The woman accusing seven members of Cornell University’s Phi Chi fraternity of gang raping her is facing death threats and was recently swatted, leaving her “terrified,” her lawyers said this week.
Thomas Giuffra, the lawyer for Jane Doe, told CNN that his client is terrified and has had deteriorating mental health since coming forward with the allegations that she was drugged and raped while attending Cornell University.
“I don’t think she’s in a good spot now,” Giuffra told the outlet. “She’s scared.”
Doe filed a criminal complaint against the seven fraternity members, Cornell, and other actors last month, prompting the Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten to reopen the case last week. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) then issued an executive order transferring oversight of the criminal investigation to state Attorney General Letitia James, and Cornell has agreed to an independent investigation of how it handles sexual misconduct reports.
CORNELL GANG RAPE ALLEGATIONS TRIGGER POLITICAL FIRESTORM
As the events have unfolded, Doe has faced intense criticism in the public sphere, with some framing the October 2024 incident as consensual and picking apart the claims made in her court filing. Giuffra said Doe is aware of the conversation online about her allegations.
“It’s kind of hard to switch it off,” Giuffra said. “She comes from a generation of people who are focused on social media.”
On Tuesday evening, Doe and her family were the subjects of a bogus 911 call alleging “someone is killing people” at their address, an act known as swatting.
“Before (this week), it was just a lunatic fringe, which you can be dismissive of,” Giuffra said. “Now it’s somebody taking real steps to harm you, and that’s pretty frightening.”
In light of the swatting incident, Giuffra said Doe was “taping paper over windows in the house she’s lived at her whole life” in order to bar someone from attempting to “take a shot at her.”
Giuffra has also said Doe was forced to give up her aspirations of working in the hospitality industry.
A TIMELINE OF JANE DOE’S ALLEGATIONS OF CORNELL GANG RAPE
Despite facing online harassment leading to a decline in her mental health, Doe is receiving support on Cornell’s campus.
Students at the Ivy League staged a seven-hour sit-in protest over concerns that campus leadership mishandled an investigation into Doe’s rape allegations. Roughly 80 students gathered inside a campus dining hall for the “Zero Day” protest, vowing not to spend any money at the institution, and bearing posters demanding “Justice for Jane Doe.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
