Miami teen accused of school shooting threats on video won’t be prosecuted
A Miami teen won’t be prosecuted for mouthing rap lyrics and using his fingers to pretend to shoot at images of rival schools.
Prosecutors on Friday dropped the charge against the 16-year-old former Christopher Columbus High student whose video posted on the social-media app Tik Tok went viral and drew attention of Miami police.
Prosecutors said the teen’s “behavior was reprehensible in light of the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas tragedy, but said they could not prove his actions constituted a “credible” threat.
“Arguably, motioning with his hand and appearing to shoot a firearm at the name of the school while dancing to a rap song does not constitute a credible threat to kill or do bodily injury or conduct a mass shooting at the schools,” Assistant State Attorney Todd Bass wrote in his final memo on the case.
The teen posted the video on Sept. 11, and it showed him dancing to ”All Talk” by rapper 3ohblack with the words “Best Schools in Florida displayed over his head.
During the video he would point to the names of three South Florida schools — Marjory Stoneman, Belen Jesuit Preparatory and La Salle. Every time the sound of a gunshot goes off in the song, the student points a finger gun to the schools’ names and they disappear.
He told police he made the video as part of a viral challenge.
He said he was joining in on the “Don’t Judge Me Challenge,” but he may have been confused. That challenge is a selfie video fad where the people record themselves at a close-up angle while wearing heavy facial makeup to look as unattractive as possible, before transitioning into another self-portrait in which the they look ”hot.”
The Columbus student’s video most resembled the “All Talk Challenge.” In this video challenge people pose a question or fact, like “Cutest girl” or “Best Senior Class”, list three or more options and then finger-gun them away when the gunshots sound in the “All Talk song,” which plays in the background, to display the correct answer.
A psychologist examined the teen, and concluded that he had “no malevolence or harmful intent.” Instead, the psychologist said he was a “socially inept teenager” succumbing to peer pressure.
The teen “has learned a hard lesson,” Dr. Merry Sue Haber wrote. “There is no indication from history, interview or test results that he presents a danger or risk to others.”
Christopher Columbus High School Principal David Pugh said the boy is “no longer enrolled” at the school.
This story was originally published September 27, 2019 at 12:41 PM.
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