FBI’s # Thinkbeforeyoupost campaign takes aim at hoax threats

Published 12:00 am Thursday, May 31, 2018

If you’re thinking about sending a text, email or social media message threatening a school or other public place as a joke, you should put the phone back in your messenger bag.

The FBI launched in late May a billboard campaign warning of dire consequences for people who make threats to schools, public buildings and other public places. Make a hoax threat, and you could end up facing federal felony charges attached to long prison sentences, is the message in nine billboards around the region and in other parts of the state.

“We are grateful for the business community’s assistance in spreading the word about this dangerous — and expensive — problem that law enforcement and our schools are facing,” said Renn Cannon, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon. “We are working together to encourage people to report threats they come across — whether on social media, through gaming sites or in person. At the same time, we want to make sure that those who are posting hoax threats truly understand the severe consequences they could face for their actions.”

The includes public service announcements, social media posts and digital billboards. Five Portland-area Pacific Outdoor billboards are showing the message on Highway 8 in Hillsboro, Highway 212 near Interstate 205 in Clackamas, on Highway 224 west of I-205 in Portland, on Southwest Canyon Road near Beaverton and at Canyon Road and Southwest 108th Avenue in Beaverton.

The message also is on two billboards in Salem, one in Corvallis and one in Medford.

According to the FBI, investigations into hoax threats drain resources and cost taxpayers a lot of money. When an investigation concludes that there was a false or hoax threat made to a school or other public place, the person posting the threat could face a federal charge and a maximum sentence of five years in prison. State charges are also possible, according to the agency.

In the aftermath of attacks such as the ones at Santa Fe High School in Texas on May 18, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on Feb. 14, the FBI and law enforcement often see an increase in threats made to schools and other public buildings. FBI investigators must follow up on each tip, costing taxpayers money and resources.