Quick Take
Watsonville police officers arrested a 22-year-old woman Friday after they say she posted a threatening comment on Instagram directed at the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board.
A 22-year-old woman was arrested after detectives say she posted a social media threat against the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board of trustees last month.
On Friday, Watsonville police officers arrested Tanya Diaz and charged her with criminal threats after they say she commented on a Lookout Santa Cruz Instagram post. The Instagram post was about a story on the school board’s approval of about 100 staff layoffs.
“Who do we need to shoot for this? I think we should start taking these [people] out, they’re not going to stop just saying,” read the comment.
Officers traced the Instagram account to Diaz, who admitted to writing the comment, according to the police department.
After the comment was reported, police began investigating and issued a search warrant at Diaz’s home on the 200 block of Mesa Verde Drive last week. Officers didn’t find any guns at her home and say she has no firearms registered under her name.
Police believe there’s no active threat against the community or district staff.
PVUSD trustee Misty Navarro told Lookout she was “really upset” and “scared” when she first learned of the comment. She immediately reported it to the police.
“It was highly offensive,” she said. “Hopefully people in the community who go online and say horrible things may take some pause and realize that there are consequences for the things that you say,” she said.
In a statement, Lookout Santa Cruz CEO Ken Doctor said staff removed the entire Instagram post when it was informed of the comment.
“Policing comments on Instagram is difficult, and it’s hard to anticipate which stories might cause issues,” he said. “We act on those issues as soon as they arise.”
Pajaro Valley Unified School District spokesperson Alejandro Chavez provided Lookout with a district statement that said it cooperated fully with law enforcement and directed any inquiries to the police.
“[The] investigation determined there is no active threat to the community, students, or district personnel,” the statement reads. “As this is an active law enforcement matter, the District will have no further comment.”
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