A 19-year-old student at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, was arrested Nov. 2 on a felony charge after allegedly posting an online threat against members of a pro-life student group staffing a campus display, according to Students for Life of America.
The incident traces back to an Oct. 28 post on Yik Yak, an anonymous social media app, as Students for Life of America hosted a display at the Armstrong Student Center on Miami’s campus. Screenshots of the post, which appeared in the app’s “Miami Ohio” group visible to users near the university, showed someone asking, “How many dining dollars to Kirk the anti abortion table in Armstrong” — an apparent reference to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Grace Kimzey, Ohio Regional Coordinator for Students for Life of America, said a student monitoring online chatter about the group’s table spotted the post. “We had our display, we were towards the end of our tabling in our tour when a student saw a post online at Yik Yak,” Kimzey told Fox News Digital. “He was just keeping tabs on what’s being talked about on social media, about our table and about our display. So we saw that, and then I immediately called the Miami Police Department just to keep our students safe.”
According to a press release from Students for Life of America, the student was charged with one felony count of making a terroristic threat, along with misdemeanor charges of inducing panic, aggravated menacing, and telecommunications harassment. The matter was also referred to the FBI.
A Pattern Beyond Oxford
Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins said the Oxford incident reflects a broader shift on college campuses since Kirk’s assassination. Hawkins has spent recent weeks touring campuses alongside Turning Point USA.
“I’ve been on campuses for the past three weeks alongside Turning Point USA on my fall tour, and I’m there, you know, under a TPUSA tent. Cameras are on me. There are signs saying we are filming in this area, yet there will be students who will stand beside me and call me Mrs. Kirk, and they’ll use the verb ‘Kirked’ over and over again,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins said she has pressed students directly about their reaction to Kirk’s death. “I’ve asked students just to their faces when they will say something about Charlie,” she said. “They’ll laugh, I’ll say, ‘Do you think it was funny what happened to my friend, that he was assassinated, a husband and a father who was a good man by all accounts? You think this was funny?’ And they’ll just continue to laugh.”
She also described a separate exchange that troubled her. “I asked one student recently, ‘Do you think it’s moral to shoot me? If you disagree with me and what I do, do you think it’s moral to shoot me?’ And the young man looked right at me and said, ‘Yes,'” Hawkins said. “I mean, this is a different level. And I think the older generations, even my generation, the elder millennials, if you will, when we were having dialogue on campuses, it didn’t reach this level.”
University Response
A Miami University spokesperson told Fox News Digital that federal privacy law limits what the school can disclose. “Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the university cannot confirm if a student is being disciplined or is currently in the disciplinary process,” the spokesperson said.
“Every Miami student is afforded their due process rights through our Code of Student Conduct,” the statement continued. “The university handles any reports of possible policy violations by students or violations of law through the Office of Community Standards and through campus and local law enforcement, with potential sanctions that vary based on the alleged violation and a student’s previous conduct history.”
The university pointed to its website for further information on its policies regarding freedom of speech and expression. The Miami University Police Department and the Butler County Jail have not yet responded to requests for comment.
