A judge has ordered the release of four Manatee County school students who were jailed for videos posted to social media that depicted them shooting at schoolmates with a virtual toy gun using a viral TikTok filter.
The students were arrested by Manatee County Sheriff’s deputies on a charge of making written or electronic threats to kill, do bodily injury or conduct a mass shooting — a second degree felony.
Attorneys representing the students argued at a hearing on Tuesday that while the social media posts made by students were insensitive, they did not imply an actual threat of harm.
Judge Susan B. Maulucci of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court ultimately agreed and found that there was no probable cause to continue holding three Parrish Community High School students in juvenile detention. The students had been detained since they were arrested two weeks ago.
At a previous hearing on Feb. 10, attorneys were unsuccessful in challenging the students’ 21 day detainment, but they presented new evidence on Tuesday.
Another student from Buffalo Creek Middle School in Palmetto was released on condition of house arrest. The judge said the middle school student’s case was different because his video was accompanied by written statements that could be perceived as threatening.
Are TikTok videos a threat?
Bradenton attorney Leland Taylor, representing one of the Parrish Community High School students, argued that a social media filter did not amount to a real threat of harm.
“What we’re talking about is a filter,” Taylor said. “So there’s not actually any weapon that was brought to school. There’s not even any actual weapon that’s portrayed in the picture.”
Taylor also argued that in his client’s case and several others, there was no written threat accompanying the post.
“There is nothing that indicates that there was any intent to even post a message that would be perceived as threatening, much less an intent to carry out an act.”
Now, state attorneys will decide whether to proceed with filing charges; an arraignment for the middle school student is set for March 22, and the other students will have case management hearings.
“I think based upon the circumstances, everyone was doing the best they could with the information that was available at the time,” Taylor said following the hearing on Tuesday. “When the facts come out and the law is applied, we believe these young folks will be vindicated.”
Viral TikTok filter removed
The Nerf gun filter went viral at the beginning of February, garnering hundreds of posts and millions of views on the social media platform.
It featured an orange and purple toy gun with the “Nerf” logo that allowed the user to fire off darts at targets from the point of view of someone holding the gun.
Many videos posted to TikTok were of a similar nature to those posted by the local students.
The filter was recently removed removed from TikTok.
It was not clear whether the filter was removed by its creator or if the social media company took it down. Neither company responded immediately to a request for comment.
Prior to its removal, several TikTok users posted videos warning students not to use the filter at school.
“We’ve had several students that have been arrested locally where I live because of the Nerf gun filter,” said TikTok user LookItsToniD, whose profile identified her as a social studies teacher. “Do not use that filter at school. You idiot. You are ruining your life.”
Bomb threats trigger TikTok arrests
The TikTok videos came to the attention of law enforcement during the investigation of a string of anonymous bomb threats made against Parrish Community High School two weeks ago.
With students and parents on edge, deputies conducted searches of the school, asked for tips and interviewed students about suspicious activity.
In the days surrounding the threats, several students used the Nerf gun filter in videos.
Taylor called it a case on unfortunate timing.
“It was the worst time for this to come up,” Taylor said.
While the social media incidents had no apparent tie to the bomb threats, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office took them seriously and accused the students of “simulating a mass shooting” on campus.
Parents and community were torn over the sheriff’s office decision to charge the minors with felonies.
“Pretending to shoot a gun at the back of other students’ heads during a bomb evacuation does not equal ‘they didn’t know any better’,” a member of the Parrish Community High School supporters group on Facebook wrote.
“I believe these kids were given much harsher treatment and made an example of only because of what was going on at the school,” another said.
The sheriff’s office issued a a request for the public’s help in identifying suspects in the bomb threats on Feb. 7. No arrests have been announced.