Cornell University student arrested for making antisemitic threats

New York, Nov 1

A student at the prestigious Cornell University in the US has been arrested for making violent antisemitic threats against his Jewish classmates.

Patrick Dai, the 21-year-old third year student at Cornell, was arrested on Tuesday on “a federal criminal complaint charging him with posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications”, CNN quoted the US attorney’s office for New York’s northern district as saying.

The crime is punishable by up to five years in prison and he is scheduled to appear in court in Syracuse on Wednesday.

The office also said that a criminal complaint alleges Dai posted threatening messages on the Cornell section of a discussion website, including threats to “shoot up” a mainly Kosher dining hall on campus.

According to the Cornell University police, the online posts were created on Sunday.

“Evidence suggests the targeted locations were intentionally selected because of the perpetrator’s bias,” the university police said, adding that patrols have increased and security for Jewish students and organisations also spiked.

Earlier Tuesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said a person of interest was in the custody of New York State Police for questioning.

“Public safety is my top priority... and I’m committed to combatting hate and bias wherever it rears its ugly head," CNN quoted the Governor as saying.

Meanwhile, Joel M. Malina, vice president for university relations at Cornell, confirmed that authorities will maintain heightened security on campus.

"Cornell University is grateful to the FBI for working so swiftly to identify and apprehend the suspect in this case, a Cornell student, who remains in custody, We remain shocked by and condemn these horrific, antisemitic threats and believe they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” he added.

The development at Cornell comes amid reports of rising antisemitic incidents across the US since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on October 7.

Speaking to a congressional committee on Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers that antisemitic abuse was reaching "historic levels" in the US, the BBC reported.

"Our statistics would indicate that for a group that represents only about 2.4 per cent of the American public, they account for something like 60 per cent of all religious-based hate crimes," Wray said of Jewish Americans.

On Monday, President Joe Biden's administration announced that it was working to combat antisemitism and other hate speech on campuses by increasing communications with local, state and federal authorities.