I wouldn’t normally mention this kind of thing, but it hit so close to home. A student at SUNY Oneonta was charged with making terrorist threats on Monday.
Brandon Matthew Negron, 20, of New Windsor was arraigned on a felony charge this morning. Details here: https://t.co/f90hLtCLLd
— SUNY Oneonta (@SUNY_Oneonta) December 7, 2015
Brandon M. Negron was charged with a Class-D felony and second-degree aggravated harassment. According to the investigation, Negron tweeted posted yicked(?) the threat on Yik Yak, which to my adult eyes looks like a Twitter for the Snapchat generation. I don’t know, I’m old.
The message read “I’m going to shoot up the school. Be prepared Oneonta.”
It just so happens “Be prepared Oneonta,” is exactly what I say when I start ordering Southsides at B-side Ballroom, but when put in the wrong context, you can get yourself in quite a bit of trouble. I’m glad the issue was brought to attention and handled quickly. We don’t need any more of this bullshit.
Negron was quickly released on bail, and was still enrolled at SUNY Oneonta while the college dug up their conduct guide to figure out what to do next. This left a lot of students uneasy. A friend of mine shares a large lecture with Negron, and was pretty concerned with going to class. Other students, of course, had the same feelings:
@SUNY_Oneonta I can’t believe you’re allowing someone who threatened your students safety to stay in our school…
— Emily Hornung (@emmyhornung) December 7, 2015
Fortunately, SUNY Oneonta reacted pretty quick and announced that Negron was no longer enrolled at the college.
The suspect arrested yesterday in connection with a threatening message posted to Yik Yak is no longer enrolled at SUNY Oneonta.
— SUNY Oneonta (@SUNY_Oneonta) December 7, 2015
This situation could suck pretty hard if the accused was just attempting to blow off some steam anonymously online, but it’s not something to ever be taken lightly, and the alternative would be gravely worse. I’m glad there was no violence, but police found no weapons or evidence that Negron was working with anybody. The overall landscape of violence in the US and the constant buzzword of terrorism has caused us to become paranoid and sensitive – not our fault, it’s a reaction. It’s involuntary. The issue being reported, dealt with swiftly, and punished is completely acceptable given the environment. I just hate how that’s the case.
Anyway, be safe, be careful, and do good things, and don’t stop living your life over this.
