Who is Cornell student Patrick Dai accused of violent threats against Jews

Ivy League student Patrick Dai, charged with threatening to murder and rape Jews, was an overachieving high schooler who fell into deep depression in 2021, his family said.

His mother told the New York Post that Dai suffers from "severe depression" and was on the brink of suicide before his arrest. Rebecca Rosenberg is a veteran journalist and book author with a focus on crime and criminal justice. Email tips to rebecca.rosenberg@fox.com and @ReRosenberg.

In a string of disturbing posts on a Greek life message board that was not affiliated with the school, Dai allegedly threatened to "shoot up 104 west," a campus dining hall that serves kosher, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York. The cafeteria is next door to the Cornell Jewish Center, which provides housing for Jewish students.