Florida
Two dozen Florida school students arrested after allegedly making threats since start of academic year
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida has arrested 24 public school students since the beginning of the academic year, for alleged written or online threats, according to authorities.
Polk County School District Superintendent Fred Heid announced the shocking number of arrests during a news conference Thursday, just weeks after a fatal shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia.
“Students will be arrested. They will be charged with a second-degree felony,” Heid said during the news conference covered by FOX 13 Tampa. “And from the school district’s perspective, we will pursue the fullest extent of the consequences for any student or any non-student member of our community who phones these in or posts something online or social media or email.”
Along with seeking criminal charges for students who make threats towards schools, Heid said the school district will seek restitution for any time and resources spent investigating the threats.
GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING SUSPECT’S MOM DEFENDS HER SON IN MESSAGE TO VICTIMS’ FAMILIES
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Polk County Schools Superintendent Fred Heid announced Thursday that 24 students had been arrested since the start of the school year for making written threats. (Polk County Schools / YouTube)
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd joined Heid during the news conference, and said there were 42 arrests made during the 2023-24 school year in which students made written threats against county schools.
So far this year, in just 28 days, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office has made 24 arrests.
“That’s why we’re all standing up here today,” Judd said. “Because we can’t have any more of that.”
GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING: SUSPECT’S FORMER NEIGHBORS RECOUNT HARROWING STORIES OF ALLEGED ABUSE, CHAOS
Officials announced Thursday that 24 students had been arrested since the start of the school year for making written threats online. (iStock)
Judd praised the app, Fortify Florida, which gives students the ability to immediately report suspicious activity to law enforcement agencies and school officials.
FOX 13 reported that Heid provided an explanation on why he believes there have been so many threats recently.
“I think, unfortunately, many of our students believe that social media is an appropriate place for them to try to garner attention,” the superintendent said. “As the sheriff put it, we investigate, and we complete more threat assessments than several others do because we do not diminish the expectation.”
COLIN GRAY, FATHER OF GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING SUSPECT CHARGED WITH MURDER, MANSLAUGHTER, CHILD CRUELTY
Florida law enforcement and school officials announced Thursday that 24 students had been arrested since the start of the school year for making written threats online. (iStock)
The sheriff echoed Heid, adding that some kids go with the latest social media trends.
“We end up with these TikTok challenges; well we’ll TikTok you to jail if you follow those challenges. That’s the bottom line to it,” Judd said. “The overwhelming majority of the kids go, ‘Well that’s nuts, and I’m not going to do it.’ But a few of the kids say, ‘I’m nuts, and I’m gonna to do it,’ and then, we’re going to arrest them.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the school district.
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Still, the alternative to speaking about proactive measures would be the tragic result of not doing anything.
“I would much rather be standing here talking about this today than you saying, ‘Sheriff, school board, superintendent, you did nothing, and this kid’s been sending messages for months? And now he’s brought a gun to school and shot the school or shot up a kid at school,’” Judd said.
ICE shooting: After Renee Nicole Good was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, millions of Americans are protesting — including in Trump’s home state.
A week ago, President Donald Trump rang in the new year like a king — in grandeur and opulence at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
Following this week’s deadly shooting by a federal immigration officer in Minnesota, millions of Americans frustrated with his administration are protesting — including in his home state.
Groups in Orlando, Tallahassee and Miami have held vigils and peaceful protests after Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot in the head while attempting to use a vehicle to flee authorities. The incident was captured on camera, and multiple videos posted on social media have gotten millions of views.
The nationwide protests are the latest in a year of Trump’s second term, which is coming up on a one-year anniversary later this month. Most cite Trump’s:
- immigration crackdowns
- ICE and National Guard deployments
- on-again-off-again tariffs
- his perceived control over all three branches of the U.S. government
More than 25 Trump protests and vigils for Renee Nicole Good were scheduled Wednesday, Jan. 7, to Sunday, Jan. 11, in his home state of Florida, and at least one was scheduled in Palm Beach County − about 30 miles down the road from his private club.
Last week, Donald and Melania Trump hosted their annual New Year’s Eve gala at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. He returns there Friday, Jan. 9, amid the ICE protests and vigils for Renee Good in Minneapolis.
USA TODAY and the USA TODAY Network will provide live coverage of the anti-Trump administration protests.
Below are photos of the ICE protests in Florida, which occurred as Trump returned home to his private club, Mar-a-Lago.
Photos of ICE protest in Gainesville, Florida
Photos of ICE protest in Palm Coast, Florida
Photos of ICE protest in Stuart, Florida
Photos of ICE protest in Tallahassee, Florida
US protests after Renee Nicole Good is shot dead by an ICE agent
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Subscribe to the free Florida TODAY newsletter.
