ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) — A former leader of a black student group pleaded guilty Monday to creating a false public alarm by tweeting anonymous threats against fellow black college students last fall.
State prosecutors will recommend that Kayla McKelvey be sentenced to 90 days in jail and that she pay restitution of about $82,000 to cover the costs of the police response and heightened security at Kean University after the threats.
According to prosecutors, the 25-year-old McKelvey tweeted threats from a campus library because she wanted more people to attend the November 17, 2015, rally on racial issues. She then returned to the rally to tell people about the threats.
One tweet addressed to campus police read: "@kupolice I will kill all the blacks tonight, tomorrow and any other day if they go to Kean University."
The university increased security, and several law enforcement agencies were also alerted, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The threats also prompted a group of black ministers to call for Kean President Dawood Farahi to resign, saying the threats showed that he hadn't done enough to address racial tension on campus.
McKelvey and her attorney had sought to have her participate in a pretrial intervention program that would have allowed her to avoid jail. But a judge denied that request last week.
Her sentencing is scheduled for June 17.
