Posted online, “I will stab Jews in the neck and shoot them.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland: ‘We have no tolerance for hate crimes’
A Cornell University student was arrested on suspicion of posting threatening messages against Jews.
According to the Associated Press on the 1st (local time), Patrick Dye, a sophomore at Cornell University living in Pittsford, a suburb of Rochester, New York, appeared in federal court on charges of posting threats to kill or injure others in a Greek community. He was later detained without bail.
“While I am relieved that the person who wrote anti-Semitic posts that threatened the Jewish community has been taken into custody, I am shocked that he is a Cornell student,” Cornell University President Martha Pollack wrote in a statement to the university community.
President Pollack added, “Ivy League universities will not tolerate various forms of hatred, including anti-Semitism, racism, and Islamophobia.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced through this incident that the Department of Justice is treating hate crimes as a top priority.
“The Department of Justice will show no mercy when it comes to violence or unlawful threats motivated by anti-Semitism or Islamophobia,” Garland said at an online forum on hate crimes.
Police authorities explained that they traced the post written by Mr. Dai by tracking the Internet Protocol (IP) address. According to the complaint filed in court, when Mr. Dye was interviewed by authorities at the Cornell Police Department, he admitted that he had posted the threats.
His posts included stabbing a Jewish man in the neck and threatening to bring a rifle to campus and shoot Jews. He was also confirmed to have written a post titled saying he would carry out a shooting in a university cafeteria located next to the Cornell Jewish Center.
Mr. Dye reportedly waived his right to a bail hearing at his first court appearance. He was assigned a public defender, Gabriel Dibella, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for the 15th.
According to local media reports, Dai’s mother attended the court appearance but did not comment on the case.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.