(RepublicanReport.org) – The recent clash between Israel Defense Forces and the Islamist terrorist group Hamas has sparked a potentially dangerous response in the United States, particularly at institutions of higher learning. A third-year college student is facing prison time after posting threats to Jewish students online. Fortunately, federal agents got to the bottom of the case quickly.
On October 29, Martha E. Pollack, the president of Cornell University, posted a statement detailing what she called “a series of horrific, antisemitic” posts that threatened violence against Jewish students and community members on a discussion board on a website unaffiliated with the school. Pollack wrote that she notified the university’s police department about the posts. In turn, they informed the FBI about the “potential hate crime.”
Two days later, Cornell Vice President for Community Relations Joel M. Malina confirmed that law enforcement officials had identified and arrested a suspect. He thanked law enforcement officials and the FBI for their effort to track down the perpetrator of those threats.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York posted a press release later that day detailing the incident and the arrest of 21-year-old Patrick Dai. Prosecutors alleged that the third-year student posted several threatening messages calling for violence against Jewish students and members of the community.
Dai threatened to “shoot up” 104West!, a reference to a Kosher dining room located on Cornell’s campus next to the university’s Center for Jewish Living building. Additionally, he vowed to kill any Jewish men he encountered on campus, to assault Jewish women, and “behead … Jewish babies.”
Dai also threatened to bring an assault rifle to campus and open fire on [ethnic slur] Jews.” News agencies reported that court documents revealed that Dai confessed to federal agents after they advised him of his Miranda rights.
Dai made his initial appearance in court on November 1. If convicted, he faces up to five years imprisonment, three years of supervised probation, and a fine of up to a quarter-million dollars.
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