{
  "id": "2015-11-10-university-of-missouri-yik-yak-threats",
  "slug": "university-of-missouri-yik-yak-threats-2015-11-10",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of Missouri",
    "shortName": "Mizzou",
    "state": "MO",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "MU Alert",
    "enrollment": 35000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2015-11-10",
    "endDate": "2015-11-11",
    "type": "threat-of-violence",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Anonymous social media threats against Black students; suspect arrested within hours",
    "headlinePublic": "Anonymous social media threats against Black students; suspect arrested within hours",
    "summary": "On the night of November 10, 2015 (one day after [system president Tim Wolfe resigned](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%932016_University_of_Missouri_protests) amid the [Concerned Student 1950 movement](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/concernedstudent1950-protests-university-missouri-timeline-events-n459776)) anonymous posts on the social-media app Yik Yak threatened to 'stand my ground tomorrow and shoot every black person I see' and 'kill' Black students gathered in parking lots. MU Police issued an MU Alert acknowledging the threats and reassuring the community that no immediate threat existed; in the early hours of November 11, MUPD apprehended [Hunter M. Park](https://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-detained-allegedly-posting-online-threats-missouri-campus/story?id=35126012), a 19-year-old Missouri University of Science & Technology student, in Rolla, more than 90 miles away.",
    "outcome": "Hunter M. Park arrested approximately 1:50 AM CST November 11 and charged with making a terroristic threat. Park was never on or near the Columbia campus. A second Missouri S&T student was later charged separately for related threats. Park ultimately pleaded guilty to making a terroristic threat and was sentenced in June 2016 to five years of probation. Many MU students nonetheless avoided campus November 11 amid lingering fear.",
    "resolution": "false-alarm",
    "perpetrator": {
      "status": "arrested",
      "name": "Hunter M. Park, 19, Missouri University of Science & Technology student"
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2015-11-10T19:50:51-06:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "We are aware & updating http://mualert.missouri.edu. Do not spread rumors. @MUalert only reliable source in emergency. https://x.com/bowtieger/status/664255273394003968",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/mualert/status/664258956676743168",
      "sourceDescription": "@mualert on X (verbatim)",
      "annotations": [
        "Earlier cascade post quoting chancellor Loftin; expanded display URL from fxtwitter"
      ],
      "characterCount": 168
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2015-11-10T22:08:36-06:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "MUPD is investigating reports. Please call 911 if immediately if you need help. http://mualert.missouri.edu/",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/mualert/status/664293625354985472",
      "sourceDescription": "@mualert on X (verbatim)",
      "annotations": [
        "Typo \"if immediately if\" preserved exactly as transmitted"
      ],
      "characterCount": 108
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "initial",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "There is no immediate threat to campus. Please do not spread rumors and follow @MUAlert at http://mualert.missouri.edu for updates.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/mualert/status/664311405970137088",
      "sourceDescription": "@mualert on X (verbatim)",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim from the official @MUAlert Twitter/X account the night of November 10, 2015; the same wording is quoted by CNN and CBS News",
        "The short tweet deliberately balanced reassurance ('no immediate threat') with crowd control ('please do not spread rumors'), responding both to the Yik Yak threats and to separate KKK rumors circulating that night",
        "Issued during a period of extreme campus tension: Wolfe had resigned November 9; the football team had ended its boycott; a faculty walkout was ongoing",
        "Corrected to exact fxtwitter display text."
