The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office in Florida received complaints after sharing a Facebook post with a mugshot of a 9-year-old boy who allegedly threatened a classmate with a knife, according to First Coast News.
The post has received over 47,000 comments, First Coast News reported, with some users criticizing the decision to post the mugshot.
In addition to sharing the juvenile’s mugshot, the post includes details about his arrest. According to officials, the choice to share the boy’s mugshot follows a policy that has been upheld since 2018.
Allison Merritt, a spokesperson for the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, told First Coast News that the policy has discouraged “repeat offenders.”
“We have not had any repeat offenders since we have put this [policy] in place. Our parents are aware of the children that their students are hanging out with. They’re aware of what is going on in their schools, and we are going to continue that to maintain the safety of our children and staff at all the Putnam County schools,” Merritt explained to the outlet.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office identified the juvenile as Anthony Walker in the same Facebook post. According to the post, Walker was arrested and charged on Oct. 9 with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill after he allegedly threatened two classmates.
During recess the previous day at Middleton-Burney Elementary School, Walker allegedly got into a fight with one of the students. The alleged victim told authorities Walker said he was going to stab him and removed a pocketknife from his backpack. The alleged victim ran away and informed his teacher of the incident.
The second alleged victim told authorities Walker tapped him on his back while on the playground, and when he turned around, Walker allegedly had an open knife in his hand. The student also ran away and tripped out of fear. The child claimed Walker stopped chasing him after he tripped and ran away. (RELATED: Navy Investigating Death Of 20-Year-Old Midshipman At Naval Academy)
A third child told authorities Walker allegedly walked over to her, showed her the knife, and asked her not to tell the teachers, according to the same Facebook post. The child said Walker then allegedly approached another child, “flicked open the knife,” and pointed it at that child’s stomach.
Multiple comments shared on the Facebook post showed users complaining about the sheriff’s office sharing the 9-year-old’s mugshot.
“I don’t agree with this at all. While I absolutely do not support his behavior or bringing a weapon to school, this is still a 9-year-old child. Arresting him, taking a mugshot, and publicly posting it like this can cause lasting psychological harm,” one user said in part.
“Ya’ll really posted this [baby’s] picture like this,” another user wrote.
“Since when does law enforcement [show] pictures of a 9-year-old child, and [give] their name? What the child did I’m not condoning, but he’s still a very young child,” a third person added.
Walker was arrested in connection with the alleged incident and released to his parent ahead of his court date.
Walker is not the first juvenile to be arrested for allegedly threatening classmates.
According to First Coast News, a 10-year-old at Browning Pearce Elementary was arrested Oct. 2 on the same charge after he also allegedly flashed a pocketknife at a classmate and threatened them.