Seeing more police in South Florida schools? A TikTok threat has officers on high alert
A TikTok video threatening violence in schools on Friday has forced institutions across the country to take precautions, including in at Miami-Dade and Broward County.
This threat did not originate locally — but both school districts have said there will be an increased police presence across all of its schools.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools said it’s aware of the threat and will take action.
“In an abundance of caution, there will be additional police presence and schools will remain vigilant throughout the day on Friday,” the school district said.
Broward County Public Schools noted the same with the addition of district administrators and staff having “increased vigilance” to ensure student and staff safety.
“We ask our families to monitor their children’s social media activity and speak with them about proper behavior online,” BCPS added.
TikTok released a statement on Thursday that they do not yet have evidence of these threats.
“We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness, which is why we’re working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok,” the company said.
Local officials do not believe this threat to be credible, but are still reminding students that there are severe consequences for making threats against a school — which is a second-degree felony.
“Students also face disciplinary measures as outlined in the Code for Student Conduct, including expulsion,” the Broward school district said.
The comes one day after a Pompano Beach Middle School student was arrested by Broward deputies for making school threats on Snapchat.
Miami-Dade and Broward schools have been plagued by dozens of online threats this month following a mass shooting at a school in Michigan in late November.
Several students have been arrested on felony charges, including a 17-year-old Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student who police say made threats against his school.
In other states, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said this situation will be closely monitored.
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