Online Sleuths Harass at Least 4 Misidentified People in Cornell Rape Case
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 11
Online Sleuths Harass at Least 4 Misidentified People in Cornell Rape Case
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 11
Summary
At least four people wrongly linked to the Cornell rape case have been hit with threats, abusive messages and doxing, including a Penn engineering graduate student who shares a name with one accused man.
The harassment spread after a 2024 gang-rape lawsuit against seven Chi Phi members drew intense online scrutiny, with vigilantes trying to identify both the accuser and the accused before any criminal charges were filed.
Three women were falsely named as "Jane Doe," her lawyer said, while a Marine sergeant's family received threats after his address was mistakenly included in court papers.
A New York judge sealed several documents Friday and condemned the campaign as dangerous internet vigilantism; some former fraternity members and alumni also say they have faced death threats and job or school consequences.
Researchers say such misidentifications are a recurring feature of high-profile cases, and corrections rarely spread as widely as the original false claims.