So-called ‘Hamas fighter’ who threatened Cornell students arrives in court stone-faced and shackled

The Cornell student who incited fear on the Ivy League campus after allegedly threatening to “rape” Jewish students and “slit their throats” was shackled and stone-faced as he was arraigned in Syracuse Wednesday afternoon.

Patrick Dai, 21, an engineering student at the upstate New York school, entered the courtroom wearing an orange Broom County jail jumpsuit, restraints on his ankles and a blank expression on his face.

Dai waived his right to a detention hearing and was remanded to U.S. Marshalls. His mother, who claims her son is troubled and not guilty, was present in the courtroom.

The engineering student has been accused of posting a series of threats to internet message boards under usernames like “Hamas fighter,” “glorious Hamas,” and “jew evil.”

The student then implored classmates to eliminate Jewish “rats” from campus, according to an indictment from the US Attorney for the Northern District of New York.

Dai allegedly threatened to “bring an assault rifle to campus” and “shoot up 104 West,” a campus dining hall that specializes in kosher meals.

Other threats allegedly included plans to “rape and kill all the jew women before they birth more Jewish Hitlers,” according to the indictment.

After being arrested and read his rights Tuesday, Dai allegedly admitted to posting the threats, according to a criminal complaint.

He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for charges of posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications.

Dai’s threats terrified Jewish students across Cornell’s Ithaca campus, where tensions were already high in the weeks following Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel and the Jewish homeland’s forceful response.

“In the last three weeks, we have all felt many emotions,” student Josh Rosenheim told Fox News Digital. “We’ve been very sad, extremely sad, depressed, sometimes angry and a little bit fearful.

“But this was the first time, I think, that the students were legitimately terrified.”

Dai’s parents insist their son is not responsible for the posts, and that his actions were out of his control.

“My son is in severe depression. He cannot control his emotion well due to the depression. No, I don’t think he committed the crime,” his father told The Post over text, asking not to be named.

The father explained Dai fell into a severe depression in 2021 after beginning his studies at Cornell, and said his son had previously been a high-achieving, helpful person.

Dai stopped communicating with his parents in the days before the threats were made, prompting them to rush to campus over fears he might hurt himself.

“My wife called him or sent messages to him many times but got no answers. She was worrying that he may commit suicide and drove to his apartment to see what happened,” his father said.

By the time they arrived on campus, he’d been arrested. Dai’s father said he doesn’t believe his son is responsible for the posts, but that his depression is somehow linked to the threats.

Outside the courthouse on Wednesday, Dai’s mother covered her face and avoided reporters by exiting through a backdoor.