Kean University’s Kayla-Simone McKelvey pleads guilty to sending anonymous racial threats on Twitter

Former student faces up to 90 days in jail and $82,000 fine

(Kayla-Simone McKelvey/LinkedIn)

A black graduate has pleaded guilty to anonymously posting racially aggressive threats against a university’s black student body on Twitter during a rally in the US.

According to NBC New York, Kayla-Simone McKelvey - former student at Kean University in New Jersey - faces up to 90 days in jail and a fine of $82,000 (£57,000) after creating the anonymous account.

In November, Ms McKelvey attended an anti-racism rally at the university which came at the same time as racial tensions were rising at the University of Missouri, as well as at other campuses across the US.

Having pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing, NBC reports how prosecutors heard that Ms McKelvey attended the rally, but left halfway through to create a fake Twitter handle in the university library.

According to Pix11 News and screenshots on the microblogging site, messages posted from the account included: “I will shoot every black woman and male I see at Kean University,” and also: “I will kill all the blacks tonight tomorrow and any other day if they go to Kean University.”

Another message also warned: “The cops won’t save you...you’re black.”

Ms McKelvey is then alleged to have gone back to the rally and shared the messages with fellow demonstrators which led to an increase in on-campus security and saw students calling for Kean’s president, Dr Dawood Farahi, to resign for not doing enough to address racial tensions.

After an intense investigation, and shortly after allegations surfaced that Ms McKelvey was behind the messages, though, Dr Farahi issued a statement to the student body saying staff members were “saddened” to learn it was “an active participant in the rally that took place on campus...and is a former student of Kean.”

The president added: “As a diverse academic community, we wholeheartedly respect and support activism.

“However, no cause or issue gives anyone the right to threaten the safety of others. We hope this information will begin to bring a sense of relief and security to the campus community.”