Teen arrested for alleged death threats on social media; A reminder of ‘persistent racism and bigotry’ in CT

Parents are demanding answers after police said a 16-year-old was arrested Monday for making death threats against Black students at Glastonbury High School on a stolen social media account.

The arrest came six days after parents said they first learned about the disturbing messages and nearly six weeks after Glastonbury Police said they became aware of racially targeted threats and other “concerning” content posted online.

Glastonbury Police said the suspect illegally used another juvenile’s account on Discord, a text and video chat platform that is popular among gamers, to send individualized death threats that specifically named Black students at the school, according to a release from the department Monday.

Police said other posts from the suspect included an alleged bomb threat to the high school, “death threats towards African Americans,” and references to the Ku Klux Klan and Adolf Hitler.

The department said officers arrested the suspect Monday on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including second-degree intimidation based on bias or bigotry, which falls under Connecticut’s hate crime statutes .

Glastonbury Public Schools Superintendent Alan Bookman said in a statement to families that as of Friday, July 19, the suspect is no longer enrolled in the district “and is prohibited from attending any school events or entering any school campus.”

Glastonbury Police said their investigation “determined that the suspect had no access to guns or explosives, and that the threats were intended to target the (original) Discord account holder.”

Candace Treadway said she did not learn that her 16-year-old daughter had been named in the alleged threats until Tuesday, July 16, when she received a phone call from a representative of the Glastonbury Police Department.

Treadway said she wants to know why police did not arrest the suspect until July 22.

Treadway described one alleged threat the officer relayed over the phone, a disturbing and graphic description of how the suspect planned to kill the school’s Black students, peppered with the n-word. “I was just shocked at what I was hearing.”

“It’s one thing to make a blanket threat to all Black students,” Treadway said. “It’s another to actually pick out her (and) a handful of names.”

Treadway said that she ended her phone call with police feeling shaken and unsettled. Treadway alleged the officer told her the statements were “not considered a threat (and) that it was just a stupid boy prank.”

After learning of the messages, Treadway said she bought another Ring camera to monitor her home. She explained that part of her unease is that she does not know the identity of the suspect who made the threats against her daughter.

“To this day, I still don’t know who the boy is and I feel like we have a right to have a restraining order and I’m gonna fight for that,” Treadway said.

In a statement to the Courant Tuesday, Glastonbury Chief of Police Marshall Porter said police are barred from identifying juvenile suspects to members of the public, including victims. Porter said victims of a crime may request records involving juvenile matters through an official designated by the court.

“Glastonbury Police took the threats very seriously as indicated by our response … which included swiftly identifying the suspect through execution of multiple federal subpoenas, ensuring there was no access to weapons or explosives, communicating with victims and their parents/guardians, culminating in the arrest of the juvenile suspect for a variety of crimes, including hate crimes,” Porter said.

“Given the complexity of the case, our officers worked quickly to resolve this serious incident,” Porter added.

Porter did not respond to requests to clarify when investigators discovered the individualized threats and the date that impacted families were notified about the messages.

In a statement to the Courant, Corrie Betts, the president of the Greater Hartford NAACP , said the organization is opening its own investigation into the matter to ensure “that all individuals involved in this heinous act are held accountable to the fullest extent.”

Betts said that the incident serves as a “stark reminder of the persistent racism and bigotry that our community faces.”

“The severity of this incident demands a comprehensive and independent review to ensure transparency and accountability,” Betts said. “The NAACP stands firm in our commitment to fighting hate and ensuring the safety of all students, particularly those targeted because of their race. We will not tolerate any form of intimidation or threats against our youth.”

“Our team will be working closely with our attorneys to ensure that justice is served and that all necessary steps are taken to protect the rights and safety of our community members,” Betts added.

In a release Monday, Glastonbury Police said the department learned of “a concerning profile page discovered on Discord,” on June 11.

According to the department, a student reported the account to Glastonbury’s Youth and Family Services department who subsequently notified the police. According to the superintendent, Youth and Family Services provides counseling and other programs for youth.

“The profile page included references to the KKK, Hitler, death threats towards African Americans, and a bomb threat to Glastonbury High School,” police said.

After an investigation that “included the issuance of several federal subpoenas for IP addresses, phone records, and Discord data,” police said the department “quickly learned that the Discord account holder … was, in fact, a juvenile victim, not the suspect.”

According to the police, investigators “determined that another 16-year-old juvenile had illegally accessed the victim’s Discord account and altered the profile page to include the aforementioned threats.”

The department said further investigation revealed that “the suspect had also sent direct messages from the victim’s Discord account to others with additional death threats naming specific African American Glastonbury High School students.”

“Once investigators identified the suspect, they quickly determined that the suspect had no access to guns or explosives, and that the threats were intended to target the Discord account holder,” the department said. “GPD staff contacted parents of all victims mentioned in the posts, advising them of the threats and of the ongoing investigation.”

The suspect has been charged with second-degree intimidation based on bias or bigotry, first-degree threatening, computer crime, criminal impersonation, second-degree breach of peace, second-degree harassment, and falsely reporting an incident in the first-degree.

“GPD continues to work closely with Glastonbury school administration and security to ensure the safety and security of all students,” the department said. “We remain committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for all members of our community.”

On Tuesday, parents, community members and representatives of Black Lives Matter 860 prepared to rally ahead of a Glastonbury Town Council meeting. Organizers said the group planned to “discuss how Glastonbury will protect our students” after the incidents.

In a phone call with the Courant, Superintendent Alan Bookman said the district is looking at its existing programs to examine “what we do and what more we can do” following what Bookman described as a “horrific” episode.

“There is no place in our school community for hate, racism, or violence,” Bookman said in a statement to families on Friday. “This disturbing incident is a reminder to all of the importance of our work to provide safe, inclusive, and supportive learning environments where all students feel respected and valued.”

Treadway and other parents said they want the district to do more to address racial bias within the community.

“Racism is so deep in our society and people just don’t see it. They don’t even notice when it’s right in their face,” Treadway said. “It’s easier not to think about it, but it’s real.”

Treadway said she hopes that her daughter can “be safe and happy” once again and that the suspect “gets the help he needs and the consequences that he needs to have.”

Treadway said this incident was her daughter’s first encounter with racism in Glastonbury Public Schools.

Treadway said her family moved to Glastonbury from a previous district after her daughter came home from middle school with a note in her backpack that had the N-word written across it.

“I just thought I needed to get her out,” Treadway said. “Clearly, here it is. It’s everywhere.”