A former junior at Cornell University will spend nearly two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to posting online threats targeting the Jewish community on campus, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
A judge sentenced 22-year-old Patrick Dai to 21 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
According to federal prosecutors, Dai admitted that, on Oct. 28 and 29, 2023, he posted threatening messages to the Cornell section of an online discussion forum.
One of the posts said “gonna shoot up 104 west,” which prosecutors said is a dining hall at Cornell that caters predominantly to Kosher diets and is next to the Cornell Jewish Center.
Another post Dai admitted to posting read, "gonna bomb jewish house.”
In another post, Dai admitted to threaten 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.
Dai also admitted he posted a threat that said he would “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig jews.”
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes the New York State Police, investigated the case, with assistance from the FBI Albany Field Office, Cornell University Police Department and Ithaca Police Department.
