Story Archive

Campus Police Just About Had a Meltdown

The University of Utah football team was about to play San Diego State when a message was posted on Yik Yak, an anonymous hyper-local social media app: “If we don’t win today, I’m detonating the nuclear reactor on campus.” UU’s Salt Lake City campus does have a nuclear research reactor, and a student was arrested last month for making a bomb threat, so the community was edgy. Police tracked the message to engineering student Meredith L.U. Miller, 21, who told police the post was “a joke.” According to state law, bomb threats are a crime even if the person making it has no intent or ability to carry the threat out. Miller was arrested, charged with making terroristic threats. (RC/KTVX Salt Lake City) ...Being “anonymous” online: not as anonymous as everyone thinks.

Story Update: I was so floored over the resolution of this story, it took a blog post to explain it: https://thisistrue.com/scot-free/

Original Publication Date: 25 September 2022
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 29.

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I believe humanity is held back by the lack of thinking. I provoke thought with examples of what happens when we don’t think, and when we do. This is True is my primary method: stories like this come out every week by email, and basic subscriptions are free. Click here for a subscribe form.


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