A middle school girl in Fairfax, Virginia, has been charged with threatening her school after police said she posted a message on Instagram in December with gun, bomb, and knife emojis.
The 12-year-old girl, who’s identity has not been released, reportedly posted a message using the images along with the message “meet me in the Library,” The Washington Post reported.
The message read in part, The Post reported:
Killing 🔫
meet me in the library Tuesday 🔫 🔪 💣
Emoji — icons of faces, hand gestures, fruits, animals and other items that can be embedded in text — are often used to indicate the tone of a message and add emphasis, or are shorthand for things or ideas.
The girl, a student at Sidney Lanier Middle School, admitted to authorities that she posted the message and did it under the name of another student. She was charged with threatening the school and computer harassment.
Fairfax County Schools ultimately determined the threat was not credible, but the outcome of the case in juvenile court is unclear, Time reported.
The girl’s mother said her daughter did not deserve to be charged and said the girl posted the message in response to being bullied.
“She’s a good kid. She’s never been in trouble before,” the woman said, The Post reported. “I don’t think it’s a case where there should have been charges.”
Prosecutors and the judge will have to determine whether the emoji indicated a desire to threaten the school, an expression of anger, or something else.
This is not the first time an emoji has landed a user in court. A teen in New York was charged last year with making a terrorist threat after he wrote a Facebook post that included three gun icons point at the head of a police officer emoji. The teen was not indicted on the charge, The Post reported.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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