A Cornell University student behind a series of brutal online threats last fall to shoot Jewish students and slit their throats has pleaded guilty, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
Patrick Dai, 21, formerly a junior at Cornell, will be sentenced Aug. 12 and faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, the department stated in a April 10 news release.
His attorney said Dai was recently diagnosed with autism.
“He did it knowingly, but his motivation was really not meant to scare Jewish people,” attorney Lisa Peebles told the New York Post. “It was more try to to do the opposite of that which was to garner sympathy for them and make people think twice about supporting Hamas.”
Peebles told the Post that Dai was spurred by comments by a Cornell professor who said he found the Oct. 7 Hamas attack killing 1,200 Israeli citizens “exhilarating.”
The FBI’s Larissa Knapp said in the DOJ news release the “threats Patrick Dai made towards the Jewish community are graphic and disturbing,” adding:
As part of his guilty plea, Dai admitted that, on Oct. 28 and 29, 2023, he posted threatening messages to the Cornell section of an online discussion forum, including posts that said “gonna shoot up 104 west” (a dining hall at Cornell University that caters predominantly to Kosher diets and is next to the Cornell Jewish Center that provides residential accommodations for students) and “gonna bomb jewish house.” In another post, Dai threatened to “stab” and “slit the throat” of any Jewish man he saw on campus, to rape and throw off a cliff any Jewish women he saw, and to behead any Jewish babies. In that same post, Dai threatened to “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig jews.”
As The College Fix reported in November, the extreme threats were posted to an online forum about fraternities called Greekrank, prompting the Ivy League institution to increase security on campus.
Dai’s posts also came just days after graffiti stating “Israel is fascist,” “Zionism = genocide” and “F*** Israel” was reportedly spray painted on campus.
Cornell is among several universities under investigation by the feds for claims of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus.
MORE: Cornell student charged with threatening to slaughter Jewish students
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