In a shocking incident at Cornell University, a student was apprehended by federal authorities on Tuesday for allegedly issuing violent threats against Jewish students.
Patrick Dai, a 21-year-old engineering junior, stands accused of using interstate communications to post threats of murder or injury. If convicted, he could face a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Dai is slated to make his appearance in federal court on Wednesday.
The threats, which were posted on a website targeting "104 West," the address of the Center of Jewish Living on campus, included chilling messages such as "slit their throats" and "follow Jews home." The posts were made under various pseudonyms such as "hamas," "jew evil," "jew jenocide," "hamas warrior," and "kill jews." The messages included disturbing statements like "Rats need to be eliminated from Cornell," "jewish people need to be killed," "eliminate jewish living from cornell campus," and "gonna shoot up 104 west."
Further threats included graphic violence against Jewish individuals, with one post stating, "If I see a pig male jew I will stab you and slit your throat," and another threatening to assault and murder Jewish women and children.
According to a federal complaint obtained by NBC, the posts were traced back to Dai's IP address at his off-campus residence. Upon confrontation, Dai allegedly confessed to authoring the posts.
In response to the threats, Ethan Oliner, a fellow Cornell student, penned an op-ed for The New York Post expressing the fear and anxiety felt by the student body. "We students are scared. Scared for our lives. Scared to go to class. Scared to sleep in our own beds," he wrote. He revealed that prayer services had to be canceled due to safety concerns, and that some students had chosen to sleep elsewhere out of fear of being attacked.
Oliner further expressed his concern about the chilling effect of the threats on the expression of faith and pride among Jewish students. He quoted Menachem Begin, former prime minister of Israel, saying, "I am not a Jew with trembling knees," to emphasize the determination of the Jewish community to not live in constant fear.
Dai's parents attributed their son's altered behavior to "severe depression." According to The New York Post, Dai had begun his Cornell journey as a National Merit Scholar from Pittsford-Mendon High School and a 12-time AP Scholar. He had also volunteered at Rochester General Hospital and tutored other engineering students in computer programming language.
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