‘Traumatic’: Black Boy with Autism Arrested After Saying His School Will ‘Blow Up’ Over Worries the Stuffed Bunny In His Backpack Would Be Confiscated

A new law in Tennessee mandating that police charge both children and adults who make threats of mass violence with felonies, whether the threats are credible or not, has resulted in escalating arrests of young students, some of whom have mental and intellectual disabilities. Among them is “Ty,” a 13-year-old, Black boy with autism who was arrested on the second day of this school year after he sneaked his favorite plush toy bunny into his backpack before heading off to his Hamilton County middle school, where he told his teacher he didn’t want anyone to look inside of it. When the teacher asked why, Ty (real name withheld) responded, “Because the whole school will blow up,” he and his mother told ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio, which have co-published an ongoing series about Tennessee’s crackdown on student threats. Ty’s teacher immediately called a school administrator, who then notified the police. In a counselor’s office, the backpack was opened to reveal only the harmless toy bunny inside. As Ty stood there confused about what he had done wrong, the police handcuffed him, patted him down, then put him in the back of a police car. The sheriff’s department later issued a...