Former YAF president temporarily blocks suspension, student conduct charges in court

A judge ordered UB to end a two-year suspension against the former president of a student right-wing organization alleged to have made threats to “shoot up the school” late November in a decision issued August 13.

Jacob Cassidy — former president of UB’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter — filed a petition in the Erie County Supreme Court July 10, challenging the university’s decision to charge him with two student conduct violations which resulted in a two-year suspension and a transcript notation indicating the disciplinary action.

The university charged Cassidy on April 1 and denied his appeal on May 11.

“You are encouraged to use the period of suspension for meaningful self-reflection and personal growth,” the university wrote in the April 1 decision letter. “Engaging in constructive activities such as counseling, community service, or other efforts that demonstrate maturation, accountability and development may be beneficial should you choose to seek readmission in the future. 

Under the decision, Cassidy was ineligible to apply to UB until January 3, 2028. 

Cassidy, a mechanical engineering major, was enrolled in and received a $50,000 bonus from the U.S. Navy’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate program, the filing said. He was 12 credits short of graduating, with one of the credits the fully-online UB Curriculum Capstone course. 

Because of the suspension, Cassidy was in danger of not completing his bachelor’s degree per the Navy’s schedule and as a result, be obligated to repay that bonus, according to the filing.

Jill Yonkers, Cassidy’s lawyer, described the post-incident consequences at UB as
“severe, predetermined and disproportionate.”

“The two-year suspension, physical bar from campus, and transcript notation are so disproportionate to the alleged violations — given the complete absence of any victim, injury, or impact upon the campus community, as the UPD and UB acknowledged in multiple communications — that the result shocks the sense of reasonable fairness,” Yonkers wrote.

Justice Emilio Colaiacovo — who made the ruling and also oversaw Cassidy’s previous TERPO hearings — agreed with Yonkers on the potential harm.

While the case remains under review, the university was to uplift the suspension and student conduct charges and allow Cassidy to take the classes needed for his degree, Colaiacovo said. Cassidy was still not allowed on campus.

“The irreparable harm that Petitioner would sustain would be more burdensome than the harm caused to Respondents through the imposition of the injunction,” Colaiacovo wrote.

The university told The Spectrum it does not comment on pending litigation.

“The university is aware of the remote-learning requirement contained in the judge’s preliminary injunction and will make all necessary arrangements to meet the requirement and ensure that all course requirements are met strictly in a remote, off-campus setting,” the emailed statement read.

‘Misheard and overreacted’

Cassidy’s charges were issued months after University Police confiscated eight guns from Cassidy’s Orchard Park home Nov. 20 after two UB students alleged Cassidy told a friend that he had a “foldable AR” in his bag and described his plan to “shoot them in the head.” Cassidy’s temporary risk protection order — which prohibits a person from purchasing or possessing guns under New York State’s “Red Flag Law” — ends November 24.

The filing argued the two students had misheard and overreacted. It said that the conversation ranged in topics “from schoolwork to firearms, including the efficacy, constitutionality and practicality of New York firearm policy.

Cassidy was sarcastic about having a “foldable AR” and “did not believe that a foldable AR even existed,” the document said. 

Justin Hill — the friend Cassidy spoke to during the conversation — denied the allegations that Cassidy talked about plans to use firearms on-campus during a Nov. 20 interview with UPD Deputy Chief Carl Lundin. He said his comments of “That’s not funny, Jake, don’t say that” at the time was out of a concern that “sometimes people don’t hear sarcasm or understand the sarcasm.”

“When you talk about a politically charged topic, especially on our university, there's ways that people can misconstrue or, or mishear what you're saying,” Hill told Lundin. “So it's not necessarily a particular issue of what they say, but remembering that there are people who might only hear specific portions of what you say.” 

Lundin told Hill at the end of the interview that the responses brought down his fear and threat level “a lot.”

“Perhaps in the future he just keeps his voice down and goes to a more private setting with you if he wants to discuss something that could be totally misconstrued,” Lundin said. “You can kind of see how this fell out the wrong way, and I don't want to put anyone through the stress that we're putting Jake through right now if they don't have to.”

A letter from UB’s Student Conduct said officers found two handguns, four shotguns, one rifle and a Carbine rifle UPD classified as an assault weapon at the home. All weapons, except for the Carbine rifle, were legally registered under New York State.

Cassidy was the owner of five firearms and had a pistol permit according to the filing. He had “never fired” the Carbine rifle, the document said, as it was his grandfather’s, who died February 2014.

In an April 14 appeal to Student Conduct, Cassidy said the two-year suspension “shocks the conscience.”

“There were no victims in this situation, no one was harmed, and there were no disruptions to the campus community that were caused directly or wantingly by me,” Cassidy wrote. “The worst that could be said is that two people felt a little uncomfortable.”

Dorothy Similien is the assistant news editor and can be reached at dorothy.similien@ubspectrum.com.