Former Cornell University student sentenced for antisemitic threats

NEW YORK - A former Cornell University engineering student was sentenced to 21 months in prison for posting threats to Jewish students on campus.

Prosecutors said Patrick Dai threatened to kill Jewish students and "shoot up" an on-campus kosher dining facility. The threats were graphic .

"The defendant's threats terrorized the Cornell campus community for days and shattered the community's sense of safety," U.S. Attorney Carla Freedman said.

"Every student has the right to pursue their education without fear of violence based on who they are, how they look, where they are from or how they worship," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "Antisemitic threats of violence, like the defendant's vicious and graphic threats here, violate that right."

Dai was also ordered to three years of supervised release, and a fee of $100. He could have gotten as much as five years in prison and $250,000 fine.

Dai grew up in Pittsford, N.Y., about 80 miles from Cornell's campus in Ithaca.