FBI: Posting Threats, Even Empty Ones, Will Get You In Trouble
(CBS) -- A former college student who posted an empty threat aimed at the University of Chicago says it ruined his life, and he's telling people not to follow his example.
Jabari Dean is the focus of a public service announcement from the FBI. He once posted an empty threat, saying he was going to kill 16 people.
The FBI says there are serious ramifications for such threats.
"The FBI and our law enforcement have to do a full-on response to every single one of these threats -- we can never, ever take them lightly," says Michael Anderson, special agent-in-charge for the Chicago office of the FBI.
As for Dean, he says, "I have a pretty bleak future. I can't pass background checks. I've been expelled from school. It sucks."
Anderson says Dean and his family have been cooperative throughout the investigation. Dean is "very lucky" to have avoided jail, he says.
The FBI says it receives thousands of threats on social media each year, and they want that number to go down.