A measure that would expand Florida鈥檚 rules on issuing threats is moving forward. Officials are pointing to the many copycat threats made following the school shooting in Parkland as a reason for why the change is needed.
When it comes to threats made on paper, Sen. Greg Steube (R-Sarasota) says Florida law is clear. But he says that鈥檚 not the case when it comes to threats made electronically.
鈥淐ourts in our state have held that social media and other electronic posts do not satisfy the requirements of current law because of the means of delivery. So this bill would clarify that and make it clear that any threats that are made over social media or over the internet would be included in the threats that are currently included in Florida law,鈥� Steube says.
But Steube says today many threats are made through social media and he says it鈥檚 time that Florida law caught up. He has a bill to do that and it鈥檚 getting support from law enforcement.
Captain Dennis Strange represents the Orange County Sheriff鈥檚 office. Strange says the copycat threats made following the deadly school shooting in Parkland is an example of that. He says his son, who is an Orange County deputy sheriff was working the day after the tragedy.
鈥淟ess than 24 hours after the massacre down south he called me and he said 鈥楧ad did you hear what happened today? We鈥檝e been inundated with these false reports, these threats to shoot up the schools and things.鈥� He said, 鈥業 went to a school and I knew when I got there, there was nothing I could do. We couldn鈥檛 charge this guy criminally,鈥欌�� Strange says.
He couldn鈥檛 be charged because he made the threat online. Strange says in the case he鈥檚 talking about a young man issued a threat on social media saying he planned to bring a gun to school and shoot his classmates.
鈥淲e met with the school. We did a complete lock down and this is what the sheriff is trying to bring forward too. He says it isn鈥檛 a victimless crime. My son said 鈥榳hen you鈥檙e walking through these hallways these kids know why they鈥檙e being locked down. They know that somebody has threatened them and they鈥檙e scared to death. They鈥檙e petrified and he says as they鈥檙e walking through the hallways we see this but ultimately we search his backpack. We search his locker and we walk away.鈥� What we鈥檙e asking for is please, please give us the resources we need to address this issue to hold these individuals accountable,鈥� Strange says.
Steube鈥� s measure has one committee stop left to go in the Senate. The House version of the measure is heading for the chamber鈥檚 floor.
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