ARRESTED

Teen Arrested After Racist Online Threat Shuts Charlottesville Schools for Two Days

The threat included a reference to “ethnic cleansing,” police said.

A teenager was arrested and charged Friday for allegedly posting an online threat with “biased-based language targeting specific ethnic groups” at Charlottesville High School, including a reference to “ethnic cleansing,” authorities said in a press conference. The 17-year-old, who has not been identified, was charged with a felony for threatening to commit serious bodily harm to people on school property and a misdemeanor for harassment by computer, the Charlottesville Police Department said Friday. The teen is “not a part of the Charlottesville school system and community” but made the “hateful threat...under the guise of being a Charlottesville high school student,” authorities said. The threat prompted 10 public schools to close Thursday and Friday. “We stand very firmly in stating: there are not ‘very fine people’ on both sides of this issue,” Police Chief Rashall Brackney said.

ON EDGE

Charlottesville Schools Closed 2nd Day After Online Threats

Barbie Latza Nadeau