Ivy League student Patrick Dai, charged with threatening to murder and rape Jews, was an overachieving high schooler who fell into deep depression in 2021, his family said.
Cornell University junior Patrick Dai was arrested on a federal complaint Tuesday for allegedly calling for the deaths of Jewish people online and threatening to shoot up an on-campus dining hall. The 21-year-old engineering student hails from Pittsford, New York, about 80 miles northwest of the Ithaca campus. His mother told the New York Post that Dai suffers from 'severe depression' and was on the brink of suicide before his arrest.
In another post, Dai allegedly threatened to 'stab' and 'slit the throat' of any Jewish males he sees on campus, to rape and throw off a cliff any Jewish females, and to behead any Jewish babies,' the press release says. 'In that same post, Dai threatened to ‘bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig jews.’' The deranged threats come in the midst of heightened hostilities and a spike in antisemitism on college campuses across the U.S.
The alarming online threats prompted a campus visit by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and increased security for Jewish students and organizations. Dai is expected to make his first appearance in federal court Wednesday on a charge of making threats to injure or kill another using interstate communications.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes the New York State Police, as well as the Cornell University Police Department and the Ithaca Police Department are investigating the case.
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