Berklee student from China convicted of stalking, threatening a pro-democracy student

A jury in federal court in Boston today convicted Xiaolei Wu, 26, on one count of cyberstalking and one count of interstate transmissions of threatening communication for the way he threatened and harassed another Berklee student from China who'd posted a flier posted on Mass. Ave. calling for various freedoms in their dictatorial homeland.

US District Court Judge Denise Casper set sentencing for April 24. Wu faces up to five years in prison for cyberstalking and another five for the threatening-communication charge, along with fines of up to a total of $500,00, the US Attorney's office reports.

According to an affidavit by an FBI agent on the case, Wu, who came to Berklee in the fall of 2022 to study guitar and jazz, saw the poster on Oct. 22 and immediately rushed into action, posting a message to the student on WeChat, a Chinese social network:

@[Individual 1] don’t you fucking post reactionary posters
Fucking tear [tore] all of them you bastard
You go to post them at Tian’anmen Square
Post more, I will chop your bastard hand(s) off
...
Let barklee [sic] bite your hand(s) off
Not killed by pandemic but about to be killed by Public Security
[image of law enforcement personnel]

He followed up by calling the snitch line the Chinese government has set up to report people speaking ill of their country, and which could have led to an investigation into the other student's family, who still lived in China.

He also threatened the other student via the Berklee e-mail system and warned him he was now a wanted man, who would find no refuge anywhere, not even in Boston's Chinatown.

In any case if you went to Chinatown, Quincy to post, you could be beaten to death by people of the chamber of commerce there, and by then no one would rescue you even if 911 was dialed. Those who follow you to kick up a fuss are all supporters of Hong Kong independence and Taiwan Independent, right? Then as a Chinese growing up in Mainland China, you are rather pathetic. No, I don't think you deserve to be a Chinese. You don't deserve to hold a red- cover passport. You should wash dishes for the capitalist dogs. Be careful that you get poked with a needle by a homeless person someday when you pass by south bay, then get eaten by someone.