Facing a potential 10-year jail sentence after being convicted of invasion of privacy and other charges against his former roommate, Tyler Clementi, former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi has given several interviews to tell his story — arguing he didn’t “act out of hate.”
In an interview with ABC News’ Chris Cuomo to be aired in full on Friday night, Ravi said, “I was 18, I was stupid, I wouldn’t think about my actions beyond a minute into a future. I was a dumb kid not thinking about it.” He also reiterated that he does not hate gay people, is “confident” that wasn’t trying to intimidate his former roommate by taping his encounter with another man, and says that Clementi shouldn’t have been considered “fragile.”
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The remarks appear to be similar to those made to the New Jersey Star-Ledger newspaper earlier this week when he sat down with his attorney Steve Altman and columnist Mark Di Ionno to explain that “I wasn’t biased” and “I didn’t act out of hate and I wasn’t uncomfortable with Tyler being gay.”
In both interviews, Ravi indicated that he still wouldn’t have taken the plea deal (which would’ve allowed him to escape jail time) offered to him by prosecutors. “I had to go up there in front of a judge under oath and say I intimidated Tyler because of sexual orientation — (to say that) I did this because I had this hate for gay people,” he told ABC News. “I don’t hate gay people.”
He told the Star-Ledger, “I’m never going to regret not taking the plea.”
MORE: Jury Convicts Ex-Rutgers Student of Bias Crime in Webcam Spying Case
Facing a potential 10-year jail sentence after being convicted of invasion of privacy and other charges against his former roommate, Tyler Clementi, former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi has given several interviews to tell his story — arguing he didn’t “act out of hate.”
In an interview with ABC News’ Chris Cuomo to be aired in full on Friday night, Ravi said, “I was 18, I was stupid, I wouldn’t think about my actions beyond a minute into a future. I was a dumb kid not thinking about it.” He also reiterated that he does not hate gay people, is “confident” that wasn’t trying to intimidate his former roommate by taping his encounter with another man, and says that Clementi shouldn’t have been considered “fragile.”
(MORE: When Bullying Turns Deadly: Can It Be Stopped?)
The remarks appear to be similar to those made to the New Jersey Star-Ledger newspaper earlier this week when he sat down with his attorney Steve Altman and columnist Mark Di Ionno to explain that “I wasn’t biased” and “I didn’t act out of hate and I wasn’t uncomfortable with Tyler being gay.”
In both interviews, Ravi indicated that he still wouldn’t have taken the plea deal (which would’ve allowed him to escape jail time) offered to him by prosecutors. “I had to go up there in front of a judge under oath and say I intimidated Tyler because of sexual orientation — (to say that) I did this because I had this hate for gay people,” he told ABC News. “I don’t hate gay people.”
He told the Star-Ledger, “I’m never going to regret not taking the plea.”
MORE: Jury Convicts Ex-Rutgers Student of Bias Crime in Webcam Spying Case