WASHINGTON & SYRACUSE (AP & WRVO) — Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, met with students and administrators at Cornell University on Thursday to offer support to the school's Jewish community after threats of violence amid Israel's war against Hamas.
Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a nationally elected U.S. leader, met with the university president, chief of police and other administrators, and hosted a roundtable with Jewish students in the same kosher dining hall that was forced to closed due to the threats.
A Cornell junior, Patrick Dai of Pittsford, was arrested last month for allegedly leaving threatening messages on a Greek life website unaffiliated with the school in Ithaca. They included posts calling for the deaths of Jewish people and threatening to "shoot up 104 west," a university dining hall that caters predominantly to kosher diets and is next to the Cornell Jewish Center.
At a hearing Thursday, a federal magistrate judge in Syracuse granted the government's motion to detain Dai without bail, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
The White House said students shared with Emhoff "their personal experiences and reactions to the threats of violence on campus" and that Emhoff "offered messages of hope and encouraged the students to take pride in their Jewish faith."
Emhoff also discussed the Biden administration's work to combat antisemitism and security in schools and on college campuses, the White House said.
The White House did not publicly advise about Emhoff's travel in advance, as tensions on college campuses across remain elevated over the war.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Green said Dai had expressed suicidal thoughts and had attempted to kill himself twice last week with a plastic bag. Green said Dai said he considered suicide by grabbing the steering wheel of the car to drive off a cliff as his mom drove him back to Cornell.
Peebles argued that detaining Dai because he expressed suicidal thoughts is not humane and said detention will result in his mental health deteriorating.
Peebles said Dai has an undiagnosed developmental disability. She said he did not have a linear way of thinking and his intent with the posts was to educate people on the horrors of Hamas and vilify the terrorist organization, not carry them out himself saying Dai is "pro-Israel".
In federal court in Syracuse on Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Brown said Dai made some of the allegedly threatening posts from an IP address at his mother's home in Pittsford where he had access to a shotgun and a katana, which is a type of sword.
"He was never going to do it? He encouraged other people," Brown said.
Peebles also said Dai made an apology post after he realized he made a mistake. Brown said the apology post was anonymously made using a VPN and was not Dai taking responsibility nor did he turn himself in.
Wiley Dancks said she struggled with Peebles argument on the intent of the posts saying looking at the nature of the threats, anyone reading them, especially if they were Jewish, would be really frightened.
The judge noted Dai has serious ties to a foreign country as his father works and lives in China and his parents financially support him and could potentially help him flee. She also said Dai's mental health issues made him a flight risk.
"He's unstable," the judge said. "He's erratic. Bad things happen with that combo."
Wiley Dancks said she couldn't think of any conditions for release that wouldn't harm Dai's community or family. She said the country is "drowning in mass shootings."
"You're worth saving just like the lives of those you threatened," Wiley Dancks said. "But I need to make sure you don't hurt anyone else."
Dai did not speak during the hearing. His mother, Bing Liu, sat in the court gallery. After the hearing, she leaned over to him saying "We love you Patrick. We love you," and Dai broke down crying.
In requesting the bail hearing, Dai waived his right to a preliminary hearing which was originally scheduled for next week.
This story includes reporting by WRVO's Ava Pukatch.