FLAGLER COUNTY, FL — A high school student in Florida is in big trouble after he apparently recorded a song threatening to kill a school employee.
On Tuesday, a School Resource Deputy was working at Matanzas High School when he was told about a song circulating on social media making threats towards an administrator at the school.
Deputies say the song was recorded by 18-year-old Matanzas High student Joseph Washington in “retaliation for being suspended for using offensive language while on campus.”
In the song Washington threatens the faculty member and said he was suspended from school for a dress code violation. On the song he can be heard saying that he will “gladly do it again.”
Deputies located Washington and he admitted that he wrote and recorded the song.
He told investigators that he “he knew the consequences of his actions could be that he was arrested and charged with a criminal offense” but he also said that he did not intend to carry out any of the threats and that it was all just a “fantasy.” Following the interview, Washington was arrested.
“To anyone that still thinks saying ‘I was just kidding around or it’s a fantasy’ is going to get them out of being arrested when they threaten someone’s life – let this be a wake-up call,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “We have a zero tolerance policy and we do not take threats like these lightly, especially when it comes to our schools. If you make threatening statements online, in writing and or even if veiled in songs, you will be arrested.”
Joseph Washington was a transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility. He is charged with Sending Written Threats to Kill. He was released by the judge pending trial.
