23-year-old Gabriela Saldana
What started as a message in a student chat ended in an arrest, after police said the “prank” turned into a serious threat.A 23-year-old student at Florida International University (FIU) has been taken into custody after sending messages in a WhatsApp group that authorities say constitute a threat of violence at a campus event.Gabriela Saldana was arrested last week and later appeared in Bond Court, where her bail was set at $5,000. She faces a criminal charge of making written threats to kill or cause bodily harm.According to police, the messages were posted in a group chat of about 215 students who were discussing an upcoming event at the university’s Ocean Bank Conference Center.
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Saldana wrote in one letter:[Israel’s Benjamin] “Netanyahu, if you hear me, drop us some bonbons for us Capstone students at the Ocean Bank Convention Center.”Authorities said they followed that up with a more direct statement: “There will be a bomb at the Ocean Bank Convention Center and it will be Jonathan’s fault.”The messages were not treated as a joke by the students in the group. Shortly after, Saldana responded in the chat: “I wrote a stupid joke that wasn’t supposed to happen.”She later admitted sending the messages, police said.During the court hearing, Judge Mindy S. Glazer called Saldana’s claim it was a joke, but said the legal standard depends on how the message is understood.
“I can understand your position when you say this is a joke, but to an objective person, it is not a joke, and that would be sufficient probable cause,” the judge said. They added: “I’m not saying that’s enough beyond a reasonable doubt. I don’t know if the state will be able to prove that at trial, but for the purposes of this hearing, I think there’s enough probable cause.”The university issued a statement confirming the arrest: “A Florida International University student has been arrested for making a real and imminent threat of violence at a planned university event.” She added that the suspect identified a specific date, time and location, and confirmed that there was no ongoing threat to campus safety.