U. student charged with posting antisemitic threat toward Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity member

Following a Rutgers University Police Department (RUPD) investigation, Matthew Skorny, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year, was criminally charged with making an antisemitic threat against another student, according to a University spokesperson.

Ezra Perlmutter, a School of Arts and Sciences junior and member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) fraternity, said the threat, posted on the online site YikYak, was made against another member of AEPi who is Israeli.

"We saw a student posted on this anonymous posting board called YikYak," Perlmutter said. "He said, 'To all the pro-Palestinian ralliers, there is an Israeli at AEPi. Go kill him.'"

He said that after AEPi members saw the post, they informed an RUPD officer who was stationed outside their fraternity house on Sicard Street, due to a rally being held nearby.

After the RUPD's investigation, it was able to identify Skorny and charged him with bias intimidation, terroristic threats and false public alarm, the University spokesperson said.

The RUPD filed a state report about the incident, notifying the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) and the New Jersey Attorney General's Office about the threat, the University spokesperson said.

"The RUPD is closely monitoring social media and collaborating with multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, MCPO, the (State) Attorney General's Office and (NJOHSP), to ensure that there is no imminent threat to the safety of the Rutgers community," the University spokesperson told The Daily Targum.