Cornell Jane Doe swatted in fake 911 call that sent armed police to her home, lawyer says

The former Cornell University student known as Jane Doe — who alleged she was gang raped in a frat house in 2024 — has been inundated with death threats and doxxing attempts, and was left reeling this week after her family’s home was swatted by police following a phony 911 call, according to a report.

Doe claimed in a lawsuit filed last month that she was drugged and gang raped by seven members of the now-defunct Chi Phi fraternity in Ithaca, New York, in October 2024. None of the men have been criminally charged and all have denied wrongdoing.

However, the public response to the allegations has been visceral. While the case has sparked widespread protests and renewed the conversation about sexual assault on college campuses, it has also prompted a series of violent threats directed at Doe, her attorney Thomas Giuffra told CNN.

On Tuesday, police were called to Doe’s parents’ home after receiving a made-up tip that “someone was killing people in the house,” Giuffra said. Doe spent the following day taping paper to the windows of the home to prevent anyone from peering inside — out of fear that a gunman would target them, her lawyer said.

“I don’t think she’s in a good spot now,” Giuffra said. “She’s scared.”

Giuffra said that before this week, the threats were mainly “a lunatic fringe.” “Now it’s somebody taking real steps to harm you, and that’s pretty frightening,” he added.

The Tuesday incident unfolded around 7 p.m. when a police officer in Doe’s hometown was dispatched to the family’s home on a report that a man shot and killed his mother and sister. CNN did not name Doe’s hometown at her lawyer’s request.

Authorities arrived at the home to find a car with Doe’s brother and her boyfriend backing out of the driveway. As an officer apprehended the two men, Doe’s dad emerged from the home, calling out, “I’m the dad. What’s going on?” He then told authorities that his daughter was the plaintiff in the Cornell lawsuit and that his family had been receiving threats.

“Luckily the brother was in the car, (he) put his hands up,” Giuffra said, noting Doe’s boyfriend was “thrown on the ground” and her father had “guns put in his face” during the terrifying encounter. Police and the FBI are investigating the swatting attempt, Giuffra said.

According to the report, police had arrived moments after Doe received a call from somebody claiming to be related to one of the seven men she named in her civil complaint. Doe informed the officers at the house of the call.

Some of the sickening texts, shared with The New York Post, included threats. One asked Doe: “Would you like to see [redacted]’s brains in front of [redacted]?” and “If so, don’t withdraw the case. If you care about your family [redacted] withdraw the case.”

The threats also included a three-minute phone call where the person named Doe, addresses and people she knew, and threatened harm. She also received a text on Monday with three emojis depicting guns, her lawyer told CNN.

There was no evidence to suggest anyone contacting Jane Doe was actually related to any person named in the lawsuit or not.

Giuffra estimated that Doe had been subjected to dozens of threats since she filed the 101-page lawsuit in September against Cornell, seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity and several others. The lawsuit alleges that she was drugged and raped by fraternity members who then invited others in a group chat to join in the assault. The suit alleges the school failed to protect her and punish the accused students, all of whom have denied wrongdoing.

After the alleged assault, Doe reported the incident to Cornell’s police department, triggering the suspension of the Chi Phi fraternity and prompting a months-long investigation. Two of the men were expelled and others were suspended.

The New York attorney general has now reopened a criminal investigation into the allegations, although no one has been arrested or charged.

There have also been large-scale protests, both on Cornell’s campus and across the country, in response to the allegations. Cornell students on Wednesday held a seven-hour sit-in in solidarity with Doe. Meanwhile, on Thursday, there were over 150 walkouts planned nationwide in support of Doe and other survivors of sexual abuse.

The events are titled #StopSexualViolence: From the Frat House to the White House National Day of Action, and will take place across at least 50 college campuses, USA Today reported. Several large protests are expected to be held, including in New York City’s Foley Square; outside the New York Supreme Court, where Doe filed the lawsuit; and in Ithaca, where Cornell is located.

The violent reactions to the lawsuit has left Doe’s parents angry — while the former Ivy League student is terrified, her lawyer said.

“The dad is … concerned for his daughter. He can’t believe this has happened out of something where she’s just trying to stand up for herself and be heard,” Giuffra said. “But the parents are really strong people, and they’re going to protect their daughter.”