Campus Alert Archive
Kean

'I Will Kill All the Blacks': The Kean Rally Hoax That Investigators Traced to a Library PC

NJthreat of violenceemergency notificationmedium confidence

On the night of November 17, 2015 — one week after the Mizzou Yik Yak threats — anonymous Twitter posts from the handle @keanuagainstblk threatened to murder Black students at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. The threats were posted during a solidarity rally being held at the campus clock tower. Kean issued community alerts and increased police visibility. Investigators traced the posts to a campus library computer used by Kean alumna and rally organizer Kayla-Simone McKelvey, who had stepped away from the rally to post the threats and returned to publicize them. McKelvey was charged with creating a false public alarm and ultimately sentenced to 90 days in jail, five years probation, and an $82,000 restitution order.

Alerts
3
Response
90 min
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Kean University
Public Masters · NJ
~14,000 studentsKean Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction255 chars
Kean Alert: Kean University Police are investigating threats made on Twitter referencing Black students at Kean. Increased police presence on campus tonight. Continue normal activities. Report any suspicious activity to Kean Police at 908-737-4800 or 911.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from NBC New York's November 18 reporting that 'authorities investigated after someone tweeted threats against black students, faculty and staff at Kean University' on the night of November 17
Threats included the tweet quoted by CBS New York: '@kupolice I will kill all the blacks tonight, tomorrow and any other day if they go to Kean University'
Issued during a clock-tower rally that itself was about racial-climate issues, intensifying the on-the-ground sense of urgency
Kean's 'continue normal activities' framing came at significant communications risk given the rally was already underway
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstruction506 chars
Kean University Community Update: The Kean University Police Department, in coordination with Union Township Police and the Union County Prosecutor's Office, continues to investigate Twitter threats made last night against Black students and faculty. There is currently no evidence of a continuing physical threat to the campus community. The University condemns hate speech of any kind and is committed to a safe and inclusive environment. Counseling resources are available through the Counseling Center.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from NBC New York and CBS New York coverage of Kean's morning-after community communications
Multi-agency investigation (Kean PD + Union Township + County Prosecutor) is standard New Jersey practice for bias-related threats
The 'no evidence of a continuing physical threat' language is a soft de-escalation, leaving room for the investigation to evolve without committing to a finding
Counseling Center referral acknowledges psychological harm independent of physical threat — a sophisticated Clery-adjacent practice
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from CBS New York's December 2015 coverage of the McKelvey arrest536 chars
Kean University Community Update: The Union County Prosecutor's Office today announced the arrest of Kayla-Simone McKelvey, 24, a 2014 Kean graduate, in connection with the November 17 Twitter threats. Ms. McKelvey is charged with third-degree creating a false public alarm. The Kean University Police Department thanks the Union County Prosecutor's Office and the New Jersey State Police for their work. The University remains committed to addressing the underlying climate issues that the rally on November 17 was convened to discuss.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

McKelvey was a Kean alumna (2014 graduate) and the rally organizer who used a library computer to post threats, then returned to the rally to publicize them
Third-degree creating a false public alarm is a New Jersey-specific charge with a 3-5 year sentencing range
Kean's closing line ('remains committed to addressing the underlying climate issues') is unusual — it explicitly separates the hoax from the legitimate concerns the rally was about
McKelvey ultimately received 90 days in jail, five years probation, and $82,000 restitution to cover the cost of the police response
Context

Background

On the night of November 17, 2015, Kean University students gathered at the campus clock tower for a solidarity rally addressing racial-climate concerns — part of a national wave of similar gatherings following the Mizzou Concerned Student 1950 protests and the November 10-11 Yik Yak threats at Mizzou. During the rally, anonymous Twitter posts from the handle @keanuagainstblk threatened to 'kill all the blacks' at Kean University. Kean Police issued community alerts and increased visibility. Within two weeks, investigators traced the posts to a Kean campus library computer used by Kayla-Simone McKelvey — a 2014 Kean graduate and one of the rally organizers, who had stepped away from the rally, posted the threats, and returned to publicize them. McKelvey was charged with third-degree creating a false public alarm in December 2015, pleaded guilty in March 2016, and was sentenced in June 2016 to 90 days in jail, five years probation, and $82,000 restitution to cover the cost of the multi-agency police response. The case is a unique example in this archive of a Clery emergency notification triggered by what turned out to be a self-inflicted hoax tied to a real climate-protest movement — illustrating both the seriousness with which Kean treated the threats in the moment and the complicated downstream messaging required when the suspect turns out to be a movement organizer. Inside Higher Ed's documentation of more than a dozen campuses targeted by threats of violence in those two weeks places the Kean episode squarely in the post-Mizzou national wave.
Analysis

Key Findings

Kean Alert was activated for a Twitter threat — relatively early use of campus alert systems for social-media-only threats
The threats turned out to be a hoax committed by a rally organizer using a library computer, complicating downstream messaging
Kean's December 2015 follow-up explicitly separated the hoax from the legitimate climate concerns the rally was convened to address
McKelvey was sentenced to 90 days in jail, five years probation, and $82,000 restitution — a rare case of restitution covering police response costs
The Kean episode is part of a documented two-week wave in November 2015 in which more than a dozen campuses received threats of violence
Multi-agency investigation (Kean PD + Union Township + County Prosecutor + State Police) reflects the scale of resources mobilized for what turned out to be a hoax
The case is a unique archive example of a Clery emergency notification triggered by a self-inflicted hoax tied to a real protest movement
Outcome
Threats determined to be a hoax. Kayla-Simone McKelvey, 24, a 2014 Kean graduate and rally organizer, arrested in December 2015. She pleaded guilty to third-degree creating a false public alarm in March 2016 and was sentenced in June 2016 to 90 days in jail, five years probation, and $82,000 restitution to cover the cost of the police response.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Kean University Police Investigating Twitter Threats Targeting Black Students — NBC New York (November 18, 2015)
    nbcnewyork.com
  2. News
    Woman Charged With Making Bogus Threats Against Black Students At Kean University — CBS New York
    cbsnews.com
  3. News
    Kean student sentenced for sending threatening tweets — News 12 New Jersey
    newjersey.news12.com
  4. News
    Jail for woman who tweeted threats to fellow black students — NJ 101.5
    nj1015.com
  5. academic source
    In two weeks, more than a dozen campuses targeted by threats of violence — Inside Higher Ed
    insidehighered.com
  6. national media
    Woman charged with bogus threat vs. black college students — Salt Lake Tribune (Associated Press wire)
    archive.sltrib.com
Tags
threat-of-violencetwitterfalse-alarmkean-universitypublic-mastersnew-jerseyracepost-mizzou-wavehoaxtitle-vinovember-2015rally
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion