A reminder to people who make exaggerating statements as a joke - be mindful how realistic your exaggeration is.
One University of Utah student faced repercussions after allegedly posting on the popular forum Yik Yak that she would detonate a nuclear reactor located on campus if the football did not win their game against San Diego State University on Saturday.
“If we don’t win today, I’m detonating the nuclear reactor on campus," the Yik Yak allegedly said.
The app is intended to allow users to post anonymously to a forum that connects people via geolocation proximity.
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However, police were able to trace the threatening statement to a 21-year-old student who acknowledged making the post. She was subsequently arrested at the Salt Lake County Jail for making terroristic threats.
The student said the statement was meant as a joke.
But the University of Utah said it has "a zero-tolerance policy for these kinds of threats" in a statement.
\u201c@Joshua_Newman This whole thing seems ridiculously silly because it's something that never actually happened. Nor was it going to happen because Utah was never going to lose to SDSU. Not this year at least. And how to they know the person in question was even serious? It could have been a joke.\u201d— Josh Newman (@Josh Newman) 1663855553
The University of Utah does have a nuclear reactor in the Merrill Engineering Building. The police claim the student was aware of the location of the reactor as she has class in the building.
Jason Hinojosa, Chief of University of Utah Police noted in the statement that the nuclear reaction "is secured and alarmed and police have unique protocols for managing any breach of the facility."
\u201cMy favorite part of the Utah story is that college kids still use Yik Yak apparently\u201d— JUSTIN (@JUSTIN) 1663853351
The incident comes just one month after another University of Utah student made a bomb threat via Yik Yak.
University of Utah beat San Diego State University 35-7.
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