St. John's student arrested, charged for making "inappropriate Facebook post"
Everton Bailey, Managing Editor
Issue date: 9/9/09 Section: News
The Queens District Attorney's office announced Thursday that a St. John's student has been charged with allegedly posting Facebook messages warning of a "Virginia Tech-like" attacks against the University.
Eighteen-year-old Radames Santiago was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court Wednesday and is being charged with making a terroristic threat.
A spokesperson for the Queens Department of Corrections said the teen is out on $2,000 bail and is due back in court Oct. 1.
Santiago faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
The D.A.'s office said Santiago allegedly posted on Monday and Tuesday that he was going "crazy" and that "people should watch as he does some Virginia Tech [stuff]."
Santiago also allegedly posted that he was serious about his threat and urged readers to watch the news for the potential aftermath.
After he was arrested on Tuesday, the teen allegedly told police that he was depressed and drunk when he made the comments on the popular networking site.
A public safety advisory e-mail was sent to the St. John's community Tuesday night confirming that an "inappropriate Facebook post" directed at the school was made and that a student was arrested by the NYPD.
The advisory stated that St. John's was not in danger at any time but did not mention if the student in question was enrolled with the University.
"Public Safety wants to reassure the University community that we will continue to monitor the content of social networking Web sites," the advisory read. "If you see a post on these web sites that suggests harm to the University community, please notify the Department of Public Safety at your campus as soon as possible."
Dominic Scianna, assistant vice president of media relations, said he also could not confirm if the student charged was a student.
He added that the University is "cooperating with the NYPD investigation" and that the school would not be releasing any more statements on the case.
"We're very alert and aware of these [matters] and try to take all of them seriously," he said.
Santiago's lawyer, Jane Remler, did not return phone calls seeking a comment.
Eighteen-year-old Radames Santiago was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court Wednesday and is being charged with making a terroristic threat.
A spokesperson for the Queens Department of Corrections said the teen is out on $2,000 bail and is due back in court Oct. 1.
Santiago faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
The D.A.'s office said Santiago allegedly posted on Monday and Tuesday that he was going "crazy" and that "people should watch as he does some Virginia Tech [stuff]."
Santiago also allegedly posted that he was serious about his threat and urged readers to watch the news for the potential aftermath.
After he was arrested on Tuesday, the teen allegedly told police that he was depressed and drunk when he made the comments on the popular networking site.
A public safety advisory e-mail was sent to the St. John's community Tuesday night confirming that an "inappropriate Facebook post" directed at the school was made and that a student was arrested by the NYPD.
The advisory stated that St. John's was not in danger at any time but did not mention if the student in question was enrolled with the University.
"Public Safety wants to reassure the University community that we will continue to monitor the content of social networking Web sites," the advisory read. "If you see a post on these web sites that suggests harm to the University community, please notify the Department of Public Safety at your campus as soon as possible."
Dominic Scianna, assistant vice president of media relations, said he also could not confirm if the student charged was a student.
He added that the University is "cooperating with the NYPD investigation" and that the school would not be releasing any more statements on the case.
"We're very alert and aware of these [matters] and try to take all of them seriously," he said.
Santiago's lawyer, Jane Remler, did not return phone calls seeking a comment.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Luke Acanfora
posted 9/22/09 @ 9:47 PM NA
sure this turned out to be a semi-serious threat, but stjohns can really monitor the social networking of all students to prevent threats and drinking in dorms ect, but they cant clean the a. (Continued…)
Mia Henriquez
posted 9/23/09 @ 2:39 PM NA
I agree with Luke...there are a lot of things that St. John's officials could be doing for the standards of the buildings on campus, than just watching social networks for drunkenly made threats. (Continued…)
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