L.H., a 14-year-old resident of Seminole Woods in Palm Coast was arrested last Friday (Jan. 24) on a felony charge of written threats to kill after she allegedly sent a racism-laced rant and threats directed at a transgender student through Snapchat, on a “story” connected to the Ohio high school L.H. attended last year.
In the video, L.H. insults an individual who had apparently taken his own life, repeatedly calling him the n-word before attacking an unidentified student, making comments about their weight and their needing to “diet.” L.H. then combines the n-word with a stream of crude and vile racist and transphobic statements, ending with “I’m gonna shoot all the gay people.”
School Resource Officer Chris Smith of the Logan Ohio Police Department contacted the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s dispatch center the evening of Jan. 23 about “a perceived credible threat” to Logan High School in Lohan, a small town southeast of Columbus, Ohio. The officer identified L.H. as the sender. A sheriff’s deputy interviewed L.H. at her home that evening. She confirmed sending the video to someone she knew in Logan, according to her arrest report. L.H. said she was “just mad and said something she shouldn’t have.”
Ohio police confirmed the video was publicly available to the entire student body of Logan High School the night it was posted, that it had been reported to Chad Grow, the school principal, and that it was causing “a lot of concern amongst the student body of the school,” the sheriff’s investigation states. Police in Logan interviewed several members of the student body and identified one particular student as the alleged target of the threats, while another student was identified as the target of the first portion of the video.
It was apparently not the first incident L.H. was involved in. “Due to [L.H.]’s history of violence, coupled with the aggressive manner her video was filmed in, coupled with her
targeting a protected class, it was perceived as a credible threat to numerous students within the Logan School system,” her arrest report states. Police in Logan anticipate additional victims coming forward as time goes on. “They have begun to receive numerous calls and messages from concerned students and parents regarding this incident.”
L.H. was processed at the Flagler County jail and transported to the Volusia County Juvenile Detention Center, where she was held in secure detention rather than returned to her parents.
“We will not tolerate any threat of violence, especially those that are made with hate and prejudice,” Sheriff Rick Staly was quoted as saying in a release. “If you threaten to hurt or kill someone just because of what they look like, where they’re from, or who they love, we will arrest you no matter how old you are. Parents, I urge you to be the Sheriff in your home and teach your children that all people are created equally and hating someone just because they are different than you is not acceptable behavior. Know what your children are posting before you find out when we show up at your door to arrest your child.”
The release added that the agency has zero tolerance for hate crimes and is committed to addressing and combatting hate crimes in Flagler County. In 2023, the Sheriff’s Office received a $354,896 grant from the Department of Justice, through the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Program to improve the Agency’s monitoring and reporting capabilities of potential hate crimes and targeted violence before they occur.
Jan says
Appreciate Sheriff Rick Staly’s words.
Pete Masters says
Ok, to lay it all out, I am a hard left liberal. However, we are talking about a 14 year old.
Kids are assholes and say, and do, stupid shit. Some of them have access to guns and kill people, so it’s fair to be cautious, but arresting them just seems out of place. From what this girl said it seems like she just needs someone to talk to. Bigotry is learned. Where did she learn it? I had to explain the civil rights movement to my 8 year old when he came home from school one day and told me he learned the “n” word. Lo and behold, he was shocked because his best friend at the time was black.
The thing is, this country is scary enough as a parent, and your kid, just being an asshole and making idle threats that totally screws everything up… Is terrifying.
I’m scared to send my kids to school every day, but I’m starting to be just as scared to let them play in the front yard because someone might think I’m an unfit parent because I let them go outside.
There needs to be a balance. Maybe this girl is actually a danger, I don’t know all the details, but it’s getting out of control for this liberal. The things she said are unacceptable, but she’s a kid. My kids swear, a lot, but when they use certain words… I’m on them like white on rice, in a glass of milk, on a paper plate in a snowstorm.
We all have to be better, and act better.
Deborah Coffey says
“The fish rots from the head.”
Laurel says
Trump will fix it.