The Cornell student who incited fear on the Ivy League campus after allegedly threatening to “rape” Jewish students and “slit their throats” was shackled and stone-faced as he was arraigned in Syracuse Wednesday afternoon.
Patrick Dai, 21, an engineering student at the upstate New York school, entered the courtroom wearing an orange Broom County jail jumpsuit, restraints on his ankles and a blank expression on his face.
Dai waived his right to a detention hearing and was ordered held without bail before being transferred to the custody of U.S. Marshalls.
His mother, who claims her son is emotionally troubled and not guilty, was present in the courtroom.
The engineering student has been accused of posting a series of threats to internet message boards under usernames like “Hamas fighter,” “glorious Hamas,” and “jew evil.”
The student then implored classmates to eliminate Jewish “rats” from campus, according to an indictment from the US Attorney for the Northern District of New York.
Dai allegedly threatened to “bring an assault rifle to campus” and “shoot up 104 West,” a campus dining hall that specializes in kosher meals.
Other threats allegedly included plans to “rape and kill all the jew women before they birth more Jewish Hitlers,” according to the indictment.
After being arrested and read his rights Tuesday, Dai allegedly admitted to posting the threats, according to a criminal complaint.
He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for charges of posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications.
Dai’s threats terrified Jewish students across Cornell’s Ithaca campus, where tensions were already high in the weeks following Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel and the Jewish homeland’s forceful response.
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So-called ‘Hamas fighter’ who threatened Cornell students arrives in court stone-faced and shackled
Patrick Dai, 21, entered the courtroom wearing an orange Broom County jail jumpsuit, restraints on his ankles and a blank expression on his face.
