Racist Hoax Death Threat Student Gets Slap on the Wrist

People have gotten serious jail time for similar crimes. But it helps to have privilege. Political privilege.

A Kean University graduate was sentenced to 90 days in prison, followed by five years probation and an agreement to repay more than $80,000 in damages caused by her fake tweets threatening to kill black students.

Kayla McKelvey, an African-American activist who claims she sent the fake tweets to “shine a light on an issue that is important to me,” received the sentence after admitting she left a campus protest last November to create the fake Twitter account and send the messages. She then returned to the protest and told everyone about the alleged threats.

She pleaded guilty to a charge of creating a false public alarm, and will have to repay $82,328 to law enforcement for the investigation of the tweets, which caused a panic on campus. More than half of Kean students missed two or three days of classes due to fears that they would be targeted for violence.

Union County Assistant Prosecutor Shawn Barnes accepted the plea agreement, noting that this past Friday was the first time McKelvey expressed remorse for what she had done. He added that she only sent the threats to increase turnout at her protest.

Barnes is acting like her defense attorney instead of playing for his team. He's making excuses for her. 

Imagine Kayla's sentence if she had been a white male. We all know the answer to that. People who have done this kind of thing have spent years in jail. Not 90 days in jail. And the law should be evenhanded instead of providing leftist activities with special privileges when they pull off their hoax crimes. And since hoax hate crimes are meant to stigmatize entire populations, creating a political panic that deprives people of their civil rights, they need to be taken seriously.