      ],
      "characterCount": 131,
      "timestamp": "2015-11-10T23:19:16-06:00"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 4,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2015-11-11T03:30:00-06:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-detained-allegedly-posting-online-threats-missouri-campus/story?id=35126012",
      "sourceDescription": "MU Alert text quoted verbatim in ABC News coverage of the arrest",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 5,
      "type": "resolution",
      "timestamp": "2015-11-11T06:07:28-06:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "MUPD has apprehended the suspect who posted threats to campus on YikYak & other social media: http://mualert.missouri.edu/",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/mualert/status/664414133182455808",
      "sourceDescription": "@mualert on X (verbatim)",
      "annotations": [
        "X-channel version of the arrest notice (SMS version remains seq2 from ABC News quotation)"
      ],
      "characterCount": 122
    },
    {
      "sequence": 6,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "Morning of Wednesday, November 11, 2015, approximately 8:00 AM CST",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "2 Arrested for Allegedly Making Terrorist Threats Amid University of Missouri Turmoil (ABC News)",
      "url": "https://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-detained-allegedly-posting-online-threats-missouri-campus/story?id=35126012",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "MU Alert official Twitter/X post: 'no immediate threat to campus' (November 10, 2015)",
      "url": "https://twitter.com/mualert/status/664311405970137088",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "University of Missouri students report threats; police quell KKK rumors (CNN)",
      "url": "https://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/11/us/university-of-missouri-racism-protest/",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Suspect arrested after racist Yik Yak threats at University of Missouri (Christian Science Monitor)",
      "url": "https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2015/1111/Suspect-arrested-after-racist-Yik-Yak-threats-at-University-of-Missouri",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Ticker: Amid Fears of Violence, Police in Missouri Arrest 2 Students Over Threats on Yik Yak (Chronicle of Higher Education)",
      "url": "https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/amid-fears-of-violence-u-of-missouri-police-arrest-man-over-threat-on-yik-yak",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Man charged in Mizzou Yik Yak threats had interest in Oregon college shootings, police say (Washington Post)",
      "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/11/12/police-say-man-charged-in-mizzou-yik-yak-threats-had-interest-in-oregon-college-shootings/",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "2015–2016 University of Missouri protests (Wikipedia)",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%932016_University_of_Missouri_protests",
      "type": "encyclopedia"
    },
    {
      "title": "Missouri S&T: Student arrested for social media threats",
      "url": "https://news.mst.edu/2015/11/student-arrested-for-social-media-threats/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "@mualert on X seq4",
      "url": "https://x.com/mualert/status/664258956676743168",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@mualert on X seq5",
      "url": "https://x.com/mualert/status/664293625354985472",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@mualert on X seq6",
      "url": "https://x.com/mualert/status/664414133182455808",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@mualert on X (verbatim)",
      "url": "https://x.com/mualert/status/664311405970137088",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "context": "The November 10-11, 2015 [Yik Yak threats at the University of Missouri](https://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-detained-allegedly-posting-online-threats-missouri-campus/story?id=35126012) came at the peak of the [Concerned Student 1950 protests](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%932016_University_of_Missouri_protests). On November 9, system president Tim Wolfe and chancellor R. Bowen Loftin had both resigned after a [football-team boycott](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/concernedstudent1950-protests-university-missouri-timeline-events-n459776) and student Jonathan Butler's seven-day hunger strike. The next night, anonymous posts on Yik Yak threatened to 'shoot every black person I see' tomorrow on campus and warned 'don't go to campus tomorrow.' MU Police issued an MU Alert acknowledging the threats and reassuring the community of no immediate danger, while also quelling separate KKK rumors circulating that night. In the early hours of November 11, [Hunter M. Park](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/11/12/police-say-man-charged-in-mizzou-yik-yak-threats-had-interest-in-oregon-college-shootings/) (a 19-year-old Missouri University of Science & Technology student in Rolla) was apprehended; investigators later said he had researched the Umpqua Community College shooting from October 2015 (which had occurred just five weeks earlier). MU Alert published a second message: 'University of Missouri Police have apprehended the suspect who posted threats to campus on YikYak and other social media. The suspect is in MUPD custody and was not located on or near the MU campus at the time of the threat.' Interim Chancellor Hank Foley issued a morning message confirming classes would continue and that faculty should accommodate students who chose not to attend. Park ultimately pleaded guilty to making a terroristic threat and was sentenced in June 2016 to five years of probation. The case is a defining example of how anonymous-app threats interacted with high-tension campus protest moments, and of how an MU Alert system designed for active shooters had to be used to address social-media threats whose plausibility depended on the broader political climate.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "MU Alert was activated for a Yik Yak threat, not a physical incident, a relatively early example of social-media-only threats triggering campus alerts",
    "Hunter Park was a student at Missouri S&T (Rolla), part of the same UM System, complicating the 'jurisdictional clarification' messaging in the second alert",
    "The threats came at the peak of the Concerned Student 1950 protests, one day after Wolfe and Loftin resigned, context made the threats more plausible to students",
    "MU did not cancel classes on November 11 but instructed faculty to accommodate absences, a middle-ground response now common at universities facing protest-era threats",
    "Park reportedly had researched the Umpqua Community College shooting five weeks earlier, per the Washington Post, illustrating how mass-shooting events generate copycat threats",
    "The second MU Alert (verbatim-confirmed via ABC News) explicitly noted Park 'was not located on or near the MU campus at the time of the threat', jurisdictional reassurance language"
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "threat-of-violence",
    "yik-yak",
    "social-media-threat",
    "mizzou",
    "concerned-student-1950",
    "title-vi",
    "public-r1",
    "missouri",
    "racial-threat",
    "umpqua-copycat",
    "november-2015"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-14",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-20",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}