US Student Sentenced to 21 Months for Threatening Jewish Classmates

Photo : Reuters

New York: Patrick Dai, a former Cornell University student, has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for making threats against Jewish classmates. The sentencing took place on Monday in Syracuse, New York, where District Judge Brenda Sannes also imposed three years of supervised release.

Dai, who was suspended from Cornell following the incident, had posted the threats anonymously on an online campus bulletin board. These threats were made three weeks after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Dai's threats included statements about attacking a campus dining hall frequented by Jewish students and committing acts of violence against Jewish males on campus.

Prosecutors described Dai's actions as having terrorized the campus and shocked the nation during a highly sensitive period. They emphasized the significant distress caused by his threats, which led Cornell to cancel classes for a day in November.

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Dai pleaded guilty to one felony count of making threats. His lawyer, Lisa Peebles, argued that Dai, who is 22 and autistic, is actually "pro-Israel" and that his threats were a misguided attempt to draw attention to what he perceived as anti-Israel sentiment on campus. Peebles contended that Dai hoped his posts would provoke a reaction against perceived pro-Hamas media coverage, but this strategy proved disastrous.

Attorney General Merrick Garland had previously cited this case as part of a broader pattern of increasing threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities in the U.S. The case has been part of a larger wave of campus protests related to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

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