. He later described their attempted wedding as “satanic.” LGBT advocates and ordinary citizens have experienced official repression and witch hunts, according to local news media.

Ohio Boy Cheerleader’s Arm Broken; Still Getting Threats, Still Cheerleading

Eleven-year-old Tyler Wilson of Findlay, Ohio, loves gymnastics and tumbling, which is why he decided to join a youth football cheerleading squad over the summer. He’s been catching hell over it since then. It started with teasing, but it quickly escalated:

According to the mother and the police report filed on the incident, Tyler was walking home from school when two of his alleged tormentors approached him and punched him. As Tyler continued his walk home from school, the two boys continued to follow him, the police report said. Several small skirmishes broke out between Tyler and the two boys, according to the police report, and eventually one of the boys allegedly picked Tyler up and slammed him on the ground, breaking his arm.

Kristy Wilson filed a police report and went to Glenwood Middle School. That’s when she was shocked to learn that school officials already knew about the harassment but hadn’t called her to discuss it:

When I went to the school, about two days after it happened to discuss Tyler’s story, the principal said there was an incident Monday and the Friday before, that the boy who started the fight had jumped on Tyler’s back and tried to start a fight,” she said.

Kristy Wilson said if she had known that Tyler was being physically targeted said she would have certainly stepped in to stop the situation, going as far as removing him from the school.

“I really wish the school would have let me know a lot sooner, so I could have dealt with it sooner,” she said.

Meanwhile, Findlay police have arrested the two attackers and have charged them in youth court. The lead attacker was charged with felonious assault, and the other was charged with simple assault. Their names are being withheld because they are juveniles.

Meanwhile, Tyler continues to receive threats:

It’s been bumpy,” Ohio 11-year-old Tyler Wilson said of his return to school in a morning television exclusive interview with “Good Morning America.” “People are threatening me to break my other arm because I told on them.”

…But neither the injury nor the threats is stopping Tyler from pursuing his passion for cheering, the boy said.

“It feels horrible that they can’t accept me for who I am,” Tyler told ABC News’ Ohio affiliate WTVG. “It’s my choice. If I want to be a cheerleader, I’m going to be a cheerleader.”

NOM’s “Valores” tour has a sweet start today

Today the National Organization for Marriage’s tour to whip up Latino support for Carly Fiorina got off to a sweet start. At the Jelly Belly jellybean factory. Where they were told not to pass out materials or approach other customers.

Day 3, Stop 1: Fairfield

But they did get to go on a tour of the factory and get free samples, so that’s something.

This is it for now, but check this commentary later as Courage Campaign updates the third day in the “Vota Tus Valores” tour. Who knows, at some point they may actually find a Latino voter who supports Fiorina and you wouldn’t want to miss that.

Follow up on how NOM’s “Valores” tour went yesterday

When I last reported on the National Organization for Marriage’s “Vota Tus Valores” tour, they had one stop with four supporters (and nine protesters), one stop where they didn’t get out of the bus, missed one stop, and were late for the next one.

Courage Campaign brings us up to date.

Day 2, Stop 4: Colusa

NOM’s bus did finally make it to a Burger King parking lot in Colusa where they were successful in finding some Latinos, six in fact. Unfortunately, they were fifth graders, not voters.

Day 2, Stop 5: Willows

In Willows, the Vota Tus Valores bus stopped just long enough to grab a beer and a bag of pork rinds (I’m not making this stuff up).

I don’t think the pork rinds are registered to vote and, if so, may well not be Carly Fiorina supporters.

Day 2, Stop 6: Davis

Around dusk, the bus finally made it to the UC-Davis campus.

I truly am having difficulty understanding what this is all about. As a traveling billboard, the message is not adequately presented; Carly Fiorina’s name is not prominent. As a rallying tour, it is an absolute failure. I cannot fathom the people who are riding on that bus day after day and never having any audience to talk to or any events to talk about. I hope they brought books.

Rutgers Student Commits Suicide Following Anti-Gay Harrassment

It’s not just high school kids being bullied and humiliated to their deaths:

A Rutgers University freshman killed himself after two classmates used a hidden dorm room camera to splash his sex life across the internet, sources told the Daily News.

A distraught Tyler Clementi, 18, left his wallet on the George Washington Bridge before plunging to his death in the Hudson River last Wednesday, sources said.

A Twitter post from one of the students accused of streaming the sexual encounter live on the internet indicated Clementi, a renowned high school violinist, was with another man.

“Roommate asked for the room till midnight,” read the post from Dharun Ravi, 18. “I went into Molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.”

The Twitter post went up Sept. 19 – three days before Clementi’s suicide.

Ravi and another accomplice, Molly Wei, also 18, were charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy for the Sept. 19 livesreaming broadcast. Ravi was charged with two more counts for trying to arrange a second livestreamign session. New Jersey’s privacy laws make it a crime to transmit or view images of nudity or sexual contact with an individual without that person’s consent. Ravi and Wei both face up to five years’ imprisonment for each count.

Bakersfield-Area Teen Dies After Suicide Attempt; No Charges Will Be Filed

Another day, another gay teen is dead:

Seth Walsh, the Tehachapi 13-year-old who hanged himself from a tree in his back yard after years of being bullied, died Tuesday afternoon after nine days on life support.

