Tennessee Bill Would Impose Criminal Penalties for School Shooting Threats, Doxxing

Legislation under consideration in the Tennessee General Assembly would impose criminal penalties to those responsible for threatening to shoot schools, as well as those who publish personal contact information about a private individual with the intent of causing them harm.

House Bill (HB) 1314 by House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) (pictured above, right) and Senate Bill (SB) 1296 by Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) (pictured above, left) would amend Tennessee law to create a new offense, making it a felony to make threats that a reasonable person would expect will result in the serious injury of four or more people.

Those committing such behavior would be guilty of a Class E felony, which is punishable in Tennessee by up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $3,000.

Should such threats be made against a school or church, the offender have previously been convicted of a similar offense, or have purchased supplies to facilitate the threatened attack, the bill would upgrade the offense to a Class D felony, earning those found guilty to up to a 12-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $5,000.

The attempt to create a new offense comes after several Tennessee schools were targeted with threats of violence last year. While some law enforcement made arrests, others suggested foreign actors were exploiting the circumstances to cause more havoc with fake threats.

More students were arrested over threats against schools in Nashville in the wake of the Antioch High School attack, when 17-year-old Solomon Henderson killed another student before taking his own life.

A second new offense created under the legislation would make it a criminal offense to publish someone’s phone number or home address online with the intent to bring harm to the individual or their family.

Those guilty of posting someone’s private information with the intent of seeing harm done to them would face up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.

State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) accused an anti-police group in Memphis of doxxing his family last year after Decarcerate Memphis posted a real estate listing for the businessman’s home in Cordova.

“If these people think they can intimidate me by doxxing my family and me, they are sadly mistaken,” wrote Taylor in 2024. “The amount of BS someone has to go through to stand up for regular, law-abiding people and make our community safe is ridiculous!”

Accusations were similarly made against the pro-abortion group “Ruth Sent Us,” which in 2022 posted the addresses of six U.S. Supreme Court justices as the high court prepared to release its ruling that overturned the precedent abortion precedent set by Roe v. Wade.

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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to pappert.tom@proton.
Photo “State Sen Jack Johnson” by Jack Johnson and “State Rep. William Lamberth” by Tennessee House of Representatives. Photo “Tennessee Capitol” by FaceMePLS CC2.0.