A 22-year-old former Cornell University student was sentenced on Aug. 12 to 21 months in prison and three years of supervised release for posting online threats to Jewish students, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Patrick Dai, formerly a junior at Cornell University and originally from Pittsford, New York, previously entered a guilty plea and admitted to posting threatening messages on Oct. 28 and 29 of 2023.
Dai admitted he posted messages in a Cornell section of an online discussion forum, including a post that he was “gonna shoot up 104 West” and “gonna bomb jewish house.” Dai was referring to a dining hall at the university that predominantly catered to Jewish students with Kosher meals and the Cornell Jewish Center that provides residential housing for students.
“Today, former Cornell University student Patrick Dai was sentenced to serve 21 months in prison for posting anonymous threats to kill Jewish students,” said U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman for the Northern District of New York in a press release.
Freedman said before the court imposed the sentence, it found it was a hate crime under the federal Sentencing Guidelines “because Dai targeted Jewish students and substantially disrupted the university’s core function of educating its students.”
According to Freedman, Dai’s threats “terrorized the Cornell campus community for days and shattered the community’s sense of safety.”
In another post, Dai threatened to kill Jewish men, women, and babies and indicated he wanted to bring a rifle to campus and shoot Jews.
“Every student has the right to pursue their education without fear of violence based on who they are, how they look, where they are from or how they worship,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in the release.
“Antisemitic threats of violence, like the defendant’s vicious and graphic threats here, violate that right,” said Clarke.
Dai also was charged a special assessment in the amount of $100 for posting the threats using interstate communications, according to the DOJ.
After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel and as the war continued between Israel and Hamas, college campuses nationwide erupted with pro-Palestinian protests in conjunction with an uptick in anti-Semitism, as previously reported by The Epoch Times.
“Mr. Dai’s actions serve as a disturbing reminder of the terrifying hatred our Jewish communities encounter simply because of their beliefs,” said special agent in charge Craig Tremaroli of the FBI Albany Field Office in the release.
According to Tremaroli, Dai was identified and charged quickly and has remained in custody since his “hateful” postings.
“This sentence should serve as a reminder that the FBI will continue to work diligently with our law enforcement partners to investigate any individual who perpetuates hate crimes to ensure our college campuses and communities at large remain free of hateful individuals who threaten the safety of Americans,” said Tremaroli.
