Authorities charge Ohio University student Anna Ayers over faking homophobic death threats against her
A member of the student government at Ohio University has been charged with a misdemeanor after she allegedly made false statements to police about receiving threatening messages.
Anna Ayers, who is a member of the OU student senate, was arrested Monday and charged by the Ohio University Police Department with three separate counts of “making false alarms.” Ayers falsely reported multiple threatening messages, including a “death threat,” which she claims was because of her being a member of the LGBTQ community.
After a police investigation by the OU police department, officials revealed that Ayers’ claims were false. The probe further uncovered that Ayers had “placed the messages herself, prior to reporting them,” according to an OU police statement.
“Ayers previously reported receiving a series of threatening messages, two of them in the Student Senate office, and one of them at her residence,” the OU Police Department’s statement reads, adding that, “subsequent investigation by OUPD found that Ayers had placed the messages herself, prior to reporting them.”
Ayers claimed she found a “hateful, harassing” note referencing her LGBTQ identity and calling her a derogatory term. On Monday, Ayers found another note in her desk that included a threat against her life.
The note likely came from someone within Student Senate, Student Senate President Maddie Sloat said at the time. Anyone can enter the senate office, but whoever left the note had to know which desk belonged to Ayers, who is a member of The Post Publishing Board.
Student Senate is not releasing the specific wording of the notes to protect the integrity of an ongoing OU Police Department investigation, Ayers said.
photo Julyo based on work by Gilbert Baker, 1979 via wikimedia commons
