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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A former student of Boston’s Berklee College of Music was sentenced to prison yesterday after stalking and threatening an individual who posted fliers around campus that supported democracy in China.
The student, identified as Xiaolei Wu, 26, was sentenced to nine months in prison and three years of supervised release. In January 2024, Wu was convicted by a federal jury on one count of cyberstalking and one count of interstate transmissions of threatening communication, according to a press release.
“Mr. Wu’s criminal conduct is very serious. He harnessed the fear of potential retribution from the People’s Republic of China government to harass and threaten an innocent individual who has posted an innocent individual who has posted an innocuous, pro-democracy flier on the Berklee campus,” Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement.
While Wu was attending the Berklee College of Music in October 2022, an individual posted a flier on campus that read “Stand with Chinese People,” and “We Want Freedom”, and “We Want Democracy”.
According to information from the Attorney General’s office, Wu made a series of direct communications towards the victim responsible for the flier via platforms such as WeChat, email and Instagram saying things such as: “post more, I will chop your bastard hands off.”
Wu allegedly solicited others to find out where the victim was living and publicly posted the victim’s email address in the hopes that others would abuse the victim online.
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