There has been a new twist in the story of a 14-year-old who tweeted a terroristic threat to American Airlines on Sunday.
It has been reported that the teen responsible has been arrested and taken into custody.
In a statement to Business Insider, Dutch police spokesman Wessel Stole said that law enforcement officials were not able to “communicate any state of charges at this point.”
Stole said that the reason for revealing that an arrest had been made was largely due to “a great deal of interest on the Internet.”
At the heart of the viral controversy is a teenage girl named Sarah or as she’s known on Twitter @QueenDemetriax_. Sarah thought it would be funny to tweet a terroristic threat to American Airlines:
At least your Sunday isn't going like this. pic.twitter.com/jzm1GqFD5u
— samir mezrahi (@samir) April 13, 2014
Once American Airlines responded that it takes such threats seriously and intended to report her to the FBI, the teenager seemed to both panic and bask in her new found fame at the same time.
Sarah was taken into custody on Monday by Dutch police officials in Rotterdam, a city in the Netherlands.
BREAKING — 14-year-old Dutch girl who tweeted threat to American Airlines arrested in Rotterdam, police confirm
— Michael van Poppel (@mpoppel) April 14, 2014
Dutch police have since revealed that they did not take the teenager into custody on behalf of or at the request of American law enforcement officials.
The explanation seems to suggest that Sarah will be tried for at least one violation of Dutch laws.
While some may roll their eyes at a stupid prank resulting in an arrest and subsequent charges, it’s important to remember that what is obviously a joke to you is not a laughing matter to government authorities.
It’s not unusual for persons to create Twitter accounts that do not reflect their genuine identity. Such a person could be a threat; it’s up to officials to perform a thorough investigation to disprove this.
It’s also important to remember that depending on where you live, feigning a terroristic threat could be a punishable offense.
Parents, please talk to your kids about why it’s not advisable to threaten terrorist actions at all, but most especially against airline companies that have been victimized by terrorists in the past.
Failure to do so many result in the police knocking on your door in the near future.
Once again: Good luck, Sarah!
"I wanted to be famous.But I meant like #DemiLovato famous, not Osama bin Laden famous." Dutch teen tweets threat http://t.co/TBgcHU1jpe
— Maheen Usmani (@MaheenUsmani) April 14, 2014
Image via YouTube