Federal prosecutors say a Cornell junior wrote that he would “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot” Jewish students. Patrick Dai was charged on Tuesday by the Justice Department with making the threats, a charge that carries up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.
The posts appeared over the weekend on a website that has no affiliation with the university. President Martha Pollack told the Cornell community in a Sunday letter that the messages threatened violence against Jewish students and named the Center for Jewish Living, home to the campus kosher dining hall. The Cornell Daily Sun reported that one post threatened to shoot Jewish students and another urged others to commit violence against them. The site was Greekrank, which covers fraternity and sorority life and is widely used by Cornell students, according to the BBC.
The charges
The Justice Department said Dai, 21, an engineering student, made explicit threats against Jewish men, women and babies, including rape and murder. Prosecutors told a court in Syracuse that he had visited a campus dining hall before allegedly posting about “shoot[ing] up” the area. He appeared in an orange jumpsuit, waived his right to a bail hearing and was held in custody. His mother watched from the courtroom.
Dai’s father told the New York Post that his son suffers from “severe depression” and had lost his sense of purpose. “No, I don’t think he committed the crime,” the father said. The parents had lost contact with Dai in the days before his arrest and feared he might harm himself.
Officials respond
Gov. Kathy Hochul said earlier on Tuesday that a person of interest was in the custody of New York State Police. She had visited the Center for Jewish Life the day before. “You will be caught and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she said of those behind the threats.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the arrest showed prosecutors “are focusing our efforts on confronting and disrupting illegal threats wherever they arise.” The FBI, which opened a potential hate crime investigation on Monday, said it was working with Cornell and other agencies to judge how credible the threats were.
Cornell said it was “shocked by and condemn[s] these horrific, antisemitic threats.” Police planned a heightened security presence on campus. Molly Goldstein, co-president of the Cornell Center for Jewish Living, told CNN: “Jewish students on campus right now are unbelievably terrified for their lives.” The Anti-Defamation League’s New York and New Jersey chapter said it had spoken with students and parents “traumatized and in fear for their safety.”
A wider climate
The White House pointed to rising antisemitism on campuses nationwide. President Biden told ABC News he was “very concerned.” FBI Director Christopher Wray told a congressional committee that antisemitic abuse was reaching “historic levels.” Jewish Americans, he said, make up about 2.4% of the public but account for roughly 60% of religion-based hate crimes, a share he thought had probably risen since the October 7 attack on Israel.
Sources
- Student charged with making antisemitic threats to Cornell's Jewish students
- Cornell student in court over threats to kill Jews