Tehachapi police investigators interviewed some of the young people who taunted Seth the day he hanged himself and determined despite the tragic outcome of their ridicule, their actions do not constitute a crime.

“Several of the kids that we talked to broke down into tears,” Jeff Kermode, Tehachapi Police Chief, said. “They had never expected an outcome such as this.”

Seth had been picked on for years because he was gay, but fellow classmates said that the staff at Jacobsen Middle School offered Seth no help or protection. People run red lights without expecting anyone to die in a horrific traffic accident, but they are charged with manslaughter or negligent homicide. Red lights were flashing at Tehachapi just as brightly and a child is dead because of the direct actions of his peers and the negligence of school officials. But they get a pass because, well heck, nobody meant nuttin’ by it. It was all just harmless fun. It just goes to show how seriously too many school administrators take the lives of gay students in 2010.

If you thought NOM’s tour yesterday was bad…

The National Organization for Marriage seems to be running into a little problem getting people to show up for their “Vota Tus Valores” tour. Yesterday was kinda discouraging with a total of 17 folks at five stops (15 were all from one stop) but today was the kind of day that makes California’s anti-gay Latino Republicans sad at heart.

Day 2, Stop 1: Sacramento

Our state’s capital didn’t exactly swarm out to greet NOM. (Courage Campaign)

Already progressive supporters are beginning to out-organize the tour. The count in Sacramento was 9 to 4.

Day 2, Stop 2: Placerville

The following picture includes all of the ralliers at this stop:

NOM didn’t even get off the bus.

Day 2, Stop 3: Yuba City

The tour website said they would be at the Gauche Aquatic Center at 1:15 pm. But they didn’t show up.

Courage Campaign asked the Aquatic Center and it turns out NOM never followed through with a request to use the parking lot. Fortunately CC was ran into NOM & crew where they had stopped for lunch and now are stuck following the bus.

Day 2, Stop 4: Colusa

The bus was to be there at 2:30, but as of 2:40 they hadn’t left Yuba City (CC will update tonight) so perhaps Colusa is another no-show. Why not? It’s not like anyone is there waiting for them.

Ever Wonder How Journalists Write Scientific Articles?

Martin Robbins shows us how its done.

Catholics “do the work of Jesus” with anti-gay DVD

If you are Catholic and living in the area of St. Paul, Minnesota, then you probably received a DVD in the mail from your Archbishop. Some “anonymous donor” paid to take the moral authority of the church and turn it into political shilling in opposition to the rights of their neighbors and a all-too-transparent attempt to push votes in the gubernatorial election. (StarTribune)

More than 400,000 DVDs are being mailed to the homes of Minnesota Catholics on Wednesday, courtesy of Catholic bishops in the state who want to stop the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in its tracks.

The 18-minute DVD includes an appearance from St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt in which he says it is time for Minnesotans — not the “ruling elite” of legislators and judges — to vote on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

But as the Catholics hierarchy ratchets up its efforts to impose Catholic doctrine on society by force of the ballot box, the Catholic laity seems to be increasing in its rebellion against the rigid demands of the Church. Not only can this been seen on a global scale with one Catholic country after another flouting the threats of the Church and choosing civil equality, so too can this disconnect be seen on the local level.

So it is not surprising that some lay Catholics in Minnesota see no Christ in the Church’s latest political maneuvering. But seeking to be good Christians, they have found a way to turn the Archbishop’s priorities on their ear.

Return The DVD, a group that describes itself as “Catholics who are concerned about the priorities of the leaders in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis” have called on their fellow faithful to send them the Archbishop’s DVD.

We are collecting as many DVDs as possible and will return them to Archbishop John Nienstedt with a letter asking him to make the needs of the poor and love of neighbor his highest priority.

They are also taking the opportunity to focus Catholics’ minds away from worldly political fiefdoms and towards what Jesus instructed.

2.) Make a donation to an organization doing the work of Jesus.

Make a donation directly to an organization helping to fight poverty and end homelessness in Minnesota.

If the hierarchy of the Church is still capable of feeling shame, now would be a good time.

NOM sues to keep the donors behind their political campaigns a secret

The National Organization for Marriage really really doesn’t want anyone knowing what handful of mega-bucks donors are behind their political advertising. So, as is their usual methodology, they are suing the State of Rhode Island claiming that the handful of individuals and groups they are fronting for have the right to unaccountable and secret “free speech.” (NECN)

A group that opposes same-sex marriage sued the Rhode Island Board of Elections, saying it wants to run ads in the governor’s race and other contests but doesn’t want to have to comply with state campaign finance laws.

The National Organization for Marriage said in a federal lawsuit that it should not be forced to report its expenditures or comply with spending limits or bans that are required for political action committees. The group said it shouldn’t be considered a PAC because it’s not controlled by a political candidate and does not spend the majority of its money on Rhode Island’s political races. It says the rules for PACs are burdensome and interfere with free speech.

They consistently lose these cases, but they refuse to report until they appeal, a process that drags on through election season after election season. Eventually some judge is going to get so annoyed that he holds Brian Brown in contempt. And then, I suppose, we will find out who really is the source of NOM’s funds.