Chinese student given 9-month prison sentence for harassing person posting democracy leaflets
BOSTON — A former Berklee College of Music student from China was sentenced Wednesday to nine months in prison for stalking and threatening a person who distributed a flyer supporting democracy in the Asian country, authorities said.
The flier posted on the Boston campus on October 22 read: “Stand with the Chinese people,” along with other statements such as “We want freedom” and “We want democracy,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in Boston.
In response, 26-year-old Xiaolei Wu threatened to cut off the person’s hands, reported their family to China’s public security agency, asked others to find out where the person lived and publicly posted their email address, prosecutors said.
“Mr. Wu’s criminal conduct is very serious. He took advantage of fear of possible retaliation from the Government of the People’s Republic of China to harass and threaten an innocent individual who posted an innocuous, pro-democracy leaflet on the Berklee campus,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement “Mr. Wu’s violent threats achieved his goal of instilling fear in his effort to silence this brave victim and others who might wish to speak out against the government of the People’s Republic of China.
The person who posted the flyer is a U.S. permanent resident originally from China and has family members still living there, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Wu was convicted in January of one count of stalking and one count of interstate transmission of threatening communications. In addition to the nine-month prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper sentenced him to three years of supervised release.
Wu’s attorney did not respond to an email seeking comment.
“Today, Xiaolei Wu learned that there are serious consequences for harassing, threatening, stalking and violating the constitutional rights of a fellow student simply because she was critical of the ruling Communist Party of China,” said Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI in Boston. Division, a statement said. “What Mr. Wu did – by weaponizing the authoritarian nature of the People’s Republic of China to threaten this woman – is incredibly disturbing.”