FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A high school student who recorded a song threatening a campus administrator claimed the lyrics were just a “fantasy,” according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said the song was circulating on Tuesday inside Matanzas High School when a school resource officer was made aware that the song was making threatening statements toward an administrator at the school.
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The song was recorded by 18-year-old Joseph Washington, a student at the school, after he was suspended for using offensive language while on campus.
“In the song, Washington threatens physical harm to the school faculty member and also states that he was suspended from school for a dress code violation and using vulgar language towards the school administrator,” authorities said.
Washington can be heard saying that he will “gladly do it again.”
FCSO deputies made contact with Washington and he admitted that he wrote and recorded the song.
“Washington told deputies that he ‘knew the consequences of his actions could be that he was arrested and charged with a criminal offense.’”
He also told deputies that he did not intend to carry out any of the threats and that it was all just a “fantasy.”
“To anyone that still thinks saying ‘I was just kidding around or it’s a fantasy’ is going to get them out of being arrested when they threaten someone’s life – let this be a wake-up call,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. “We have a zero-tolerance policy and we do not take threats like these lightly, especially when it comes to our schools. If you make threatening statements online, in writing and or even if veiled in songs, you will be arrested.”
Washington was arrested after speaking with deputies about the song. He is charged with sending written threats to kill.
Deputies said he was released by the judge pending trial.