College Student Sentenced After Threats Trigger Security Response
The fake threats were made to prove there was racism on the university campus.
Kayla McKelvie made several threatening tweets that triggered a campus police response.
A member of a black student group at an N.J. university was sentenced to 90 days in jail after tweeting threats directed at black students in an attempt to show racism on campus.
Kayla McKelvey, 25, will also pay $82,000 in restitution for the police response and heightened security measures instituted at Keane University after her threats, which were tweeted at the university police account.
McKelvey pleaded guilty to creating a false public alarm in April and acknowledged that she made a mistake sending the threats.
During a November 2015 rally to raise awareness of racism on campus, McKelvie went to the school library and anonymously tweeted, “@kupolice I will kill all the blacks tonight, tomorrow and any other day if they go to Kean University.” McKelvie also made other racist and threatening tweets.
McKelvie then returned to the rally and showed everyone the tweets in an attempt to prove the existence of racism and get more people to attend the rally.
In response to the threats, campus police increased security and many outside law enforcement agencies were alerted, including the Department of Homeland Security, reports northjersey.com.
The threats also prompted a group of black ministers, led by Rev. Ron Slaughter, to call for University President Dawood Farahi’s resignation. The ministers argued the threats showed Farahi hadn’t done enough to prevent racial tension on campus.
The university conducted an internal review of its policies and found no basis for claims they were discriminatory.
McKelvie will also serve 100 hours in a labor assistance program with the county sheriff’s department, attend anger management classes and undergo counseling.
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