Penn State police on Tuesday charged a university student who allegedly posted a bomb threat to social media platform Yik Yak.
Henry P. Hyduke, 20, told police he was “trying to make a comedic message” and did not intend to cause any harm when he made the post on Aug. 24, according to a criminal complaint.
Yik Yak notified the FBI National Threat Operations Center the same day of a post that stated “ROTC bombing downtown state college tonight. Stay safe.”
After being contacted by the FBI, Penn State police also made State College police aware of the threat. A Penn State police detective wrote that a specific location was not identified and department leadership “evaluated for the possible evacuation” of properties in the downtown area.
No alert was issued after police quickly identified the suspect, university spokesman Wyatt DuBois wrote in an email.
“Police quickly identified the student who allegedly made the threat, made in-person contact and determined there was no legitimate threat to the community,” DuBois wrote. “Penn State police urge community members to report any suspicious activity they observe — including on social media — to police by calling 814-863-1111 or dialing 911 in an emergency. To report a crime or suspicious activities online, visit https://www.police.psu.edu/report-crime.”
Phone number and GPS information provided by Yik Yak led investigators to Hyduke, who admitted to making the post while in his residence hall room, according to the complaint.
Hyduke, who said he is not involved with ROTC, told a detective he posted the message as a joke and did not think it would be taken seriously because of other inappropriate statements from users on the app, police wrote. He was apologetic and acknowledged the post could have caused fear, according to the complaint.
He was charged by summons with one first-degree misdemeanor count of terroristic threats causing serious public inconvenience.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 28.
