Meriwether teen charged with threatening Trump

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 25, 2016

Meriwether student 2nd in area to face charges

By Melanie Ruberti

mruberti@civitasmedia.com

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GREENVILLE — A 15-year-old student was taken into custody Friday for allegedly making death threats against presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to the Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Chuck Smith said the teen was charged with making terroristic threats against a presidential candidate and is being held at the Youth Detention Center in Columbus.

According to Smith, the 15 year old went on social media and made the death threats against Trump.

The threats were posted within the last couple of days, then reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation hotline that forwarded the information to the U.S. Secret Service and Meriwether sheriff’s office, said Smith.

The Department of Juvenile Justice made the decision to detain the youth based on this incident along with previous law enforcement-related information.

“I would strongly suggest that parents monitor their kid’s activities on social media,” said Smith. “I know that it may be difficult to do at times with all the outlets kids have these days to use the Internet. Hopefully, parents can at least sit down and talk with their kids about the consequences of their actions. Use this (incident) as a prime example of what they should not be doing. It takes all of us working together to make our community stronger.”

Smith also reported the Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office worked in corroboration with the federal agents to take the youth into custody.

The case echoes a case Monday, when investigators with the Troup County Sheriff’s Office took a 16 year old into custody for a similar incident.

Melanie Ruberti is a reporter with LaGrange Daily News. She may be reached at 706-884-7311, ext. 2156.