(José Niño, Headline USA) A Florida International University student is facing felony charges after messages she posted in a WhatsApp group chat were interpreted as a bomb threat against a campus event.
The case has drawn widespread attention online, with many observers characterizing it as an overreach against dark political humor.
The incident unfolded in a group chat of approximately 215 FIU classmates who were discussing an event scheduled at the university’s Ocean Bank Convocation Center. The student, identified as Gabriela Saldana, 23, wrote, “[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, if you can hear me, drop some bonbons for us Capstone students in Ocean Bank Convocation Center,” per a report by NDTV. Police interpreted “bonbons” as a thinly veiled reference to bombs.
Florida college student was arrested for making a Netanyahu joke in a Whatsapp group chat.
WTF are we doing here guys?! 😑 pic.twitter.com/NCwSXdDt8j
— James Li (@5149jamesli) April 20, 2026
The message that elevated the case from dark humor to criminal prosecution came next. According to the FIU Police officer who testified at the bond hearing, Saldana followed up with a second message stating, “There is going to be a bomb in the Ocean Bank Convocation Center and it was going to be Jonathan’s fault.” Jonathan was another student in the chat, per a report by WSVN.
Classmates did not treat the messages as jokes. They reported them to authorities. Saldana herself later acknowledged in the chat, “I wrote a dumb joke that should not have been made.”
Per IB Times, Prosecutors charged her under Florida Statute 836.10, which covers written threats to kill or cause bodily harm. The offense is a second-degree felony carrying a potential sentence of up to 15 years. According to WSVN, Judge Mindy S. Glazer found probable cause for the charge but declined to find probable cause for a prejudice enhancement that would have classified it as a hate crime. She set bond at $5,000.
FIU released a statement describing the messages as “a credible and imminent threat of violence at a planned university event” that included “a specific date, time and venue.”
The case unfolds against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny of campus speech about Israel and Palestine. FIU has other students under investigation for anti-ICE protests, and Florida maintains some of the most expansive threat statutes in the nation, per a report by Miami New Times.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
