After racist Snapchat threat against Black Derby student, Cheney man admits to crime
A Cheney man has admitted to a federal crime in connection to a racist threat of violence made to a Derby teenager over social media.
Gage Hunter Clausen, 21, of Cheney, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Wichita to one count of interstate communications with threat to injure. Prosecutors, in a news release, referred to it as “a threat via the internet on the life of a juvenile.”
In his plea deal, Clausen admitted he posted on the victim’s Snapchat page: “(Racial slur) id skin you like a (expletive) (other racial slur). Oh (other expletive) no difference you’re a filthy farm animal maybe you’d be good probably just get whipped and burned run away marks.”
The victim was a 15-year-old Black student of Derby High School.
“Gage Clausen threatened serious bodily harm against another person via the Internet,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard in a statement. “His plea of guilty today should send a message that, you cannot hide behind a computer keyboard and make threats against another person with impunity. These threats are taken seriously, they are investigated and people are held accountable.”
The maximum penalty for the crime is five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 in addition to the mandatory assessment.
Prosecutors agreed to recommend five years of probation and the mandatory $100 assessment. They are also seeking to ban Clausen from posting on Snapchat and Facebook during his probation. His sentencing is scheduled for May 25.
The incident happened on June 27, 2020, after the boy had posted a request on Snapchat for people to send him photos of a party he had attended the previous day. Clausen’s threat was a response to the boy’s posting.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Court documents state that because Snapchat uses the servers of Google and Amazon, none of which are in Kansas, the message became interstate communication.
Clausen was indicted by a grand jury on Sept. 9.