A federal judge sentenced former Cornell student Patrick Dai on Monday to 21 months in prison for his anti-Semitic online threats in October 2023.
Patrick Dai, former Cornell student, convicted of hate crime
Patrick Dai, a former Cornell University student from Pittsford, was convicted of a hate crime in federal court in Syracuse
ROCHESTER, NY — A former Cornell University student who posted anti-Semitic threats against Jewish students on campus last fall was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison, the Justice Department announced.
Patrick Dai, 22, of Pittsford, New York, was charged late last year with making online threats against Jewish students at the Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. His 21-month sentence will be followed by three years of probation, the Justice Department said in a statement.
In a guilty plea, he admitted making the threats earlier this year.
U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes imposed a lesser sentence than the 27 to 33 months recommended in sentencing guidelines. Dai’s attorney, federal public defender Lisa Peebles, asked that he be sentenced for time already served.
Peebles said she plans to appeal the ruling.
“The defendant’s threats terrorized the Cornell campus community for days and destroyed the community’s sense of safety,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York Carla Freedman said in a statement.
“It’s all my fault,” says Patrick Dai
As part of his guilty plea, Dai admitted that he threatened to bomb, stab and rape Jews on October 28 and 29 in the Cornell section of an online discussion forum.
Dai, who was diagnosed with autism after his arrest, cried for much of the verdict, and when he decided to make a statement, his voice was often inaudible because of tears and throaty sighs.
“Nobody else forced me to do anything,” he said. “…It’s all my fault, Your Honor.”
In announcing the verdict, Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Brown acknowledged that Dai suffered from mental health issues, but said the campus had suffered from the threats.
Dai’s posts also included a call for others to attack Jewish students. “He was calling others to action,” Brown said. “… These threats terrorized the community and his classmates.”
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Public defender: Dai suffered from depression and anxiety
Peebles said Dai mistakenly believed he could generate sympathy for Jewish students on campus by posing as a Hamas supporter online. Dai, who wished to remain anonymous, posted an online apology after realizing that some were responding positively to his posts, Peebles said.
Dai graduated from Pittsford Mendon High School in 2020. At Cornell, he isolated himself and suffered from depression and anxiety, Peebles said.
After graduating from high school, he went to Cornell, “believing his intelligence would get him through the four years there,” she said.
Sannes concluded that Dai’s offense was a hate crime under federal guidelines and also significantly disrupted campus life – a decision that set the recommended sentence at 27 to 33 months. But she said she also sympathized with his case.
“There is nothing in your past that would explain your behavior,” she said.
Contributors: Reuters
