Cornell student accused of threatening Jewish students held without bail after first court appearance

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A Cornell University student accused of posting violent threats online against Jewish students appeared briefly in federal court Wednesday, waiving his right to a bail hearing and choosing to remain detained until further hearings.

Patrick Dai, a 21-year-old junior at Cornell who is originally from Pittsford, New York, was arrested Tuesday on federal charges accusing him of posting threats to kill, injure and rape Jewish students on the upstate campus, court records show. The menacing, anonymous messages were posted over the weekend on a Greek life forum and sparked fear among Jewish students on the campus in upstate New York.

"While we take some measure of relief in knowing that the alleged author of the vile antisemitic posts that threatened our Jewish community is in custody, it was disturbing to learn that he was a Cornell student," Cornell President Martha E. Pollack said in a message Wednesday to the university community.

Pollack added that the university will not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism or any hatred. The threats at Cornell attracted national attention as part of a surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents across the country since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.

Dai is being held without bail after making his first court appearance in Syracuse. He is currently being held in Broome County Jail and a preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 15.

If convicted, Dai faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years.

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What happened during the court hearing?

U.S. Marshals escorted Dai, who was wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, into the federal courtroom on Wednesday afternoon.

Dai’s hands were cuffed to waist and leg shackles. He shuffled his feet and looked down through black-rimmed glasses at the floor as he passed the court gallery filled mostly with media, attorneys and members of the prosecutor’s office.

Dai’s mother, who declined to comment and provide a name, sat silently in the second row, craning her head forward in what appeared to be an attempt to make eye contact with her son. She sat with a man who described himself as a family friend.

Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thérèse Wiley Dancks, Dai stared straight ahead for most of the hearing. His comments consisted solely of "Yes, your honor" to acknowledge he understood initial instructions about the charges and waiving his right to a bail hearing, which would determine if he posed a flight risk or danger to the community.

Prosecutors request suspect remain detained

Wiley Dancks noted Dai could change his mind at any point and pursue the bail hearing, formally called a detention hearing.

Geoffrey Brown, the lead federal prosecutor, requested Dai remain detained during the court proceedings as a threat to the community, citing that Dai had visited the dining hall prior to posting the threats. Brown also read in court several of the threatening posts that Dai allegedly left on a website affiliated with Cornell fraternities.

As Brown recited the threats to "shoot up" a Jewish dining hall and behead a "pig baby Jew" in front of his parents, Dai hunched forward over the table, lowering his head away from the prosecutor.

Dai was represented at the hearing by Gabrielle DiBella, an assistant federal public defender, who declined to comment on the case.

Who is Patrick Dai?

Dai is originally from the Rochester, New York, suburb of Pittsford. He graduated during the pandemic in 2020 from Pittsford Mendon High School, according to Pittsford Central School District officials.

He was a National Merit scholar and became a student at Cornell University's engineering school. At Cornell, Dai had worked as an orientation leader and tutored other engineering students.

Dai has been suspended from Cornell, a university spokesperson said.

Dai's father told the New York Post that his son went into a deep depression in 2021, a year after he started at Cornell. At the suggestion of a doctor, he took two semesters off in 2022 and 2023, the Post reported.

His father also said Dai stopped communicating with his parents in the days before he was arrested, according to the Post.

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How did FBI arrest Dai?

Authorities arrested Dai after tracking the IP address of digital devices used to post the online messages, court records show.

Dai then admitted to posting the threats during an interview with the FBI at the Cornell Police Department, according to court records. The confession came after Dai received Miranda warnings detailing his rights to remain silent and obtain an attorney.

The violent messages were posted on a website about fraternities and sororities that is not affiliated with Cornell.

One post included threats to stab and slit the throats of Jewish males and to bring a rifle to campus and shoot Jews, a federal complaint said. Another post threatened to shoot up a university dining hall that caters to kosher diets and is located next to the Cornell Jewish Center, according to the complaint.

In response to the threats, which were posted on Saturday and Sunday, the university increased patrols and security for Jewish students and organizations.

In light of Dai's arrest, Cornell announced that Friday would be a "community day." No classes will be held, and faculty and nonessential staff will be excused from work.

Spike in hate incidents across U.S.

Reports of hate crimes against both Jews and Muslims have climbed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has left thousands of people dead.

On Oct. 24, the Anti-Defamation League released preliminary data showing a nearly 400% increase in reported antisemitic incidents in the United States.

"ADL recorded a total of 312 antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7-23, 2023, 190 of which were directly linked to the war in Israel and Gaza," the organization said in a news release. "By comparison, during the same period in 2022, ADL received preliminary reports of 64 incidents, including four that were Israel-related."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations reported on Oct. 25 that it has recorded more than 770 complaints, including reported bias incidents, from Muslims nationwide since Oct. 7. The organization said in a news release that "the numbers likely do not represent all cases."

The Israel-Hamas war has also impacted college campuses across the country, where rising tensions have sparked protests and free speech battles that have caused backlash for college administrations.

Contributing: Victoria E. Freile, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle; The Associated Press