Cornell student accused of threatening to murder Jewish students could face five years in prison

ITHACA, NY – A 21-year-old student at Cornell University reportedly faces up to five years in federal prison after authorities say the student threatened to murder and sexually assault Jewish students via online message board posts.

On October 31st, Cornell University junior Patrick Dai was arrested under federal charges of posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications, according to officials, after the suspect allegedly used an online forum to post a myriad of threats against the Jewish student body at his school.

Dai made his first appearance in court on November 1st, where he was remanded into custody after prosecutors claimed the suspect posed a substantial risk to the community and also serves as a potential flight risk.

Although prosecutors have not alleged that Dai threatened any specific person/person amid the purported online posts in question, charging documents claim the university student did threaten to “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot” all the Jewish students, as well as threatening to “slit the throat[s]” of all the Jewish men as well as rape the women and behead Jewish babies.

Furthermore, prosecutors say Dai did specifically mention he’d want to target Cornell University’s Center for Jewish Living amongst the alleged series of online threats made. Dai allegedly posted the online threats under various pseudonyms in an attempt to stay anonymous in the weekend preceding his arrest, using online handles like “Hamas fighter,” “Jew Evil,” and “Glorious Hamas.”

Law enforcement were able to track down the originating IP addresses associated with the online posts after submitting an emergency disclosure request to the online forums where the purported threats were posted, thus leading to Dai’s arrest days after the alleged threats.

Officials say Dai admitted to posting the threats in question during an interview with the FBI following his arrest.

The suspect’s father told the New York Post that he doesn’t believe his son is responsible for the online threats, but mentioned that Dai had become depressed in recent years and suspects that his depression somehow played a role in the overall incident.

“My son is in severe depression. He cannot control his emotion well due to the depression. No, I don’t think he committed the crime,” the suspect’s father told the outlet, adding that the suspect’s mother became so worried about Dai’s wellbeing that she rushed over to his apartment recently only to find that their son had already been arrested.

“My wife called him or sent messages to him many times but got no answers. She was worrying that he may commit suicide and drove to his apartment to see what happened.”

Posting online threats of the nature Dai is accused of can render some serious time behind bars, regardless of whether the threats were serious or not. If convicted, Dai could spend up to five years in federal prison and face up to $250K in fines.

Dai’s next scheduled court appearance is on November 15th.