Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Friday emphasized the harms and legal penalties for intentionally providing law enforcement with false information after a threat prompted the evacuation of an Ingham County high school.
Students at East Lansing High School were released early as school officials responded to a bomb threat, which was determined to be a swatting call, the Lansing State Journal reported.
Swatting, the act of placing false emergency calls in an effort to dispatch law enforcement to a particular location, can carry several penalties, Nessel noted in a statement. Potential charges include:
- False report of a crime, a misdemeanor punishable by 93 days in prison.
- False report resulting in physical injury, a felony punishable by five years in prison.
- False report resulting in a serious bodily impairment, a felony punishable by 10 years in prison.
- False report resulting in a death, a felony punishable by 15 years in prison.
Additionally, threats of violence carry their own legal ramifications, Nessel’s office noted…