March 22, 2019
By Lilly Price
Police officials in Charlottesville, Virginia, (click here) arrested and charged a teenager Friday for making a racist threat against black and Hispanic students at Charlottesville High School in an online post.
Charlottesville Police Department arrested the 17-year-old male in relation to an anonymous threat posted to website 4chan containing "biased-based language targeting specific ethnic groups within Charlottesville High School." The city closed all public schools Thursday and Friday while police investigated the threat's credibility.
“We want the community to know that any potential threats made against our schools, credible or not, are taken seriously and will be vigorously investigated,” police said in a statement.
A screenshot of the 4chan threat telling white students to stay home because there was going to be a school shooting in an act of ethnic cleansing was posted to Reddit Wednesday, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The unnamed teen was charged with a felony for threatening to commit serious bodily harm to people on school property and a misdemeanor for harassment by computer. He is a resident of Albermarle County and is not a Charlottesville High School student. Officials said the teen identifies as Portuguese....