Hate driving in Florida traffic? A flying taxi can elevate that problem. Electric aircrafts could used in Florida’s skies in 2026.
Tired of the constant traffic and congestion clogging Florida’s roads?
In the words of the great Dr. Emmett Brown (Back to the Future fame), “Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads.”
Florida is on its way to be the nation’s first state to offer commercial Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). Essentially, that means state officials are paving the (air)way for passengers to take flight taxis, including electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL), from one city to another in record time.
The country’s first aerial test site should be operational within the first part of 2026. It’s at Florida Department of Transportation’s SunTrax testing facility in Polk Couty between Tampa and Orlando along the almost-always congested Interstate-4.
“Florida is at the forefront of emerging flight technology, leading the nation in bringing highways to the skies with Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), an entirely new mode of transportation,” according to a press release from the Florida Department of Transportation. “FDOT’s strategic investments in infrastructure to support AAM will help us become the first state with commercial AAM services.”
When will flight taxis be available in Florida?
Sometime in early 2026, the new Florida AAM Headquarters at the SunTrax Campus will be operational. By the end of the year, it will be fully activated and ready to deploy profitable commercial services for passenger travel.
Air taxi company Archer Aviation announced in Dec. 2025 that it will provide flights between Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Miami international airports possibly as early as this year.
The company also plans to pick up and drop off passengers at the Boca Raton Airport, the Witham Field airport in Stuart, Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport and Miami Executive Airport.
Phase one of Florida air taxis: Four sections of the state
- Part A: I-4 corridor, Orlando to Tampa, Orlando to the Space Coast, Orlando to Suntrax and Tampa to Suntrax.
- Part B: Port St. Lucie to Miami
- Part C: Tampa to Naples/Miami to Key West
- Part D: Pensacola to Tallahassee
Phase two of Florida air taxis: Four more sections
- Part A: Daytona Beach to Jacksonville
- Part B: Sebring out east and west
- Part C: Orlando to Lake City/Tampa to Tallahassee
- Part D: Jacksonville to Tallahassee
What Florida airports are interested in commercial flight taxis
- Boca Raton Airport (BCT)
- Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB)
- Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
- Lakeland Linder International Airport (LAL)
- Miami Executive Airport (TMB)
- Miami International Airport (MIA)
- Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (OPF)
- Orlando Executive Airport (ORL)
- Orlando International Airport (MCO)
- Palm Beach International Airport (PBI)
- Peter O Knight Airport (TPF)
- Sebring Regional Airport (SEF)
- Tallahassee International Airport (TLH)
- Tampa International Airport (TPA)
- Vero Beach Regional Airport (VRB)
Michelle Spitzeris a journalist for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. As the network’s Rapid Response reporter, she covers Florida’s breaking news. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.
Florida
Officials withheld evidence on Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ funding, environmental groups say
ORLANDO, Fla. — Federal and state officials withheld evidence that the Department of Homeland Security had agreed to reimburse Florida for some of the costs of constructing an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” according to environmental groups suing to shut down the facility.
The Everglades facility remains open, still holding detainees, because an appellate court in early September relied on arguments by Florida and the Trump administration that the state hadn’t yet applied for federal reimbursement, and therefore wasn’t required to follow federal environmental law.
The new evidence — emails and documents obtained through a public records request — shows that officials had discussed federal reimbursement in June, and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency confirmed in early August that it had received from state officials a grant application. Florida was notified in late September that FEMA had approved $608 million in federal funding to support the center’s construction and operation.
“We now know that the federal and state government had records confirming that they closely partnered on this facility from the beginning but failed to disclose them to the district court,” said Tania Galloni, one of the attorneys for the environmental groups.
An appellate panel in Atlanta put a temporary hold on a lower court judge’s ruling that would have closed the state-built facility. The new evidence should now be considered as the judges decide the facility’s permanent fate, Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, said in court papers on Wednesday.
A federal judge in Miami in mid-August ordered the facility to wind down operations over two months because officials had failed to do a review of the detention center’s environmental impact according to federal law. That judge concluded that a reimbursement decision already had been made.
The Florida Department of Emergency Management, which led the efforts to build the Everglades facility, didn’t respond to an emailed inquiry on Thursday.
Florida has led other states in constructing facilities to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Besides the Everglades facility, which received its first detainees in July, Florida has opened an immigration detention center in northeast Florida and is looking at opening a third facility in the Florida Panhandle.
The environmental lawsuit is one of three federal court challenges to the Everglades facility. In the others, detainees said Florida agencies and private contractors hired by the state have no authority to operate the center under federal law. They’re also seeking a ruling ensuring access to confidential communications with their attorneys.
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Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social
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