Patrick Dai, a former Cornell University student who threatened to murder and sexually assault Jews on the school’s campus. He was sentenced on Aug. 12, 2024 to 21 months in federal prison. Photo: Broome County Sheriff’s Office.

Former Cornell University student Patrick Dai, who threatened to perpetrate heinous crimes against members of the school’s Jewish community after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison on Monday, the US Department of Justice announced.

Last October, Dai raised the possibility of antisemitic violence at Cornell when he posted several statements calling for murdering Jews and raping Jewish women on a popular social media forum. In addition to threatening the lives of Cornell’s 3,500 Jewish students, who are 22 percent of the school’s student population, the posts threatened an attack on a campus kosher dining hall — named 104West  — affiliated with the Steven K. And Winifred A. Grinspoon Hillel Center.

“Gonna shoot up 104 west… Allahu akbar! from the river to the sea, palestine will be free! glory to hamas! liberation by any means necessary!” one of his posts said. Another read, “If I see a pig male jew i will stab you and slit your throat. if i see another pig female jew i will drag you away and rape you and throw you off a cliff. if i see another pig baby jew i will behead you in front of your parents [sic].”

The Justice Department said Dai also vowed to “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig Jews.”

The actions, for which Dai was promptly expelled from campus, were investigated by a terrorism task force and charged as federal hate crimes involving “threats to kill using interstate communications.” Declining to contest the government’s case at trial, he pled guilty. In addition to serving nearly two years in federal prison, he will, upon completing his sentence, be subject to three years of supervised release and levied a $100 fine.

“The defendant’s threats terrorized the Cornell campus community for days and shattered the community’s sense of safety,” Carla Freedman, US attorney for the Northern District of New York, said in a statement on Monday. “My office will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute threats and acts of violence motivated by antisemitism and hatred of any kind.”

Students have the right “to pursue their education without fear of violence based on who they are, how they look, where they are from or how they worship,” added Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s civil rights division. “Antisemitic threats of violence, like the defendant’s vicious and graphic threats here, violate that right. Today’s sentencing reaffirms that we will hold accountable those who violently threaten and intimidate others based on their religious practice or background. The Justice Department will continue to protect all Americans against bias motivated crimes wherever they occur, including college campuses.”

Dai’s crimes occurred amid a wave of antisemitic hate incidents which struck college campuses during the 2023-2024 academic year after the events of Oct. 7.

Cornell also saw extreme rhetoric uttered by faculty members when history professor Russell Rickford called the Hamas terror group’s invasion of Israel “exhilarating” and “energizing” at a pro-Palestinian rally. Afterward, he was granted leave of absence for the remainder of the semester and has since returned to campus.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.