A journalist was captured shouting at a city council meeting that the so-called “Cornell 7” had been denied due process as officials moved to suspend Greek life events.
Political commentator Michael Tracey sought to address the public during Wednesday’s Ithaca Common Council meeting.
The council voted to temporarily suspend permits allowing Cornell University and student organizations to hold events through November 5, WSTM reported.
Council members pointed to Cornell’s handling of allegations involving the reported sexual assault of Jane Doe at the Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024 as the basis for the moratorium.
The Ivy League university has faced mounting scrutiny since Doe filed a civil lawsuit last month. She alleges that she was pressured into taking drugs and sexually assaulted by seven fraternity members two years ago.
Prosecutors previously said there was “insufficient evidence” to pursue criminal sexual assault charges, while the seven men have denied the allegations. Cornell opened a Title IX investigation into the students in 2025 and closed the fraternity.
Tracey’s confrontation followed his accusation that the Common Council had discarded his request to speak during the meeting.
“You should be ashamed for using the power of your office to conclusory declare that any American citizen has committed crimes as heinous as gang rape before any semblance of an adjudicative process,” Tracey said.
Political commentator Michael Tracey shouted during a city council meeting, arguing that the “Cornell 7” had not been afforded due process
The Ivy League university has faced intense scrutiny since Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit last month alleging that she was coerced into taking drugs and sexually assaulted by seven Chi Phi fraternity members two years ago
“It’s a scandal that this resolution would even be entertained, much less passed. You simply copy and paste from this lawsuit that is expressly tailored to extract the maximum settlement money from Cornell, from the sororities, from the fraternities and others.”
He continued: “What due diligence did you do to corroborate the veracity of those claims before you put them out in a public arena and then did this threat inflation, this mass hysteria routine claiming you’re somehow going to prevent sexual assault by thwarting students’ ability to hold events for a month?”
“There’s no empirical basis for that whatsoever, and then somebody on your staff puts my request to speak in the trash can?”
Ducson Nguyen, the City of Ithaca’s Ward 2 alderperson, told the Daily Mail that Tracey’s claim his comment card had been thrown away was “inconceivably stupid.”
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Nguyen added: “Halting Greek life parties while we demand greater accountability from Cornell leadership is the absolute least we could do.”
The resolution ultimately passed by a 9-1 vote. It also included an amendment requiring Cornell to refer investigations involving sex and violent crimes to the Ithaca Police Department.
The amendment does not explain how the requirement would be enforced.
Doe’s lawsuit prompted national criticism of how the case was handled. New York Attorney General Letitia James has since launched an “active criminal investigation” into the allegations.
Cornell has retained Sally Yates, a former Obama-appointed Justice Department official who was controversially dismissed by President Donald Trump, to examine the university’s response to the allegations.
According to the lawsuit, one of the men allegedly posted a message in the fraternity’s active-members Snapchat group saying there was “free p***y” upstairs, referring to Doe; the filing included an image of the purported conversation
Protests have erupt on campus over the school’s handling of the case after prosecutors initially declined to pursue charges against the men
The woman claimed in her filing that the night of October 19, 2024, began with underage drinking at several bars with sorority sisters before she was then invited to an afterparty at the Chi Phi fraternity house, and she ‘stumbled alone’ to meet up with her friend, Ingalls.
She said she then agreed to have sex with Ingalls and another man, but alleged that she was pressured to snort ketamine and smoke marijuana as she became heavily intoxicated.
Jane Doe alleged that she became disoriented as other men joined in, all while the men sent a message to the Chi Phi Snapchat group to say there was ‘free p***y upstairs’ in an invite for others to enter the room as well.
The messages also allegedly included an invitation to ‘walk in and whip it out,’ the lawsuit claims.
She said in the complaint that the horrific night ended at around 5.45am on October 20, 2024, when she lost consciousness and eventually returned to her sorority house.
Three weeks later, she reported the incident to the police, but prosecutors declined to bring charges, citing ‘insufficient evidence.’
The Daily Mail contacted the Ithaca Common Council for comment.