Cornell student arrested for posting online threats against fellow Jewish students

A student from Cornell University has been arrested for posting threatening statements online about Jewish students at the school, law enforcement officials say. Patrick Dai, 21, a junior from Pittsford, New York, is charged in a federal criminal complaint with posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications, according to a joint announcement from the US Attorney’s office, FBI, New York State Police and Cornell University Police. Officials say that Dai could be imprisoned for at least five years owing to the nature of the charge against him. The menacing messages, posted over the weekend on a forum about fraternities and sororities, alarmed students at the Ivy League school in upstate New York. The anonymous threats came amid a spike of antisemitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric appearing on social media during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has unveiled plans to combat rising cases of antisemitism in US colleges since the start of the Israel-Palestine war on October 7. After holding a meeting with senior Jewish leaders, US President Joe Biden said that he is “very concerned” about the sharp rise in antisemitism on college campuses and announced measures to combat the issue. The White House has said that it will deploy dozens of cybersecurity experts to help educational institutions examine antisemitic and Islamophobic threats. Apart from this, the Department of Justice and Homeland Security are also working with campus police to track down hate-related rhetoric. With inputs from AP