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Utah Student Arrested After Alleged Threat to Detonate School’s Nuclear Reactor If Football Team Lost

September 23, 2022 / Athletic AdministrationAthletic LeaderFootball
A University of Utah student was arrested on Wednesday after allegedly making terroristic threats on social media based on the outcome of the Utes football game against San Diego State.

The 21-year-old student posted on the social media platform, Yik Yak, that she was going to detonate the nuclear reactor on campus if the team did not win, according to a statement from the university.

utahA recent article from NBC News expanded on the issue. Below is an excerpt from the NBC News article.

A highly redacted report from university police identified the student as Meredith Miller.

“On Saturday, Sept. 17, the University of Utah Police Department was notified someone had posted a message on YikYak: ‘If we don’t win today, I’m detonating the nuclear reactor on campus,’” the statement said.

University police determined a student did post the message, and she was interviewed Wednesday, officials said.

“She acknowledged posting the statement and was arrested and taken to the Salt Lake County Jail and booked for making terroristic threats,” officials said.

Miller could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. It was unclear whether she had secured an attorney.

The student claimed her statement was meant as a joke, the university said; however, Police Chief Jason Hinojosa said in the statement, “We have a zero-tolerance policy for these kind of threats.”

The university’s nuclear reactor, Hinojosa said, is secured and it has alarms, and police have unique protocols for managing any breach.

To read the full story from NBC News, click here.