After the horrific Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel, universities across the U.S. were engulfed by waves of antisemitism that rocked campuses and caused many Jewish students to live in fear. Similar to the pro-Hamas protests (riots) that took over many academic institutions in the spring, it seemed like there were never any consequences for the wrongdoers.
Cornell University was hit particularly hard, as one professor disgustingly said he was “exhilarated” by the carnage carried out by Hamas, and then a mystery individual started posting threats declaring he was going to shoot up the school’s Kosher dining hall and wanted to kill “pig Jews.”
It turned out the creep was a junior named Patrick Dai, and now he’s finally facing the music after being sentenced Monday to almost two years in the slammer for his fear campaign.
Patrick Dai, of suburban Rochester, New York was accused by federal officials in October of posting anonymous threats to shoot and stab Jewish people on a Greek life forum. The threats came during a spike in antisemitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric related to the war and rattled Jewish students on the upstate New York campus.
Dai pleaded guilty in April to posting threats to kill or injure another person using interstate communications.
He was sentenced in federal court to 21 months in prison and three years of supervised release by Judge Brenda Sannes, according to federal prosecutors. The judge said Dai “substantially disrupted campus activity” and committed a hate crime, but noted his diagnosis of autism, his mental health struggles and his non-violent history, according to cnycentral.com.
One obvious question: if he was so mentally disturbed, how did he manage to gain admission to the prestigious Ivy League school in the first place?
Chaos at Cornell
Another One Bites the Dust: Cornell University President Martha Pollack Resigns in Surprise Email
Cornell University Cancels Classes for a Day Following Student’s Violent Antisemitic Threats
Dai isn’t the only one facing legal action for his antisemitism and violent tendencies.
CONSEQUENCES: Pro-Hamas Demonstrators Who Blocked Golden Gate Bridge Hit With Multiple Charges
Students Sue AOC, Other ‘Squad’ Members Over Their Support for Violent Pro-Hamas Columbia U Protests
If you have any sympathy for Dai, whose mother claims depression, anxiety, and medications may have helped cause his sick thoughts, you might feel less of it after reading about his defense. He’s actually pro-Israel, his defender argued:
Public defender Lisa Peebles has argued that Dai is pro-Israel and that the posts were a misguided attempt to garner support for the country.
“He believed, wrongly, that the posts would prompt a ‘blowback’ against what he perceived as anti-Israel media coverage and pro-Hamas sentiment on campus,” Peebles wrote in a court filing.
Sorry, I’m just not buying that.
Listen if you want; I’m not an attorney, but her rationale does not move me, I can tell you that.
This sentence is a small ray of hope after we’ve seen so much lawlessness go unpunished, starting with the George Floyd protests and continuing with the more recent campus violence. Get ready for even more disruptions, as many colleges start their fall semesters shortly, and student activists are already gearing up for more mayhem. If they do things similar to what Patrick Dai did, we can only hope they too get a taste of life in the clink.
