New York Gov. Kathy Hochul promised during a visit to the Cornell Center for Jewish Life on Monday that state police would work to identify anyone making online threats and hold them accountable.
โNo one should be afraid to walk from their bedroom or dining room to the classroom,โ he said. "When speech turns into hate speech and hate crimes, that's when we have to make sure students know that we will step up and protect them."
The Cornell University Police Department is also investigating and notified the FBI.
The now-deleted threats, posted Saturday and Sunday, did not close the dining hall and school officials did not initiate any lockdown procedures, but Cornell Hillel, a Jewish campus organization, advised students and staff to avoid the building "in a timely manner." "very cautious."
A state police cruiser was on the street in front of the Center for Jewish Life on a rainy Monday. A van with campus security was in the driveway.
"We don't feel safe right now," said Ori Baer, โโa sophomore from Long Island who was born in Jerusalem and is the center's vice president. He said some students who live downtown stayed elsewhere Sunday night. Other Jewish students stay in their rooms. Some parents have called their children and urged them to come home, he said.
Demonstrations in support of both Israel and the Palestinians have rocked American universities since the war began, and both Jewish and Muslim students They have complained of feeling isolated and unsupported. for their universities.
Reports of hate crimes against Jews and Muslims have increased. TO A 6-year-old Muslim boy was stabbed to death and his mother were wounded in Illinois earlier this month, and the suspect was charged with a hate crime after police said he singled out the victims for their faith.
Fears of violence at Cornell were stoked by comments left on a Greek life website not affiliated with the school in Ithaca, New York, about 227 miles (365 kilometers) northwest of New York City. . But even if the threats themselves were empty, they still had the power to scare.
"The virulence and destructiveness of anti-Semitism is real and has a profound impact on our Jewish students, faculty and staff, as well as the entire Cornell community," Cornell President Martha E. Pollack said in a statement.
President Joe Biden's administration on Monday condemned what it says is an alarming rise in anti-Semitic incidents at American schools and universities. A White House statement says the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have been holding calls with law enforcement officials on campus to offer support and address threats.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden plan to visit a college campus this week to hold a roundtable with Jewish students, the White House said. Department of Education officials have been visiting campuses across the country to address anti-Semitism in recent weeks, with more planned this week in New York City and Baltimore.
The agency is also updating a process for reporting federal discrimination complaints, making clear that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Hannon reported from Bangkok, Thailand. Associated Press writer Collin Binkley in Washington, DC, contributed to this report.
