ITHACA, N.Y.—State police investigators said in court Friday they did not find any guns in the apartment of the Cornell University student who allegedly threatened to “shoot up” a kosher dining hall last weekend.
Patrick Dai, 21, was allegedly behind a number of other online posts threatening violence against Jewish people at Cornell. He was never charged with possession of any weapons. Testimony given Friday by investigator Ryan Smith of the New York State Police confirmed that no guns had been found in Dai’s Eddy Street apartment.
Dai was arrested and charged Tuesday, following campus uproar over threatening posts in an online forum targeting the school’s Jewish population. The incident also prompted a last-minute visit from Governor Kathy Hochul concerning the situation. He’s been charged with one count of posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications, and faces up to five years of incarceration.
On Friday, Dai appeared before state Supreme Court Judge Elizabeth Aherne in Tompkins County via webcam from the Broome County Correctional Facility, where he’s being held as a federal inmate. At Friday’s hearing, Aherne enacted an emergency risk protection order, a civil proceeding that prevents Dai from purchasing or possessing any guns for a year. Dai remains incarcerated and has been suspended from Cornell while the situation plays out.
Dai, who represented himself during the court hearing Friday, had already agreed to the gun ban prior to the hearing, but still has a month to appeal should he change his mind, Aherne said.
“Because of what you are being accused of, I would advise you stay away from guns […] so there’s no confusion,” Aherne said.
Dai, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, appeared relatively calm during the hearing. Dai was blinking profusely at one point, which led Aherne to ask if his eyes were okay.
“Everything is a little blurry, but it’s not a big deal,” Dai said.