- March 8, 2025
A 14-year-old Palm Coast girl who posted a video on Snapchat in which she used racial slurs and made threats to harm members of the LGBT community at her former Ohio school was arrested by the Flagler County Sheriff's Office on Friday, Jan. 24.
The FCSO was contacted by an officer from the Logan Police Department in Ohio after the girl posted a video to a publicly accessible Snapchat story for her former high school in Ohio. According to a press release, the girl used multiple racial slurs and made explicit threats of violence, including indicating she intended to harm members of the LGBT community. The video was widely viewed by students at the Ohio high school, causing "significant concern to students, parents and school officials."
Detectives determined that the student's threats "were intentional and motivated by bias against a protected class, specifically targeting victims within the LGBTQ+ community," the press release states. "Under Florida law, charges for a crime are enhanced if the crime is based on the race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status, or advanced age of the victim."
The student was arrested for a charge of "Written or Electronic Threats to Kill" with a hate crime enhancement. She was transported to the Volusia County Juvenile Detention Center.
The FCSO received a $354,896 grant in 2023 from the Department of Justice to help with its monitoring and reporting capabilities of potential hate crimes and targeted violence before they are committed.
“We will not tolerate any threat of violence, especially those that are made with hate and prejudice,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in the press release. “If you threaten to hurt or kill someone just because of what they look like, where they’re from, or who they love, we will arrest you no matter how old you are. Parents, I urge you to be the sheriff in your home and teach your children that all people are created equally and hating someone just because they are different than you is not acceptable behavior. Know what your children are posting before you find out when we show up at your door to arrest your child.”
