A university student in the United States was arrested on Thursday for posting a message in a WhatsApp group suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should bomb her campus.
Gabriela Saldana, a 23-year-old student at Florida International University, reportedly wrote on a university WhatsApp group, “Netanyahu, if you can hear me, drop some bonbons for us Capstone students in Ocean Bank Convocation Center,” according to NBC Miami.
Police officials interpreted the word “bonbons” as a reference to bombs, concluding that Saldana wanted to attack a capstone event at FIU’s Ocean Bank Convocation Center. In another message, she appeared to shift responsibility onto another student, writing that there would be a bomb at the venue and that it would be “Jonathan’s fault.”
After several students reported her messages, Saldana clarified that it was a “dumb joke,” saying she was frustrated with the event and wanted it to be rescheduled. She also posted an apology, but was arrested nonetheless.
She was taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami after being arrested near a parking garage on campus. She subsequently appeared before Judge Mindy S Glazer, who set her bail at $5,000, according to the International Business Times.
Saldana faces a charge of written threats to kill or do bodily harm under Florida Statutes, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
