A 17-year-old boy who made racist threats that closed schools in Charlottesville, Virginia, for two days has been arrested, police said. Charlottesville police said in a statement that they arrested the unidentified teen Friday.
Police Chief RaShall Brackney said at an afternoon press conference that the threats targeted African-American and Hispanic people for “ethnic cleansing.” Investigators believe he was acting alone, she said, but the chief wouldn’t say whether any weapons were confiscated from the boy.
The boy faces a felony charge of threatening to commit serious bodily harm on school property. He’s also charged with a misdemeanor count of harassment by computer.
Charlottesville police said the threat targeted Charlottesville High School. The boy was not a student at the school, officials said.
The teen identified as Portuguese, Brackney said. When asked if he was an American citizen, she said the department doesn’t ask about people’s immigration status.
Charlottesville was the site of a white nationalist rally in 2017. A 32-year-old counter protester was fatally struck by a car.
