SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Columbus High School student is back home with his family after he was arrested for a perceived social media threat made against La Salle High School in the form of a music video.
The arrest occurred around 8 p.m. Thursday.
Austin Valdes, 16, created a music video on Tik Tok in which the student, seen wearing a Columbus High T-shirt, pointed his finger like a gun at the names of his rival schools, including Belen and La Salle, and eliminated them to the sound of gunshots in the song “All Talk” by 3ohBlack to prove his school’s superiority.
“I’ve heard kids say they don’t feel too safe,” said Andres Sordo-Martinez, a Columbus High student.
“That’s just something you don’t post about, make jokes about, nothing like that,” said fellow student Garrel’Leon Riley.
Speaking to 7News outside his West Miami-Dade home, Valdes’ father, Orlando Valdes, said he is disturbed by his son’s actions.
“Our family is completely disappointed, appalled by the images we saw,” he said.
The teen is facing a felony charge of written threat to kill or cause bodily injury.
“I’ve seen him around school and stuff like that, but I don’t personally know him like that,” said Riley.
In this challenge of sorts, users post videos of themselves to “All Talk.” Like Valdes was seen doing, they eliminate the names of rival schools to the sound of gunshots.
“I see it a lot,” said Sordo-Martinez. “Kids are trying to fit in, use the app.”
What made the video even more disturbing was the mention of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which is still reeling from the February 2018 mass shooting that took 17 lives.
“Marjory Stoneman Douglas having been mentioned in the soundtrack is just so distasteful,” Sordo-Martinez said.
Valdes’ father called the video and the posting out of character for his son, but he also talked about how damaging the post is for everyone else.
“Horrible, horrible representation of himself, his family, his community, his friends, people that know him,” said Valdes’ father.
A witness from La Salle High received the video through an anonymous student.
Belen and La Salle reached out to police regarding the Tik Tok video, and the latter school beefed up security on campus.
The Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Miami sent a letter to parents that read, in part, “With the prevalence of social media use in our community, it is important to be aware that Florida law makes threats of violence, including through social media, a felony offense. There are significant potential consequences for a student’s threat of violence including suspension, expulsion and criminal prosecution.”
“I feel he should get some type of punishment, but not that serious punishment, ’cause he was just playing,” said Riley. “Kids are going to play. Kids are going to do what they normally do. He didn’t mean no harm, but you should watch what you post.”
Orlando Valdes said he has had multiple opportunities to discuss the matter with his son in order to convey to the teen how wrong he was to make the video.
“Now he’ll be identified as a person that made a 10-second video with horrible ramifications,” he said. “It really is disappointing how he elected to portray that school, a school that we hold very close to us.”
Miami-Dade Police said they do not know of any other charges related to the challenge.
Valdes is currently suspended from Columbus High. He is scheduled to appear in court in two weeks.
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