NEW YORK, USA: Patrick Dai, a former Cornell University student, was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Monday for making violent threats against Jewish classmates.
The 22-year-old was suspended from the Ivy League institution after anonymously posting threats on an online campus bulletin board, just weeks after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Dai pleaded guilty to one felony count of making threats, and in addition to his prison sentence, he was given three years of supervised release by District Judge Brenda Sannes in Syracuse, New York. The threats, which targeted a dining hall frequented by Jewish students, included plans to “shoot up” the facility and “stab” or “slit the throat” of Jewish males on campus.
Prosecutors emphasized the terror inflicted on the Cornell community, describing the incident as horrifying and occurring during an already volatile time. Dai’s lawyer, Lisa Peebles, argued that her client, who is autistic, was actually pro-Israel and had misguidedly posted the threats to draw attention to Hamas’s extremist beliefs. She claimed that Dai believed the posts would generate backlash against what he saw as anti-Israel sentiment and media coverage on campus.
The threats led to Cornell canceling classes for a day in November, highlighting the significant impact on the university. The case was also noted by Attorney General Merrick Garland as part of a broader rise in threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities across the United States, particularly amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
