Connor Stottlemyre, a 19-year-old former student at Northwest Missouri State University, pleaded guilty to making a racially charged threat of violence.
According to The Associated Press, Stottlemyre anonymously posted to the Yik Yak social media app in Nov. that he was "gonna shoot any black people tomorrow, so be ready." His arrest came shortly after Tim Wolfe stepped down as the president of the University of Missouri system for complaints he was negligent to issues of racism on campus.
Two other UM students were arrested the same week as Stottlemyre for making similar threats of violence.
Robert Sundell, Stottlemyre's attorney, and Nodaway County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rice announced the plea deal Monday, agreeing that Stottlemyre would serve 30 days in jail and five years of probation, Reuters reported. At a sentencing hearing scheduled for Feb. 22 a judge will decide whether or not to accept the deal, and Stottlemyre will remain out on bail until then.
If Stottlemyre completes his probation without incident, the felony conviction will not appear on his record.
"It's a stiff punishment," Rice told Reuters. "What I believe was, in this situation, he got together with some buddies and on a dare made comments that I'm pretty sure he's wishing he could take back. He didn't ever intend to actually do anything, but unfortunately when you make comments on a public forum like that there are going to be consequences."
