A Maryland teenager will face criminal charges in connection to a hate crime hoax after threatening black students at her school.
A 14-year old black student at Arundel High School admitted to police that she created a Twitter account that sent racist messages hinting at an attack. Under the Twitter username @KoolkidsKlanKkk, the student said "We're planning to attack tomorrow." School authorities alerted county police, who worked with Twitter to identify the user.
Arundel High School is located almost directly between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and has about 2,000 students, according to U.S. News and World Report. Minorities make up more than 40 percent of the student body. African Americans are the largest minority group, representing nearly 30 percent of the student population, according to the school website. The threatening Twitter account came days after a petition emerged in the school under the name of the Kool Kids Klan.
The school said that it had identified and disciplined all of the students involved in the petition, though they refused to specify what measures were taken, nor would it disclose information about those students, according to CBS Baltimore. Police decided not to press charges against the students involved after consulting with State's Attorney office.
Reports of hate crimes have spread virally across the country since the election of Donald Trump, garnering thousands of stories in major newspapers, websites, and television channels across the country. Many of the viral stories, including accounts of Muslim women having their headscarves ripped off and various graffiti and vandalism accusation, have been proven to be hoaxes after police investigations.
The student behind the Twitter account faces charges of disrupting school activities.