A Florida student faces a felony charge for making threats in a WhatsApp group chat, including hopes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would bomb a campus building.
Gabriela Saldana, 23, was arrested near Florida International University on April 16 and charged with making written threats to kill or do bodily injury.
In a chat of about 215 people, students were discussing an event scheduled at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center on campus.
In court, police alleged that Saldana wrote, “There’s going to be a bomb in the Ocean Bank Convocation Center,” according to local reporting. She also wrote, “Netanyahu, if you can hear me, drop some bonbons for us capstone students in Ocean Bank Convention Center.”
When members of the chat responded with concern, Saldana wrote, “I made a dumb joke that should not have been made.”
Judge Mindy S. Glazer said to the defendant: “I can understand your position when you are saying this is a joke, but to an objective person, it’s not a joke. And it would be enough for probable cause. I’m not saying it’s enough for beyond a reasonable doubt. I don’t know what the state’s going to be able to prove at trial, but for purposes of this hearing, I believe there is enough for probable cause.”
The university said in a statement, “An FIU student has been arrested for making a credible and imminent threat of violence at a planned university event. According to the investigation, the suspect identified a specific date, time and venue. Given the ongoing investigation and federal student privacy laws, FIU has no further comment. There is no further threat to the university community.”
Saldana’s bond has been set at $5,000.
