A Florida college student faces criminal charges after making what she claims was a joke referencing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a group chat, sparking a constitutional battle over First Amendment protections and the limits of online speech.
Engineering Student Faces Criminal Charges
Gabriela Saldana, 23, was arrested by Florida International University police on April 16 and charged with written threats to kill or do bodily injury. The arrest followed messages she sent to a WhatsApp group of approximately 215 people ahead of an engineering capstone presentation event scheduled for April 17. According to the arrest affidavit, Saldana admitted to sending the messages. A screenshot that went viral on social media showed her writing a message referencing Netanyahu and asking him to drop bonbons for capstone students at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.
A Florida student was arrested and is now facing up to 15 years in jail for making a joke about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The student allegedly wrote, “Netanyahu, if you can hear me, drop some bonbons for us Capstone students in the Ocean Bank Convocation… pic.twitter.com/j7r8Lu5nsq
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) April 20, 2026
At a bond hearing, an FIU police detective testified that Saldana also wrote another message stating there would be a bomb at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center and blaming another group member named Jonathan. Judge Mindy Glazer stated at the hearing that it appeared Saldana was trying to threaten students. The judge said that to an objective person, the messages did not constitute a joke.
Defense Claims Viral TikTok Trend Context
Public defender Carlos Martinez argued the First Amendment stands at the center of this case. He explained the context stems from a viral TikTok trend where young people jokingly urge Netanyahu’s intervention in everyday situations. Martinez emphasized that intent matters for the charge Saldana faces, and the message was not intended as a threat. Saldana herself later called it a dumb joke. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent a letter to FIU police on April 23, arguing that no basis existed to consider her posts a serious threat.
Free Speech Experts Weigh Constitutional Questions
Dominic Coletti from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression wrote that Saldana’s speech is protected by the First Amendment. He argued it is not credible that anyone would reasonably believe an undergraduate student could order the dropping of bombs anywhere by any foreign power. Alex Morey, a First Amendment specialist at the Freedom Forum, noted that Americans have the right to make dumb jokes as long as they do not cross the line into true threats. Courts will examine the context, including whether the group chat regularly features joking around and how people interpreted the messages. The case coincides with FIU investigating multiple students for alleged racist and gender-based slurs in a separate group chat, where those students filed their own First Amendment lawsuit claiming their offensive speech did not constitute true threats.