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Woman opposing sign comparing Nicholls to Palestine arrested after bomb threat made to LSU frat house

3 days 2 hours 14 minutes ago Monday, September 23 2024 Sep 23, 2024 September 23, 2024 6:04 PM September 23, 2024 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE — A woman turned herself in after threatening to use a "homemade explosive" device on an LSU fraternity house in response to a sign disparagingly comparing Nicholls State University to Palestine, arrest records show.

Maggie Rodrigue, 20, turned herself in Friday and admitted to sending a message where she claimed to be creating a bomb for the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

She told LSU Police she was remorseful but sent the message out of disgust for a sign Delta Tau Delta members hung on their fraternity house ahead of the Nicholls State-LSU game. 

"What do Nicholls and Palestine have in common? Getting bombed," the sign read, referencing the ongoing bombing campaign in Gaza and other Palestinian territories by the Israeli government. The attacks have claimed 40,000 lives as of mid-August, the Associated Press reported.

Rodrigue, who is not affiliated with LSU, was arrested for menacing, a subsection of the state's terrorizing statute.

LSU Law Professor Ken Levy says the reason Rodrigue was charged and the fraternity wasn't in this incident is because the fraternity was not sending any direct threats. Their words were just in poor taste, he added.

"They have basically a First Amendment right to engage in juvenile humor...I don't think anybody seriously believed that anyone was going to bomb Nicholls," Levy said

Levy told WBRZ that he believes Rodrigue allowed her emotions to get the best of her as she engaged in impulsive behavior.

"She got very angry she said some things she shouldn't have said. I'm sure she's the first to acknowledge that. I don’t think this rises to the level of what we think of as terrorism," Levy said.

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