Asian men who share a name with one of the men accused in a Cornell University gang rape lawsuit have been flooded with death threats, abusive messages and false accusations as internet users attempt to identify the suspects.
The alleged 2024 assault of a Cornell student, detailed in a recent civil lawsuit, has triggered widespread anger at the seven accused men. But that fury has spilt into an online hunt that has swept up people with no apparent connection to the case.
One of the accused is a Korean man identified by US media as Winston Lee. The problem, according to reports, is that many unrelated people share that name.
One wrongly identified man, a Chinese American finance professional who graduated from Cornell in 2020, four years before the alleged assault, said he received threatening messages through LinkedIn.
“You can’t hide. Your future is over,” one message said.
“You’ll get exactly what you deserve… which is prison!! You’ll be gang raped there,” said another. A further message claimed that a “black magic” spell had been cast upon him.
In a TikTok video, where his bio reads “Not part of Cornell7”, he said he had hired a lawyer to press charges against a woman who allegedly posted his phone number and his parents’ address online.
Another man misidentified as Winston Lee issued a direct appeal to online sleuths after receiving a wave of hateful messages.
“I am Indonesian and not the Winston Lee named in the recent Cornell University case. Please verify the identity of the person you are looking for before contacting, tagging, or making accusations against someone,” he wrote on TikTok.
A Chinese-American student named Winston Lee at the University of Pennsylvania also added a disclaimer to his LinkedIn profile: “I do not go to Cornell.”
An online hunt
The appeals do not appear to have stopped the search. Reddit discussion boards have described the effort as an “online hunt” for the seven accused, with users pursuing unverified leads across social platforms.
One Reddit post claimed Winston Lee was serving in the South Korean army. Another user on X said she had received tips suggesting he had been spotted on Cornell’s campus.
People whose names resemble those of the other six accused have also reported harassment and “rage spamming”.
“These social justice warriors are literally messaging and harassing the wrong” people, said podcast host Brad Polumbo.
“These things should be litigated through the criminal process or through some sort of fair process, not through a social media mob or witch hunt.”
Former students affected
A group of former Cornell students who belonged to the same Chi Phi fraternity as the accused, but graduated before the alleged incident, said they too had faced online smear campaigns.
“They are being wrongfully accused on social media of having involvement, are consequently receiving death threats and related hate mail,” their attorney Adam Ford wrote in a letter to the university obtained by AFP.
“Most of them have had their employers and higher education institutions take adverse actions against them, including being placed on leave.”
The lawsuit was filed by a former student identified in court documents as Jane Doe, who alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted by seven Chi Phi fraternity members in October 2024. All seven men, known as the ‘Cornell Seven’, have denied wrongdoing, and none has been criminally charged.
Cornell has since suspended fraternity parties and social events for the remainder of the 2026-27 academic year amid scrutiny of its handling of the allegations.
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Digital sleuths have repeatedly misidentified people in high-profile shootings and other crimes, exposing innocent individuals to abuse and diverting attention from credible information.
Mike Rothschild, a researcher who studies conspiracy theories, warned that false accusations can complicate real investigations by generating misleading leads.
“The wrongfully accused are often hounded. They sometimes have to go into hiding, or get death threats, or are even violently attacked themselves. And there is no penalty for being wrong on the part of those accusing them.”
