A Georgia teen who was consistently bullied over his race and religion was arrested after being accused of planning a school shooting, despite there being any physical evidence of it.
WSB-TV reports Nathan Bacher was arrested on May 23 and was seen in court for a bail hearing on Monday (June 3). The 17-year-old was charged with terroristic threats after students claimed he kept a mental hit list of students he wanted to kill on the last day of school at Providence Christian Academy.
He would also sing Foster The People’s “Pumped Up Kicks,” a song about troubled youth that also alludes to a school shooting.
While some students claimed Bacher wanted to shoot up his school, his family and friends have another story. Bacher, who is Ethiopian, was reportedly teased about his ethnicity and religion. His father Jatteni Bacher told reporters his son was told, “You are not from Africa, you are from Arab. You must be a terrorist. When are you going to shoot us up?”
His son has never had access to a gun and his brother Jesse tearfully told reporters, “He’s innocent. That’s all I know.” His friend Abigail Israel stressed the fact that Bacher was never going to commit a crime. “I think it was really his way of establishing him as an alpha,” she said. “He never had any intention of doing any of that.”
School officials were made aware of the threat by a concerned parent hours before the final day of school. During the bond hearing Monday, prosecutors called Bacher a threat to the community and made mention of his alleged mental hit list. Despite the circumstances, Bacher has received an overwhelming amount of support from his church with more than 130 people, and the local Ethiopian community at his bail hearing.
Despite the outpour of support from the community, the prosecutors and the judge said the risk was too great and Bacher was denied bond.
