Police seized multiple firearms from the president of a right-wing UB student group Thursday morning, after witnesses described overhearing him threaten to “shoot up the school tomorrow.”
Two UB students who were in Baldy Hall Wednesday evening told police they overheard a man tell a friend he had “a foldable AR in my bag,” and describe in detail his plan to “shoot them in the head,” saying, “I know exactly how to shoot them, I’ll shoot them in the foot and knee so they can’t get away.”
Using a photo provided by one of the witnesses, University Police identified the speaker as Jacob Cassidy, president of UB’s chapter of the right-wing student organization Young Americans for Freedom, or YAF.
On Thursday morning, officers confiscated an undisclosed number of firearms after searching Cassidy, his car and his parents’ Orchard Park home, where he lives.
While Cassidy, 21, has a pistol permit indicating he has a license to own semiautomatic weapons, the firearms were seized temporarily under an extreme risk protection order granted by state Supreme Court judge Emilio Colaiocovo under New York’s “Red Flag Law.”
Cassidy was not taken into custody, and no charges have been filed against him.
In a press release issued Thursday, UPD Chief Kim Beaty wrote that police “do not believe there is a threat to the university community at this time,” but that UPD has increased patrols as a precaution.
Reached by phone, Cassidy declined to comment to The Spectrum, telling a reporter, “Yeah, I’m not interested in talking to you, but thank you.” When asked whether he had retained legal counsel, Cassidy hung up.
Cassidy will appear in court Monday for a hearing to determine whether his temporary extreme risk protection order, which removes all firearms from the subject for a minimum of six months, will become permanent.
Officers for UB’s chapter of YAF, representatives of the national organization and attorneys representing the chapter in its prolonged litigation against the undergraduate Student Association and the university all could not be reached for comment.
Cassidy was a party to that case, but removed himself in June 2024 in hopes of joining the U.S. Navy, which does not allow sailors to enlist with open litigation.
SA President Aisha Adam could not be reached for comment, while SA Senate Chairperson Gavin Krauciunas said he was unfamiliar with the situation.
Cassidy’s alleged threat comes 18 months after a separate incident in which a UB freshman, Abdul Badjie, posted a public Snapchat story depicting a pro-Israel demonstration on campus with the caption, “can somebody shoot this s—t up.”
Badjie was arrested the same day and charged with attempting to make a terrorist threat, a felony, and attempting to make a threat of mass harm, a misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty in February to a misdemeanor charge of inciting to riot, and was sentenced as a youthful offender in June to conditional discharge.
The news desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com
